While some party leaders and members expressed displeasure after their president, Mephato Reatile, announced that he had used his powers to pull out the party from the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) earlier this year, the members have now instituted legal proceedings demanding answers. Party members Mmapula Amos, Boatametse Nthobogang and Rajaba Lekgaba have instituted legal proceedings against the party, Reatile and secretary-general, Lawrence Ookeditse, demanding clarity on the party’s stance regarding its alliance with the UDC. Represented by Segadimo Legal Practice, the three applicants also filed supporting affidavits from members of the party central committee Catherine Sepora, Ford Moiteela, Shadrack Baaitse and Amogelang Mokwena. According to their court papers, the members want the application to be urgent and setting aside all rules of the court relating to time limits, service of process and other related matters.
They also want an order declaring Reatile's "unilateral decision to remove the BPF from membership of the UDC to constitute an unlawful violation of the party's constitution and is consequently null and void". They also seek an order directing Ookeditse to submit or cause to be submitted names of all the candidates for local government and parliamentary elections that will represent the BPF in the UDC in the 2024 General Election forthwith. In the court papers, they recount a series of events that have led to the current turmoil. The trouble, they state began on August 6, 2022, when the BPF’s National Executive Committee (NEC) met with the UDC’s NEC to discuss collaboration. During this meeting, they stated it was agreed that the BPF would join the UDC with equal representation in the UDC's NEC, and constituency and ward allocations would be determined following the Delimitation Commission Report.
