Former President Lt. General Dr. Seretse Khama claims he is in South Africa as a long-term tourist after fleeing to the neighbouring country in 2021 as a result of an acrimonious dispute with his successor President Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi. The former president made the comments while giving a keynote speech at the prestigious Fort Hare University Alice campus in South Africa in front of dignitaries from the religious, political, economic, and civic sectors.
“Of course it helps that I have been here in South Africa in recent times. Some of you may have heard why I am here. I am here as a long-term tourist. And I am here with other tourists, my brother [Tshekedi Khama] – a member of parliament in Botswana,” said former president Khama.
These comments are diametrically opposed to what he said in 2021. The former president stated at the time that he was not in exile in South Africa or attempting to avoid arrest in Botswana, but was instead attending meetings. Despite threats to arrest him and security agency searches at his home, Khama stated that he would return to Botswana as soon as possible, but never did. He insisted that his successor, President Masisi, had been pursuing him through state institutions since their relationship soured. Furthermore, the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) in March 2022 said “Secretary General Hon. Tshekedi Stanford Khama is in South Africa to brief the party Patron and his brother HE Lt. General. Dr. Seretse Khama Ian Khama. Hon. Khama is in the company of elders who are also in South Africa to brief the former President on the latest developments”.
Among other things, Khama reiterated his support for the Vice Chancellor and his team in their anti-corruption initiatives in his remarks at Fort Hare. He claimed that there is no vaccine for the corruption epidemic.
“It originates from the top of any sector. And if it originates from top of the private sector or the public sector, that highest level of leadership must cease to exist,” he said. Among other things, he said corruption driven “by greed if not aggressively confronted will spread and take hold across all sectors of society and the economy.”
Although he acknowledged that South Africans are very nice, hospitable, and accepting, he expressed concern over the country’s high rate of rapes, killings, violent crimes, and corruption. He emphasised the need to turn to our religious leaders and to put faith in God.
Following a string of violent assaults on Fort Hare’s staff in recent months that resulted in the deaths of two people, religious leaders conducted a prayer service at the university’s Alice Campus. Vice-Chancellor Sakhela Buhlungu claims that the institution has been under siege as a result of assassination attempts by criminals motivated by a desire to execute employees for their efforts to combat corruption.
Ambassador Bridgette Motsepe, the daughter of Chief Augustine Butana Chaane Motsepe, a renowned University alumnus; Dr. Frank Chikane, a South African civil servant, author, and cleric, and Bishop Paul Veryn, Minister of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, were among the dignitaries present.
