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The Kingdom
History & Population
The People of the Dew
Bafokeng (People of the Dew) numbers roughly 300 000 people. About 160 000 live in an area some 150 km North West of Johannesburg, South Africa, with the balance scattered primarily throughout South Africa. They have retained their unique cultural identity and traditional leadership structures and are led by a hereditary Kgosi (king), currently Kgosi Leruo Molotlegi.
Bafokeng are descendants of the Sotho-Tswana people that just over a thousand years ago travelled southwards from Central Africa over a period of 200 years. A substantial portion of the people settled in the area now incorporated into the countries of Botswana and Zimbabwe. Bafokeng, however continued traveling south before finally settling in the 12th century in an area known as the Rustenburg valley where the community remained relatively stable.
The mining of the South African diamond started in the 1860s. Thousands of fortune seekers from around the world flocked to Cape Town, the capital of the British governed Cape colony, before undertaking the 1500 km trek north of the arid western and Northern Cape to the mining town of Kimberly.
At the same time Afrikaner farmers (Boers) seeking to escape British rule started to settle in Rustenburg valley. They ignored the traditional rights of ownership enjoyed by the Bafokeng and started to survey and register farms. Kgosi Mokgatle, great, great, great, great grand father of the current Kgosi, realized that owner ship of the traditional Bafokeng lands was likely to be seized. In a remarkable act of foresight and collective sacrifice, he ordered units of young RBN men to walk to Kimberly to work and earn money that was accumulated in a central community fund. As funds were generated, Kgosi sought out the help of Lutheran missionaries to front the Bafokeng and buy up farms in the area. Some 900 hectares, or two thirds of the land currently owned by the Bafokeng, was acquired in this way over a twenty year period. Today, the Bafokeng continue to acquire land in the area.
In the 1920s, geologist Hans Merensky discovered in the Rustenburg valley the surface out crop of arguably the world's greatest ore body, known as the Bushveld Igneous Complex. In particular, substantial reserves of Platinum Group Metals (PGMSs) such as platinum, ferrochrome, rhodium and palladium were discovered on land owned by RBN.
Over the next 70 years, various attempts were made by the governments of the day, aided and assisted by the major mining companies, to dispossess RBN of their land rights. All were ultimately unsuccessful and the mining companies thereafter agreed to pay royalties to the RBN in exchange for the right to mine on RBN land.
For many years, RBN leadership was in conflict with the national and regional governments. The authorities retaliated by neglecting the development of the region. RBN therefore spend practically all of the royalty income received on infrastructure. During the past two decades, more than two billion of communal wealth has been invested in regional infrastructure such as roads, and bridges, water reticulation and reservoirs, electricity supply extensions, schools, clinics, civic buildings and sports facilities.
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Facts and Features
POPULATION: 300 000 (160 000 living in the area)
AREA: 1 400 km² land owned by RBN
LARGEST TOWN: Phokeng (150km from Johannesburg)
GEOGRAPHY: Rolling bushveld plains broken by small hills
CLIMATE: Temperate with hot summers and cool winters
NATURAL RESOURCES: Platinum and associated minerals
INDUSTRIES: Mining, engineering and tourism
EXPORTS: Base and precious metals
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Flag
THE ROYAL BAFOKENG NATION
The Crocodile is the logo of the Royal Bafokeng people. The posture of the crocodile denotes movement towards water, which the Bafokeng people believe to be a sign of contentment. This results in a common expression used in meetings: a e wele mo metsing (idiomatically translated as "let there be peace".) The crocodile is the genealogical totem of the Basotho-Batswana people, who include the Bafokeng. The crocodile is depicted by other Basotho-Batswana groups with its mouth open. The Bafokeng have always depicted their crocodile with its mouth shut.
There is no historical explanation for this, but Bafokeng people enjoy the reason given in recent times by a member of the royal family who said, "We have always kept our mouths shut".
How the crocodile became the totem of Basotho-Batswana, and Bafokeng, people is also obscure. Whatever the reason, as a menacing presence in their rivers, the crocodile loomed large in early Bafokeng life.
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National Emblem
The Crocodile is the logo of the Royal Bafokeng Nation. The posture of the crocodile denotes movement towards water, which the Bafokeng people believe to be a sign of contentment. This results in a common expression used in meetings: a e wele mo metsing (idiomatically translated as "let there be peace".) The crocodile is the genealogical totem of the Sotho-Tswana peoples, who include the Bafokeng. The crocodile is depicted by other Sotho-Tswana groups with its mouth open. The Bafokeng have always depicted their crocodile with its mouth shut.
There is no historical explanation for this, but Bafokeng people enjoy the reason given in recent times by a member of the royal family who said, "we have always kept our mouths shut". How the crocodile became the totem of Sotho-Tswana, and Bafokeng, people is also obscure. Whatever the reason, as a menacing presence in their rivers, the crocodile loomed large in early Bafokeng life.
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The King
PROFILE OF KGOSI LERUO MOLOTLEGI
Kgosi Leruo Molotlegi is the leader of the 300 000 strong Royal Bafokeng Nation based in Phokeng in the North West Province of South Africa. He is the 36th King of the Bafokeng and the 15th direct descendent of a long lineage of the Bafokeng kings.
Under the leadership of Kgosi Leruo Molotlegi, the Royal Bafokeng Supreme Council has embarked on a mission of providing the Bafokeng Community with all basic human needs to provide continued promotion of respect and enhancement of Bafokeng culture and economic self-sufficiency.
Based on this idea, the Royal Bafokeng, Supreme Council and Kgosi have a vision: "To develop themselves to be a self-sufficient community by the second decade of the 21st Century.
Kgosi has three siblings, two sisters and one brother. Kgosi Leruo is a former member of the Implats board, the world second largest platinum producer and now sits in the newly established Royal Bafokeng Resources (RBR) as a non-Executive Director. RBR is a wholly owned Bafokeng company. Kgosi is also the President of the Mineral Rights Association of Indigenous People of South Africa and was one of the principal negotiators in the new mining legislation, which seeks to encourage significant black participation.
Kgosi Molotlegi is an alumnus of Hilton College in Natal, South Africa. He holds a university degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from Natal University.
He is a keen sportsman and was awarded a Victor Ludorum Gold Medallion at Hilton. He is a fixed wing and rotorcraft pilot and has been appointed as an Honorary Colonel in the South African Air Force.
PROFILES OF THE KINGS
Mokgwaro George Molotlegi (1936 to 1997) was the brother of Kgosi Edward Patrick Lebone Molotlegi who ruled the Bafokeng from 1988 to 1994. During his reign, South Africa's ruling National Party had created the Bophuthatswana government as the authority over all Batswana people, including the Bafokeng. Kgosi Lebone's opposition to the move brought him into conflict with the then Bophuthatswana "president", Lucas Mangope, who detained the Bafokeng king and harassed him until he was forced to flee to neighbouring Botswana.
Mangope then recognized Mokgwaro George Molotlegi as Kgosi of the Bafokeng. This situation prevailed until 1994 when Mangope was forced out of power with the advent of democracy in this country.
This enabled Kgosi Lebone to return to Phokeng and to once again lead his people. His return was marked by tumultuous celebrations, but they were short lived as Kgosi Lebone passed away in November 1995. The would-be Kgosi Mokgwaro George Molotlegi returned to his home in the area and remained there until his death in December 1997. The grave of Nkolomane Mzelikaze (more commonly spelled Mzilikazi). Nkolomane was the son of the Zulu warrior, Mzilikazi, who challenged the might of the legendary Zulu king, Shaka, and was forced to flee, gathering supporters as he moved inland and finally conquering Bafokeng and surrounding tribes in the 1820s.
He was defeated by white settlers, known as the Boers, with the support of Bafokeng and other peoples. He fled to what is now known as southern Zimbabwe where he built the Ndebele nation.
Nkolomane stayed on in Phokeng where he was buried in August 1883. His lone grave can be found in a residential area in Phokeng and is clearly sign-posted from the town's main street.
The inscription on the grave simply reads: The King of Matebele Nkolomane Mzelikaze died 1883 August 21.
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Kgosi Mokgatle
Morwa wa Kgosi Thete
O busitse ka 1834 - 1891 |
Kgosi Tumagole
Morwa wa Kgosi Mokgatle
O busitse ka 1891 - 1896
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Kgosi Molotlegi
Morwa wa Kgosi Tumagole
O busitse ka 1896 - 1938
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Kgosi Manotshe Molotlegi
Morwa wa Kgosi Molotlegi
O busitse ka 1938 - 1956
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Kgosi Edward Lebone
Morwa wa Kgosi Manotshe Molotlegi
O busitse ka 1956 - 1995 |
Kgosi Mollwane Boikanyo Molotlegi
Morwa wa Kgosi Lebone Molotlegi
O busitse ka 1995 - 2000 |
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Map
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