How we are governed

The Royal Bafokeng Nation is part of South Africa, and subject to the South African constitution. We are governed by indigenous law, as well as by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Our hybrid governance system allows deep community participation and wide accountability in how we administer our plans and funds.


The Nation is a group of over 100 000 Setswana-speaking people, living on our ancestral land, in 29 villages and peri-urban areas. Our Nation also include tens of thousands of Bafokeng living outside our borders. Each Mofokeng derives his or her status as Bafokeng via membership of one of our 72 Makgotla, or clans. Each clan is led by a hereditary leader, (Kgosana), aided by his wife and a team of Makgotla-based office-bearers. As a collective, the 72 traditional leaders constitute the Council of Dikgosana. We also have a body of elected and appointed leaders, which we call the Traditional Council. They are a group of 18 leaders, representing various regions in our Nation, who each serve for a five-year period. When the Traditional Council meets in plenary with the Council of Dikgosana, we call this the Supreme Council. This is the body that sets our policy directives for the Nation.


Certain categories of decisions are referred to our Kgothakgothe, an open meeting for all adult Bafokeng – which is normally held twice a year.


The decisions and policies are executed by our administrative institutions, these are the RBA (the Administration), the RBI (Education), and the RBED (Enterprise Development).