The BNF slapped Rannatshe with a one-year suspension after he defeated Murray Dipate in the primary elections. The party declared Dipate as its candidate in the constituency and Rannatshe went to court to challenge the decision. He got a reprieve this week when Justice Steven Gaongalelwe declared him the BNF parliamentary candidate for Kweneng South in the forthcoming general elections.
The judge set aside the ruling of the BNF National Elections Appeals Committee, which ordered a re-run of the primary elections in the constituency. He also set aside the decision of the party to suspend Rannatshe, ruling that the move was unlawful. The judge said the BNF did not show impartiality when it ordered a re-run even before Dipate's appeal had been adjudicated upon. Gaongalelwe said that as if that was not enough, the party president Otsweletse Moupo launched Dipate as the parliamentary candidate for the constituency before the appeal was heard. He said Dipate's appeal was not filed in terms of the laid down procedure and it follows that the decision of the National Election Appeals Committee which directed a re-run is a nullity as there was no case. The judge dismissed the BNF's argument in the court case that Rannatshe had not exploited all the channels within the party to appeal his suspension. He asserted that the courts have made pronouncements that the mere fact that there is provision for internal remedies in parties is not sufficient to show that recourse to the courts should be barred.
