Incumbency bolsters UDC in Sefhophe
Ryder Gabathuse | Monday September 28, 2026 10:10
The seat of the site of Batalaote of Sefhophe or Sefophe if you like, became vacant following the passing of the former ward councilllor, Christopher Motsholapheko of the ruling Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) in July after a short illness.
Attention has never been so much on the sleepy village, which is surrounded by Mogapi, Tobane and Mogapinyana villages.
It is located along the A 12 road 27 km from Selebi-Phikwe and about 342 km from Gaborone.
The village has produced some of the country’s finest politicians including the retired former vice president, Ponatshego Kedikilwe of the former ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and the current Minister for State President, Defence and Security Moeti Mohwasa.
Sefhophe and other outlying villages for the longest time relied on BCL for employment and to a large extent subsistence farming which brought food to the villagers’ tables.
Due to the village’s proximity to the now ailing town, Sefhophe was well connected in terms of accessing shopping, available job opportunities in Selebi-Phikwe including health and other goodies.
Now, the village is feeling the pain following the closure of BCL, the country’s former copper/nickel mine that created jobs and other opportunities not only for the villagers but the entire country. Sefhophe has no industries that can create jobs except a few agro-based activities that can only afford to employ a few villagers, with Selebi-Phikwe remaining the only hope.
Unfortunately, the former mining town has reached its lowest moment since the closure of the mine.
And Sefhophe is not the only village around Selebi-Phikwe competing for attention from the ‘dying’ town.
There is Mogapi, Mogapinyana, Mmadinare, Tobane and many others including Bobonong, the Bobirwa headquarters located nearly 82 km away.
According to the 2011 population and housing census, Sefhophe had recorded a population of about 6,062 people.
In political demarcations, Sefhophe is a ward in the Mmadinare constituency which was marginally won by the UDC in 2024.
Before the UDC won the historical 2024 General Election, opposition parties were blamed for splitting the votes to give the BDP advantage.
Results of the 2024 polls show that main rivalry is between the UDC and the opposition Botswana Congress Party (BCP).
Sefhophe results show that the UDC won via 898 votes, followed by the BCP with 736 votes, BDP on position three with 566 votes while the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) trailed via 189 votes.
Whilst the ward is a UDC/BCP affair, the BDP remains in the mix. One of the worrying developments currently is that some Botswana National Front (BNF) members have raised complaints about due process not being followed in the selection of a suitable candidate.
UDC direct members also claimed that the ward is theirs, while the BNF said the ward belongs to them. The UDC leadership recently had to send a delegation to Sefhophe to resolve the matter.
It is clear there is tension in the UDC camp as the coalition has been allowing some of its members to contest elections as direct members and that is, not directly drawn from any of the party’s affiliate members.
The 2024 General Election results reflect that the contest might be three-way race, of course with two front runners, the UDC and BCP. But, the UDC remains the incumbent to beat, worriedly with a small margin.
A few factors might provide a clue as to who might win the ward. The UDC’s main advantage might be incumbency and the fact that the ruling coalition is even in government and it is awash with the requisite resources that might help it steal the moment.
In politics, as they say, there is no prize for coming second. Notwithstanding this, the BCP has been sampling its chances and it knows very well that the UDC has been mobilising enormously.
There is a theory that the BCP can only benefit from the votes of the BDP diehards if they choose to rally behind a fellow opposition.
However, this is unlikely since the BDP is on a warpath to recovery after a bad performance that saw it ousted from power.
So, the BDP might play’ kingmaker’ role depending on what it prefers on the day. Just for emphasis and on paper the UDC starts ahead and a possible united BCP.
In fact, the party that manages internal unity at the polls will have the best chance.
Mmadinare constituency legislator, Ketlhalefile Motshegwa is upbeat ahead of the by-election.
The said given the quality of their candidate, Thabiso Focus Galebotse who has served in the public service extensively, they will pocket the seemingly competitive by-election.
BCP candidate is Mokwaledi Bagwasi, BDP parades Same Senkanang- Ditshotlo whilst the BPF contests with another former senior civil servant, Loeto Porati.
In terms of quality of the candidates there is no doubt that Sefhophe fields some of the village’s very best politicians.
Batalaote
The villagers are popularly known as Batalaote of Mabethela with their totem as the heart or pelo in the vernacular.
Like many villages in that area, it was built around hills for protection during tribal wars. Life there is quiet and low-profile built around cattle post culture and extended family line.
How is Sefhophe surviving post the collapse of mining at BCL Mine? Post the closure of the BCL Mine in 2016 that had anchored the economy of the Selebi-Phikwe town, Sefhophe is still considered as resilient.
But it has lost income from the mining opportunities where villagers also enjoyed crumbs falling from the bigger economic table.
Today, those in the know hail the village to have however, kept its strong community support system. It is common cause that many people reside in Sefhophe and commute to Selebi-Phikwe, which is just about 16 km away.
The villagers were however, forced to go back to their roots into mainly subsistence agriculture, small businesses and other opportunities that could feed them as there are no factories in Sefhophe to create the requisite jobs.
When was Sefhophe founded and its tribal dynamics?
Journals reflect that the village doesn’t have a written founding date like many others. Save to say it is an offshoot of Mmadinare, which itself was founded around 1900 by the Batalaote when they gave up the settlement of Palapye.
Batalaote are not originally Tswana, they are Bakalanga-Banyai. Historians show that their original name was Badhalaunda and their leader was Dhalaunda and the clan was named after him.
Bangwato changed the pronounciation to Batalaote. Their first settlement in Botswana was Senyawe, a small village on a hill in the northeast.
As of 2010 Batalaote are still in Senyawe. From Senyawe they scattered to scour for greener pastures, intertribal marriages and wars.
Today, there are Batalaote in Plumtree, Matopos, Serowe, Mmadinare, Makaleng and Bobirwa. First settlers in Sefhophe were Batalaote families from Mmadinare and Senyawe who settled near the hills around Sefhophe for their protection.
After the 1908 banishment of the royal families of Kelele and Seboo wards from Mmadinare by the colonial administration, more Batalaote families moved south and strengthened Sefhophe, Mogapi and Tobane.
It is unfortunate that for a close knit community of Batalaote of Sefhophe who are reportedly a united lot, will until October 17, witness a change as politicians continue crisscrossing their traditional village in search of votes.
Opinion is already divided that between the UDC and the BCP it is almost a cat-and-mouse affair now as politicking reaches fever pitch.
The duo is in the lead and it will take the best packaged messages to sway opinion. Between the UDC and the BCP also there is a lot at stake.
One key factor is that, a few years ago ahead of the 2024 General Election, the BCP chose to break ranks with the UDC, a tri-party coalition that currently includes Alliance for Progressives, BNF and Botswana People’s Party.
So, the UDC, will not leave anything to chance.
Winning a by-election by the UDC will be a morale booster as already the ruling party has reclaimed all the recent by-elections post 2024 General Election.
It started with a parliamentary by-election in Kgalagadi South, won Tatisiding North ward and Moreomaoto ward.
The ball is therefore, in the court of Batalaote who are in majority in their village of Sefhophe, to determine the winner in the October by-election.