Two Fridays ago at an Old Naledi rally Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) President Ian Khama thanked the residents for voting the party to parliament, helping BDP to reclaim Gaborone South in the 2009 General Elections. He was in a lively mood, after all under him the ruling party had finally broken the opposition's stranglehold on the constituency, that iconic of constituencies that Botswana National Front legend Kenneth Koma was said to have called his political bunker. Speaking at the rally, organised by the BDP Women's Wing, he told the packed audience that soon "you will see a lot of developments in Old Naledi. The whole area will be developed. I will come here in the next few weeks to come and you will see," said Khama. A very good speech, especially for the residents of Old Naledi who have not just been accustomed to life under opposition but a life riddled with poverty, unemployment and general squalor. It was clear that Khama was striking the right notes but however developments this week have seen the constituency recording what is arguably the biggest number of defections in Botswana's political history. A reported 1,600 BDP faithful in Gaborone South have left the party to join the rival Botswana Movement for Democracy. What could have really happened for the party so soon after striking at the heart of the BNF? Despondency runs deep in Old Naledi and the target is mostly the ruling party. "I am done with BDP and as we speak I have left for the BMD. The cost of living keeps on going high. The price of food, utilities and the like is skyrocketing. I just heard that even fuel prices have gone up. The BDP government is not helping us at all. The good pillars in the Vision 2016 are not being utilised to help us live a better life. It (Vision 2016) was just a promise, it will never be used to improve things," says 19 year-old Keitumetse Nchimane of Old Naledi. "Nna ke ta ba neela karata ya bone, Party e ya ga Ian Khama e bokoa (I will give back my membership card to the BDP, Khama's party is now weak). Even the economy is not sound. The BDP government has announced a VAT increase and this has seen a lot of prices going up.
That is why I am leaving the BDP," says 27-year-old Mosimanegape. Another Old Naledi resident, Boineelo Maiketso said he is also of the view that the time has come to leave the ruling party for BMD. Bateng Sejoe, 25 year-old resident of Old Naledi explained that Barata-Phathi are running away from the BDP because for all the time it has been in government, it has failed to develop lives of Batswana, especially in Old Naledi. "We are unemployed and spend time roaming around. They increased VAT yet they knew that workers' wages have not been increased. Maybe Barata-Phathi will help us. Please note that I have surrendered my card to the vice-chairman of the Gaborone South branch (Daniel Mokgatla) so that he can hand it to the party secretariat," he says.In Bontleng, 53-year-old Eva Robert says she was leaving for the Botswana Movement for Democracy blaming area MP, Kagiso Molatlhegi for her disillusionment with the BDP. She revealed that she joined the party in 1979 as a youngster and went on to participate in its choirs and worked for the party in different capacities. She faults Molatlhegi for making false promises and failing to deliver them. "My problem unlike some people is not Khama, but my MP. Towards the elections he asked me to gather 52 women and get them to contribute P30 each promising he would come back in three months to help us set up a supermarket. I got them together and when I told him we were ready, he simply said he was busy with campaigns for elections. Later on he made a similar promise, this time saying he would ask a certain prominent BDP businessman to finance us, but still he failed to give us any meaningful feedback," says Robert. Robert said that during campaigns for the 2009 general elections, Molatlhegi hired her to help in mobilising people to support and vote for him but failed to pay afterwards. "We used to work day and night, waking up early in the morning every day to visit all the five wards but after winning the elections he refused to pay us. So I am going to BMD," she adds. Tebogo Mokgatla, who resigned from her position of BDP branch youth chairperson said she is leaving the party after realising that in her constituency, A-team people are given preferential treatment even when they are in the wrong. "At BDP we used to try to work with the A-Team people but it was tough. We have gone to BMD to seek freedom. For long we have tried to protect this party at our cost but we think we have had enough," she says. However there are those who have sworn allegiance to the BDP and insisted that no matter what happens they will stick with their party. An elderly woman who did not want to give her name, said "ga ke tsewe ke pheho (I am not easily moved). I don't know what these BMD people are talking about. They should come here and explain why wrong is happening in my party which I know to be a peaceful one," she urges. Another BDP faithful who swears she will not defect is Agnes Morewagae. She said "I don't know why these people would want to leave a party as great as the BDP," says Morewagae, an Old Naledi resident. Explaining the defections, Daniel Mokgatla, who resigned from the vice-chairmanship of the branch and the party in general accused the current BDP leadership of practicing selective discipline. "I worked for this party since 1986 when I was a young boy here in Old Naledi and have decided to leave the party after realising that Barata-Phathi are not appreciated for their contribution in the party," says Mokgatla. For his part, area MP, Molatlhegi said he has long known that Mokgatla and his fellow Barata-Phathi are against him adding "I also know that Mokgatla mobilised people to vote for an opposition party candidate so that I could lose.
