Gov’t unfazed by costs of Motsepe apology
Mpho Mokwape | Tuesday August 5, 2025 09:19
The statement comes amid growing public discourse about potential financial implications, with some members of the public alleging that the enforcement could come at a heavy burden to taxpayers.
However, the State attorney tasked with the case, Ofentse Khumomotse, dismissed the growing attention on the expected figures as a distraction despite knowing well that it was important to right the wrongs committed against those mentioned.
“We maintain the misplaced focus on the speculated figures is to divert from the real point of substance, and that is why it was important to have the matter settled and concluded,” he said.
Khumomotse explained that it is too early to attach a definitive price tag to the implementation of a high-profile court order, urging the public and media to focus on the broader implications of the legal resolution rather than speculative costs.
He noted that while cost transparency is important in the long term, the immediate priority should be compliance with the court’s directives and ensuring institutional accountability.
“We have only recently commenced operationalising the terms of the court order. It’s still early to say how much it will cost. Initial phases of implementation are underway and full assessments are still being conducted,” Khumomotse said.
Closing the interview, the State attorney promised to provide a detailed financial breakdown once operational requirements are fully understood.
The consent court order, issued earlier in June this year followed a legal battle between the government and Motsepe after the latter instituted defamation proceedings in Botswana on October 26, 2020, against various state entities based on allegations made against her by Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) senior investigator, Jako Hubona in an affidavit he deposed in proceedings before the High Court of Botswana on October 29, 2019.
Motsepe, along with Welheminah Maswabi, an intelligence officer with the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS), were alleged in this affidavit to be co-signatories to bank accounts held by various entities, which they allegedly used to launder money from the Bank of Botswana through South African and international banks.
The parties reached a comprehensive settlement, concluding years of litigation over false and defamatory allegations made against her in the so-called ‘Butterfly case’, initiated under the previous Masisi administration.
The settlement agreement, which has already started to run with the government already on day four on their Facebook page, includes
*An unreserved apology from the new government of Botswana; *A public disavowal of the false allegations made in the ‘Butterfly Case’; and *A reference to the new Duma Boko government’s commitment to investigate the circumstances of the fabricated claims made against the victims: Wilhelmina Maswabi, former president Ian Khama, the late Isaac Kgosi, and the Ambassador, among others.
According to the apology, it states that the new human rights-based government of Botswana under the leadership of Advocate Duma Boko reaffirms its commitment to the rule of law and assures the public that fabrications of the nature that occurred will never occur.
In whole, the apology reads: “On 29 October 2019, Jako Hubona, an investigator employed by the Botswana Directorate of Corruption and Economic Crime, deposed to an affidavit in proceedings before the High Court of Botswana, in which he alleged under oath that Ambassador Bridgette Motsepe was the co-signatory to bank accounts in which funds allegedly stolen from the Bank of Botswana were laundered and implicated her in financing terrorism. The allegations made by Hubona against Ambassador Motsepe and supported by the government bodies he mentions, are entirely false and were made recklessly.
The allegations also impugned others, including Wilhemina Maswabi, former President Seretse Khama lan Khama, and the late Isaac Kgosi, as well as a number of financial institutions and the South African Reserve Bank, among others. The Government of Botswana, the Directorate of Corruption and Economic Crime, the Directorate of Intelligence Security Services, and Hubona unconditionally retracts their allegations and apologises to Ambassador Motsepe for making them.”
Meanwhile, for Motsepe, regarding the court-ordered apology in a statement after settlement, said she never sought to punish but to expose wrongdoing, motivated by her deep belief in the rule of law.
She explained that the case was not only about justice for her, but it was about safeguarding the rights of individuals across Africa from institutional abuse and State-sponsored attacks.
“The lies propagated in the Hubona affidavit caused immense reputational damage to many, and the settlement is significant not only allowing me to move forward with my reputation restored and even enhanced, but for Botswana under a new government committed to accountability and integrity,” she said.
Motsepe, who is said to have studied at the University of Botswana and maintained longstanding ties with its people, reiterated that her legal action was never intended to harm the country, but to uphold Botswana’s proud tradition of justice and transparency.
She stated that she accepts the apology of the Government of Botswana, and looks forward to settling the matter fully and ensuring that those responsible are finally held accountable.