Botes worked as the party's provincial head of policy, research and analysis between 1999 and 2009, for a full decade.

[3] In June 2013, he was appointed MEC for Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs by newly elected premier Sylvia Lucas.

[5] He was sworn in as a Member of the National Assembly in February 2018, after initially refusing to be redeployed.

[6][7] In May 2019, president Cyril Ramaphosa appointed him Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.

[8] Botes stood unsuccessfully for re-election as a member of the ANC NEC at the party's 55th National Conference held in December 2022.