Botswana National Front members are divided over Party President Duma Boko’s decision to join the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) delegation attending the South African Democratic Alliance DA Federal Congress in Tshwane.
Boko, Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) President Sidney Pilane and Secretary General Gilbert Mangole left Friday for what the DA touted as “the most important congress in the DA’s history”.
The DA is an ally of the DA and both are members of the African Liberal Network and the Liberal International.
The BNF on the other hand is a historical friend of the ruling African National Congress and the South African Communist Party (SACP). The trio pursues leftist politics and are members of Socialist International.
Scores of BNF Central Committee members are understood to have tried in vain to dissuade Boko from attending the DA event, worried that it may rile the ANC and the SACP.
Among the biggest promoters of the fraternal relationship between the BNF, ANC and SACP is BNF Secretary General Moeti Mohwasa.
Boko is understood to have joined the delegation as President of UDC not BNF and as a courtesy to DA President Mmusi Mosimane who was the keynote speaker at the recent UDC congress. The BCP on the other hand was left out. Fresh fault lines have emerged in the UDC with the BNF aligning with the BMD.
