Job offer forces Seboko out of BPP
Chakalisa Dube | Tuesday December 6, 2016 15:38
In what can be considered a shocking move, Seboko officially announced that he has quit active politics over the weekend through a letter published in the media.
The Kanye-born politician was elected the BPP SG in July this year, less than a year after joining the party.
Seboko cited the desire to allot more time to his wife and three children as the main reason behind his decision to quit active politics.
Now the BPP believes that a job offer might have forced Seboko to step down from politics.
“On Tuesday last week, Seboko hinted to me that he has been offered a job in an organisation that requires him not to be politically affiliated. We suspect that he has quit politics to take his new job,” BPP president Motlatsi Molapise said yesterday. Molapise said that if indeed Seboko quit politics to take a new job, it is understandable because politics in the country is not fairly rewarding most of the times. He maintained that Seboko is still young and has to invest for the future.
Molapise added: “His departure has left a huge gap within the party. He was spearheading our re-branding initiative and we were on the right track. We will build on what he has left. We still have youngsters within our structures who will continue where he has left”.
The BPP president said that the party national executive committee would meet on Saturday to appoint an interim secretary general before a substantive appointment is made.
In the meantime, said Molapisi, the deputy secretary general Otlaadisa Otlaadisa has been appointed the acting SG.
Seboko has however denied receiving any job offer. “What I told the president is that I cannot be in politics forever. I quit politics to avail myself to serve in the professional space. I have not received any concrete job offers,” Seboko said.
He said he quit politics because it is difficult to attract employers when one is politically affiliated. Since joining the BPP, Seboko’s political credentials have often been questioned by many within the party.
Some members even accused Seboko of spying for the Directorate of Intelligence Services, a speculation that the party strongly shot down.
Seboko also said that the negativity surrounding his membership did not influence him to quit politics.
“Being from Kanye and joining a regional party (mostly with its roots in the north) like the BPP, I expected my membership to face stiff opposition from the party members,” he said.