The by-election was occasioned by the demise of the BDP councillor Bathusi Sekwati who won the seat with 365 votes in the 2004 general elections to edge out Motlotlegi with 73 and BCP's Arone Tlotlang with 46 votes. A delighted cabinet minister and BDP MP for Kweneng East constituency within which the ward falls, Maj-Gen Moeng Pheto said that they were happy but not really surprised by the results.
"It was a disaster for the opposition really. It was a rejection of their tactics where they just attacked the BDP without offering any alternative policies. They have been rejected," said Pheto.
The manager of the BNF campaign and MP for Kgatleng East, Isaac Mabiletsa, said the BDP has successfully defended the ward. "There is no question that this is a BDP stronghold but we know that from the last elections, their number has fallen and we have increased our votes.
"We moved up by nine votes," said Mabiletsa. Ironically, the BDP got less votes than the 2004 elections, while all the opposition realised an increase. The BDP was down by nine votes, the same number that the BNF increased its tally from 73 to 82.
BCP registered a one vote increase while MELS went up by nine. BCP's Taolo Lucas, who was guest speaker at the last rally on the eve of the election, indicated that they had experienced problems in the campaign. "The area is vast and so for a party limited in resources, it was always going to be difficult to win.
"Added to that is the BDP's tactic of threatening to deregister people from welfare services if they voted for another party, which scared voters. This is pure intimidation. But we accept the results," said Lucas. MELS' candidate Pebe and the party president Themba Joina were not available for comment.
BDP held a rally and a party on Sunday morning to celebrate their win.
