Francistown — While it took 25 years and two parties for Phitshana to get the voters' nod, the 67-year old father of eight and grandsire of 12 is aware that he must deliver on his electioneering pledges within a much shorter time, including delivering the people of Botsalano from the dust and grime caused by truckers.

Among the virtues of a politician are the patience of a vulture and the conviction of a religious zealot.

With the financial and emotional strain involved, an opposition election candidate in Botswana needs to be a rebel with a cause to stay the course. This is especially so if the candidate has been losing elections.

The recently elected Botswana Congress Party (BCP) Councillor for Botsalano Ward in Francistown West, Khays Phitshana, cut his political teeth in 1967 when he joined the Botswana National Front (BNF) when he was in Lobatse. Subsequently, he became the Chairman of the party's Lobatse youth league.

He then briefly relocated to South Africa where he worked as a chief mechanic for an employment agency for South African gold mines. Phitshana returned to Botswana in 1971 and moved to Francistown where he replaced a South African white expatriate at Wenela as the chief mechanic. This was part of the localisation effort championed mainly by the opposition Botswana Peoples Party (BPP) then.

While in Francitown, Phitshana ran his own motor mechanic workshop where he trained many boys, some of whom would later become self-employed in the same field or joined the government's Central Transport Organisation (CTO). Because the BNF was not much visible in Francistown then , Phitshana's political activism ceased until 1976. In the meantime, he got involved with TAFA football club and later joined the Botswana Football Association as an official. Although he knew then BPP president Philip Matante well, Phitshana never joined the party.

In 1989, the Kanye born married father of eight and grandfather of 12 stood for council elections under the BNF ticket for White City Ward, which consisted of White City and Aerodrome. He lost.

Unfazed, he stood and lost again in 1994. After the BNF split in 1998, Phitshana became a founding member of the BCP. In the same year, he doubled as the party's Chairman for the Northern region and council candidate for the then Bluetown Ward. Phitshana is the current Constituency Chairman, but he intends to relinquish now that he is a councillor.

After the creation of Botsalano Ward before the 2004 general elections, Phitshana stood for the new ward but once again lost.

The new councillor has got his job clearly cut for him. Botsalano is a low cost neighbourhood. With rampant unemployment and poverty, alcohol abuse is the order of the day. Crime levels are high. Houses here are prone to flooding due to a poor drainage system. Streetlights are not enough either. Nor are there any public toilets, a situation that, coupled with excessive littering, puts a major strain on the environment.

In a recent interview, Phitshana admitted that there are many challenges ahead. Counting on the support of all stakeholders, however, he hopes to succeed. His priority list includes ensuring that recreational facilities such as parks are built in his ward.

The construction of a short-cut road linking Botsalano and the cemetery at Gerald is also on his priority list. He wants a bridge linking Botsalano and Area W. He will not rest before the trucks that park just outside Aerodrome are banned because they raise endless dust and grime for the community. The fact that there is no multi-purpose hall here worries the councillor, too. The level of political illiteracy is very high in Botsalano. It is common to find people whose number of membership cards equals the number of political parties active here. This means that many people are capable of taking part in the primary elections of all existing parties in the ward. Such lack of proper ideological orientation worries the councillor.

Voters are easily available for manipulation by unscrupulous candidates who offer them alcohol and other forms of 'largesse'. It is worth noting, however, that very often the candidates get manipulated big time by the more streetwise voter who will produce the relevant membership card when the situation demands.

It took 25 years for Phitshana, to convince the voters that he has what it takes to represent them at council level. He is aware that while the community has eventually recognised his patience, it will expect him to deliver within a much shorter period of time. He has a short five years to deliver on his campaign pledges.

Indeed, like all other candidates, Phitshana made pledges, some of them very general. In the run-up to the elections, Phitshana would be heard from his mobile freedom square in the form of a one-ton Bantam van in the wee hours of the morning pronounce: "Ga ke robale ka lebaka la mathata a lona. Ntlhopheng, nka dira botoka." He would then provocatively drive past the homes of his opponents. While this exercise angered some people, it amused others. Apparently it impressed the majority of voters who gave him the nod on October 16.