On Friday, Merafhe led Parliament to reject a motion by Gaborone West MP Botsalo Ntuane calling on the government to institute a commission of inquiry to establish why the task force on the FIFA 2010 World Cup failed to strike deals for Botswana. The MP for Tonota South, Pono Moatlhodi, made an amendment that the motion should read that the government should appoint an "audit" instead of a commission of inquiry after which there was consensus that the amended motion could pass. Until Merafhe entered the fray, that is. Merafhe, who had just entered the House, insisted on the House voting because there was a division between those on the affirmative and those opposing the motion. Whereupon the House adjourned for tea. The motion was sent tumbling in a vote that rent the House between the ruling BDP and the opposition: 19 for and 25 against. All opposition MPs in the House voted for the motion while all BDP MPs rejected it. Certain ruling party MPs - among them Daniel Kwelagobe - voted with their feet by not returning to the House after the break. Yet some BDP MPs must have felt too intimidated not to support the motion. Merafhe has made it clear in the past that he will never support motions sponsored by opposition MPs, saying such a thing is unacceptable in a political game and that the BDP should never allow its opponents to steal thunder. Merafhe said this when he opposed a proposal by the MP for Gaborone Central, Dumelang Saleshando, to table a private member's bill. Before the motion was put to the vote, Moatlhodi had said an investigation, rather than a commission of inquiry, was necessary. He said the government must institute an audit to find out why the country did not benefit from the recent World Cup, hosted by neighbouring South Africa. "There were high expectations," Moatlhodi said. "The government should apologise that it failed. If I were the Minister of Sports, I would swallow my pride and apologise. The buck stops with the two ministers who were in the task force." The fiery legislator said the money that was budgeted for renovating stadia should be accounted for and that people in his constituency would like to know how their money was used.
Moatlhodi told Parliament about his informal meeting with the President of the Botswana Football Association (BFA), who, he said, happens to a friend of his. "I personally confronted Fani about the issue,' he said. "Fani told me that they invited Brazil and their team (had) demanded P3 million." However, the Minister of Sports, Youth and Culture, Shaw Kgathi, said when Brazil went to play against Zimbabwe, they were paid an equivalent of between P12 million and P13 million. The sponsor of the motion, Botsalo Ntuane, had earlier on attempted to correct Moatlhodi on the figure, who brushed such efforts aside. Fani had also told him, he said, that Spain had wanted something in the region of P1 million, adding that the eventual World Cup winners nearly came to Botswana. Fani told Moatlhodi that Botswana could have made a profit after paying the amount demanded.
