Pule garnered 1, 472 followed by Lucas Kgosi’s 1, 363 votes and Pakiso Pule got a paltry 127 votes. Just before the elections were postponed to the following day owing to delay with voters’ rolls production, Pule and Kgosi met where the minister lamented to Kgosi that he should have allowed him to stand unopposed. He seemed like a man under pressure. It would seem like he felt like his time as a legislator could come to an end. Speaking to Mmegi ahead of the postponement, Pule expressed frustration at the whole process. But, he wanted to get it done and over with. He was ready to wake his voters up at night and get them to polling stations. “It is so frustrating that we have worked very hard preparing for these elections and now the voters’ roll is delaying. I am, however, hopeful they will arrive and we go on to vote without postponing the elections. I also hope the party will take action against whoever is responsible for this mess,” he said. While traversing the constituency, Mmegi learnt from some BDP members that Pule was a target of protest votes. Some party members who voted for Kgosi told Mmegi that it was in protest that he contributed to vetting out of their desired candidate Modise Ncube, Matebele-Ramodibe councillor and deputy council chairperson for Kgatleng District Council.
“We wanted to vote for Ncube, but Pule convinced the South East Region to vet him out. Pule accused him of campaigning before time and in protest most people decided to rally behind Kgosi,” a source said. BDP South East Region chairperson, Mompati Pheto, dismissed claims that Ncube was unfairly vetted out. He said due processes were followed. On Sunday night as results started pouring in, it would seem like Kgosi was going to win. The indication was from the fact that council candidates who backed him were winning. Even as parliamentary numbers started pouring in from the nine wards, Kgosi started off by winning Modipane East, Matebele-Ramodibe, Oodi East, Oodi West, Dikwididi-Mabalane and Modipane West. This gave him and his team hope that they would win the constituency. Indeed some even posted on social media declaring him a winner, little did they know that Pule would come back strong. He won Malolwane, Mathubudukwane-Ramonaka-Sikwane and Oliphant’s Drift-Ramotlabaki otherwise known at the River villages with huge numbers that led to him being declared a winner coming from behind.
Even after Mmegi posted the results, some Kgatleng East residents expressed shock that Pule had won. While some ministers were defeated over the weekend, Pule will be left smiling with high chances of making it to Parliament as the opposition parties in the constituency are at war with each other. Pule won the constituency in 2019 with 12, 608 votes trailed by the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC)’s Moagi Molebatsi with 7, 153 votes and Diane Moagi of Alliance for Progressives (AP) got 550 votes. Going into 2024 General Election, the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) has bolted out of the coalition and there has been an unending internal bickering between the UDC partners, the Botswana Peoples Party (BPP) and the Alliance for Progressives (AP) in the constituency, which could result in Pule benefiting from the fights. This is provided he makes peace with democrats gunning for his skull. Stephen Makhura will attempt to win the constituency for the BCP while Nono Kgafela will represent the UDC.
