Demystifying tax for the newsroom

…as RSL trains journalists to report tax with confidence

The Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL) this week held a two-day training to help journalists improve their reporting on tax matters.

Designed to “make tax journalism practical, understandable and immediately useful in the newsroom”, the training helped reporters understand key tax issues, interpret relevant information and present tax-related stories clearly and accurately to the public. It also covered the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

RSL Head of Strategic Partnerships and Public Relations, Pheello Mphana, emphasised that the partnership between the RSL and the media matters because journalists are the voice that bridges communication between the RSL and the public. He said they serve as a link between information and its ultimate consumers.

Mphana added that effective reporting on economic and financial matters is a skill that requires constant refinement. The training, he said, was intended to give journalists the tools and discipline to explain complex tax issues in a way taxpayers can easily understand. If citizens appreciate the importance of taxation and understand how tax revenue contributes to infrastructure development and public services, he said, they will be more willing to pay their taxes.

The RSL administers tax and customs in Lesotho, including income tax, VAT, withholding taxes and customs duties. Tax revenue funds government operations, public services and infrastructure development.

Training facilitator Tsebo Matšasa said journalists should use AI as an assistant to carry out research, correct their grammar and analyse documents. However, he cautioned against dependence on it, saying that “will kill journalism”.

“AI can help you find what to investigate; it cannot become your evidence .We should not ignore ethics,” he said.

Mohau Tholeng of Harvest FM said the training will help him become familiar with business and economic jargon. “You will find that there are words which we don’t know what they mean.”

He said journalists need to know the terminology used in financial matters so they can deliver clear messages to the nation. Without the workshop, he would not ordinarily have understood some of these terms and would have struggled to relay the information accurately to his audience.

“I am also going to better approach AI knowing that I can also give me wrong information to write tax issues and explain in a clear way,” he said.

Lehlohonolo Sekonyela of The Reporter said the training had deepened his understanding of tax and how revenue works. He is now familiar with the technical terms and better able to recognise the different types of taxes, such as the VAT that appears on a receipt. He added that the training also gave him a better understanding of the responsible use of AI and which platforms to choose.

“This workshop matters to me because tax is where public money and public accountability meet. As a journalist who has covered government accountability, I’ve seen how often tax stories are left out because they feel technical or dry. Yet they affect every Mosotho, from what we pay at the till to what our schools, clinics, and roads receive,” said Letsatsi Selikoe, an investigative business journalist who also reports for Lesotho Insights.

She said the workshop gave her a clearer grasp of how the RSL collects and administers taxes, and how to read revenue data critically rather than simply report headline figures.

She added: “I have also learnt to ask sharper questions about where the money goes and to explain terms like VAT[value added tax], PAYE [pay as you earn!], and compliance in plain language, so readers can follow the story and hold institutions to account.

“It has strengthened my commitment to making tax reporting accessible, accurate, and useful to ordinary citizens.”

Thoboloko Ntšonyane

Thoboloko Ntšonyane is a dedicated journalist who has contributed to various publications. He reports on accountability, human rights, exposes corruption and wrong doing by those in power. He reports have exposed corruption, abuse of power, fraud, misconduct and negligence. He subscribes to evidence-based reporting. He reports on governance, parliament, courts, climate change, human rights, sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR), health, business and agriculture. He gives a voice to the marginalised while also demanding accountability. His work inspires change, triggers dialogue and also promote transparency in a society.