Three-way battle ensues in Selebi-Phikwe West
Spira Tlhankane | Tuesday August 6, 2024 09:28
Keorapetse’s tough terrain ahead
Keorapetse, who is currently an ordinary Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) member without any political home, will see competition from Manake and Reuben Kaizer of the BCP. Keorapetse was seen as a usurper and traitor by members of the BCP when he assumed the position of the Leader of Opposition (LoO) in Parliament from the BCP president, Dumelang Saleshando. Selebi-Phikwe West is traditionally a BCP stronghold and it has been under the BCP since Gilson Saleshando wrestled it from the BDP in 2009. When the senior Saleshando retired, Keorapetse took over the constituency and managed to retain it for the BCP in 2014.
When the BCP contested under the UDC banner in 2019, Keorapetse still managed to retain it making it two successive terms. But when Keorapetse defied his party in a move that eventually got him expelled, his future in Selebi-Phikwe West has been uncertain considering that the UDC does not really have proper structures there.
The UDC affiliate, the Botswana National Front (BNF) has been struggling to win the constituency in the previous years with the UDC spokesperson, Moeti Mohwasa, having lost twice in 2009 and 2014. What complicates the LoO’s return to Parliament is that the BCP’s campaign is geared towards removing him. The lime movement has expressed that in Keorapetse they have raised a child who would later become a ‘thorn’. They continue to discredit the expelled Keorapetse as unfit to continue leading the people of Selebi-Phikwe West.
Kaizer’s vital mission
The BCP has now installed Kaizer in Selebi-Phikwe West after he secured the candidacy when he defeated Professor Brothers Malema in the party primaries last year. Kaizer has been tasked with ‘teaching’ Keorapetse a lesson and it is one of the party’s important missions. Kaizer has been making inroads in the constituency even before the LoO was expelled by the BCP.
Before Keorapetse’s expulsion, the two were set to battle it out in the primaries. But now it looks like the clash is inevitable. Keorapetse claims that he had always known about plans to dislodge him at BCP primaries through vetting out or some other ‘dubious and or clandestine arrangements’.
He indicated to this publication in a previous interview that these were planned and discussed at a very high level in the BCP. Kaizer is not new to politics and has been active in politics for close to a decade.
Even though Kaizer was not at the forefront at the BCP, the businessman-cum-politician had been doing a lot behind the scenes like helping the youth of Selebi-Phikwe with business workshops and empowering hawkers. Besides Keorapetse, Kaizer will also have to fend off competition from the BDP.
Manake the game changer
The BDP has relatively performed poorly in this constituency since former MP and current BDP secretary-general, Kavis Kario, was ousted by senior Saleshando in 2009.
Kario had won Selebi-Phikwe West in the 2004 General Election. Following the 2004 delimitation exercise, the then vibrant copper and nickel mining was divided into two constituencies, Selebi-Phikwe East and West. When the town was split into two, the BDP immediately ascertained its dominance, with Kario taking Selebi-Phikwe West, while Nonofo Molefhi won Selebi-Phikwe East.
At the time of the delimitation exercise, Selebi-Phikwe was under the BDP because the late Daisy Pholo had won it from senior Saleshando in the 1999 election. Now Manake, who beat area veteran Opelo Makhandlela, in the primaries over the weekend, has a huge task of ending the BCP’s 15-year reign.
Indication from the weekend election shows that Manake has managed to penetrate the constituency and is banking on the BCP and the UDC battle to work out for her.
Manake has been active in the area long before the primaries and it is reported that at some point she had a clash with Keorapetse over some town activities where the latter was allegedly snubbed.
Whereas it will be perilous for Keorapetse and Kaizer to underestimate the progress, Manake has made in the constituency, the opposition still has an advantage in the town, which is dying to revive its economy following the closure of the BCL mine in 2016.