Sekgororoane’s ‘problem-solving’ matrix faces acid test at BFL
Mqondisi Dube | Friday September 5, 2025 12:03
Often at hand to proffer solutions to some common problems facing Botswana across the spectrum, Sekgororoane finds himself in the cross-hairs, now tasked with putting his theoretical ‘problem solving’ submissions into practice.
Sekgororoane was picked from a group of candidates who included Tshepo Sedimo, Sidney Magagane, Bennett Mamelodi, Olebile Sikwane and Senzo Mbatha.
No official ceremony has been held to welcome Sekgororoane into one of domestic football’s demanding jobs, where the turnover is ridiculously high.
It is a setting where, when the situation deteriorates, it does so rapidly and friends turn foes in the blink of an eye.
The BFL, in its press release to officially announce Sekgororoane as the new CEO, points to his background as a seasoned corporate executive. Sekgororoane has previous experience at the helm of Multichoice Botswana, Multichoice Ghana and Dulux Botswana.
“The BFL board is confident that Mr Sekgororoane will bring his commercial corporate governance and transformational leadership abilities to the League, helping to transform it into one of the best-managed and most viable globally,” the BFL said in the statement. Sekgororoane will have his work cut out as, with the task to make the BFL “the best managed and most viable globally”.
The BFL has struggled to be one of the best managed locally, and to take it to the highest levels will demand Sekgororoane to summon all his ‘problem-solving’ skills.
He now has to do it away from the glare of the public that follows his Facebook submissions on the 101 of problem-solving in Botswana. The real and hard work begins behind the public scenes and Sekgororoane is no stranger to the most popular but controversy-ridden sport.
He has previously served in the Botswana Football Association (BFA) Appeals Committee, a position that could have sufficiently prepared him for the occasional jabs and bare-knuckled conflicts that frequently blow through the corridors of football’s cauldron.
Fights erupt with regular ease and whilst Sekgororoane’s position is executive, he will find it difficult to duck and escape the regular fight and flight shrapnel from the politicians found on the board or within the shareholders.
Sekgororoane should not look too far. In July, Palapye became another cruel reminder of how quickly the situation flips as it became a pedestal from where the current administrative changes were launched.
When the BFL headed for its annual general assembly, everything seemed normal on the back of a successful league season. But when delegates emerged, the storm clouds had gathered.
Within 72 hours, the effects of the Palapye meeting had claimed the scalp of the chief executive, Mamelodi, and board chairperson, Peter Kesitilwe.
That is how rapidly and rabidly the situation changes in football. It is the proverbial hot seat that defies the normal order for executives.
It therefore dictates a much more pragmatic and evolving mindset as per the dictates in a boardroom often turned into a battlefield. The buzzword in the local game has been commercialisation and corporate governance, and it would appear the board wanted a candidate who aligns with this thinking.
But Sekgororoane might need more than his ‘problem-solving’ survival kit as he ventures into a territory he knows too well can be welcoming but not necessarily affirming.