DIS can actually emcee BPF meetings that Khama video-conferences into

The merciful view to take is that when the South African-based founder and patron of the Botswana Patriotic Front, Ian Khama, couldn’t establish virtual connection with the party faithful at a national congress in Botswana, that was a mere technical glitch. The latter view would be bolstered by the fact that the connection was later restored and Khama was able to address the congress from either an undisclosed location in South Africa – or Hyde Park as Julius Malema has claimed. The less merciful view is that the Directorate of Intelligence Services (DIS) purposefully fiddled with the audio feed from South Africa. Whatever the case, the government (and by extension DIS) is in full control of telecommunications traffic that flows in and out of Botswana. That reality could portend problem for Khama, BPF and the opposition collective that the party has aligned itself with as the 2024 general election season gets underway.

For close to two years now, Khama has been living in South Africa, first as an exile and now as a fugitive from the law. He has been associated with four residential addresses: a farm along the Botswana/South Africa which was his first port of call when he fled in November 2021; the Bafokeng royal palace in Phokeng whose principal residents are blood relatives; Zimbali Estate, an exclusive luxury resort in Durban; and Hyde Park, South Africa’s most exclusive suburb which is modelled after the original and even more exclusive Hyde Park in London. It was Malema, the hot-headed leader of the opposition Economic Freedom Front, who revealed the latter location. Malema is himself a Hyde Park resident.