BNF takes membership drive digital
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Wednesday August 12, 2026 06:00
The party has started rolling out digital membership registration across its 16 regional constituencies, with launches held at Klaas Motshidisi and Paul Rantao constituencies over the weekend. The initiative is part of the party’s broader efforts to strengthen its grassroots structures whilst increasing its membership base.
The BNF leadership believes that introducing digital registration will make it easier for people to join the party and access its services without having to travel long distances. Speaking in an interview on Sunday, BNF deputy secretary-general Shawn Ntlhaile said the party has set a target of registering 10,000 members across its constituencies.
“Our aim is to reach 10,000 members in all regions. Again, this is an effort to bring the party closer to people because members wanted to get other services easily without having to travel long distances. Digital membership is so easy to use, and that is why we are teaching structures on how to use it,” he said.
Ntlhaile explained that the success of the digital membership system would depend on the ability of regional and constituency structures to use the platform effectively. He said the party was therefore training its structures on how to complete the digital registration forms so that they could subsequently assist members within their respective areas. “If regional and constituency structures know how to use or fill forms digitally, then they will teach members,” he said.
Furthermore, Ntlhaile said the target of reaching 10,000 members was based on a resolution adopted by BNF members during the party’s conference in Jwaneng, where digital membership registration was officially launched.
According to him, members responded positively to the initiative, prompting the central committee to begin taking the programme to different regions to ensure that it is fully implemented.
“The members embraced it; hence the party Central Committee has started touring regions to launch it so that it gets used,” Ntlhaile said.
He said the digital registration campaign would not only simplify the process of joining the party but would also contribute to building a stronger and more organised membership database.
Meanwhile, Ntlhaile said the party had also commenced a membership drive across all its structures as part of efforts to expand its presence at grassroots level.
He said increasing membership was essential to the BNF’s ambitions of becoming a stronger political organisation, adding that the party needed to have active and growing structures in all areas.
“For BNF to become strong, it has to grow in all areas. We have revived all party structures; now we want numbers in every ward, cells, constituencies and regions,” he said.
Ntlhaile said the revival of party structures had created a foundation for the next phase of the BNF’s organisational development, which would now focus on increasing membership numbers.
He added that having functional structures alone was not sufficient, as the party also needed a substantial membership base to sustain its activities and strengthen its presence in communities.
Consequently, the BNF is placing greater emphasis on grassroots mobilisation while using technology to improve its internal systems. The leadership believes that digital registration will help remove some of the barriers that previously made it difficult for prospective members to register or access party services.
The initiative also comes as political parties increasingly seek to use technology to improve communication, administration, and engagement with their supporters.
For the BNF, however, the immediate priority is to ensure that the digital system reaches members in all constituencies and that party structures have the necessary skills to operate it.