By Staff reporter

An MDC official has revealed that his party has received about US$100 000, from a South African businessman whom he named but whose name will not be published until his confirmation or denial of the contents of this report has been secured.

According to the MDC source, the money was given to an MDC official who recently participated in the election campaign of the opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), which is fighting to wrestle power from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party.

 The MDC official added that the same businessman had funded the UDC. More funding for the two parties is expected as both the MDC and the UDC have promised the businessman huge mining concessions and opportunities in the economies of their respective countries.

A South African political commentator, who knows the businessman, has observed that the said businessman has avidly studied state capture strategies and intends to apply them in the SADC region. The MDC official boasted that the Umbrella for Democratic Change, which he said could come into Government in Botswana through a coalition, would reverse the Botswana Democratic Party’s proclivity towards Pan Africanism and prop up opposition parties in “selected SADC countries”.

The US$100 000 donated to the MDC was, according to the MDC source, only the first installment from the benevolent businessman. Most of the money was in cash with the remainder deposited into the foreign accounts of MDC officials.

Our research has revealed that a senior MDC leader, Murisi Zwizwai, was in Botswana during the time of the UDC’s rallies in Gaborone and other parts of Botswana. Efforts to get information from him were fruitless.