UDC, BDP members clash
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Tuesday February 1, 2022 06:00
Some BDP members' vehicles with mounted loudspeakers with a clear intention to disturb the UDC rally, feigned a motorcade with no police escort. Even though the Member of Parliament for Selebi-Phikwe West constituency, Dithapelo Keorapetse tried to calm members down without much success, some members felt agitated and went to block the BDP vehicles to stop passing next to their rally while chanting party slogans and honking their vehicles. “A re ba tlogeleng le seka la ba tsenya mo tlhaloganyong ba pelo di botlhoko gore le ya go wina kgaolwana e ya botlhophi. Re tshwanetse go supa gore re pharologanyo mo go bone.
Mo ba go dirang ke go tlhoka botho le boikarabelo ka gore ba itse gore ga ba a tshwanela go dira jaaka ba dira,” Keorapetse said. He further said the behaviour displayed by some BDP members will make residents of Ledumadumane East to even reject the BDP more at the ballot on February 5, 2022. For their part, the BDP branch chairperson for the Mogoditshane constituency, Percy Tshuba said what happened was very unfortunate and they have talked to their members to desist from doing that.
In an interview on Sunday, Tshuba said: “Our main motorcade is today (Sunday) but we had long planned that we should have a mini one after the rally to sensitise the residents of Ledumadumane about our launch. Normally, when the motorcade passes next to an opponent rally, we were supposed to stop honking and using the loudspeakers so that we do not disrupt their rally.” He, however, said the UDC members were also not supposed to block them and take some vehicles keys even if they were annoyed by the BDP members' behaviour.
When asked why their motorcade was not escorted by the police, Tshuba said maybe the police were not aware of the Saturday one, just the Sunday one, which was a mistake as they might have forgotten to make a follow-up. The Ledumadumane East seat fell vacant after the death of area councillor Otlaadisa Kgwatalala in November 2021.