Totem Media for the Research and Planning Department of the Royal Bafokeng is a town planning unit charged with service delivery and monitoring within the Nation to ensure that infrastructure and services are in line with the community’s long-term vision.

Mining the Future

The Bafokeng Story

By Totem Media

Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd

Copyright © 2010 Royal Bafokeng Administration
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-77009-824-4

Contents

Copyright Page,
Title Page,
THE BAFOKENG STORY IS AN EXTRAORDINARY STORY,
EVEN WITH EXTRAORDINARY RESOURCES THERE ARE NO EASY ANSWERS,
IN ORDER TO CREATE YOUR FUTURE YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND YOUR PAST,
A PROUD TRADITION OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION,
CLOSING THE GENERATION GAP,
THE BAFOKENG ARE A VERY ANCIENT TRIBE BUT OUR TRUE ORIGINS ARE HOTLY DEBATED,
THE BAFOKENG ARE A VERY ANCIENT TRIBE BUT OUR TRUE ORIGINS ARE HOTLY DEBATED,
A HOT SPOT OF CONFLICTS AND CHALLENGES,
THE DIFAQANE — A TIME OF TROUBLES,
THE FATHER OF THE BAFOKENG NATION,
SHIFTS IN LAND OWNERSHIP,
SHIFTS IN POWER,
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF NEW OPPORTUNITIES,
BELIEF,
SECURING THE LAND FOR THE FUTURE,
A RELATIONSHIP OF CONVENIENCE AND CONTRADICTION,
HOSTILITIES AND LOYALTIES,
THE WISDOM OF KGOSI MOKGATLE,
MOVING INTO THE 20TH CENTURY,
LAND PURCHASES CONTINUE UNDER KGOSI AUGUST MOLOTLEGI,
SHIFTS IN LAND OWNERSHIP,
KGOSI JAMES MANOTSHE MOLOTLEGI,
KGOSI EDWARD LEBONE MOLOTLEGI,
APARTHEID,
‘HOMELAND’,
RESISTANCE: BOPHUTHATSWANA AND THE MANGOPE ERA,
MMEMOGOLO,
RESISTANCE: CHRISTOPHER MAKGALE,
RESISTANCE: ROCKY MALEBANE-METSING,
RESISTANCE: MAGGIE BOPALOMO,
THE BAFOKENG TRIBE VS. IMPALA LTD,
A HISTORIC JOINT VENTURE: BAFOKENG RASIMONE PLATINUM MINE,
KGOSI MOLLWANE LEBONE BOIKANYO MOLOTLEGI II FROM TRIBE TO NATION,
THE CHALLENGE OF SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA,
BAFOKENG CULTURE IS A LIVING CULTURE,
KGOSI LERUO TSHEKEDI MOLOTLEGI,
THE FUTURE WILL LOOK VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHERE WE ARE NOW,
EDUCATION,
LEBONE II, COLLEGE OF THE ROYAL BAFOKENG: A CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE,
PRESERVING BAFOKENG IDENTITY,
HOW DID WE LOSE SO MUCH OF OUR MATERIAL CULTURE?,
Once you know yourself you can fulfil history,
Stand up and do it for yourself!,
A picture is worth a thousand words,
Finding a voice,
THE POWER OF SPORT TO UNIFY A NATION,
THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF DEVELOPMENT,
HEALTH,
FOOD SECURITY,
ENVIRONMENT,
THE VALUE AND THE CHALLENGE BROUGHT BY MIGRANT LABOUR,
I was prepared to spend time to build my business,
Being an inventor takes a lot of patience,
BECOMING AN EXAMPLE OF THE BEST AFRICA HAS TO OFFER,
BIBLIOGRAPHY,
PICTURE CREDITS,
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS,

CHAPTER 1

THE BAFOKENG STORY IS AN EXTRAORDINARY STORY

Our ancestors have achieved extraordinary things that continue to inspire us to imagine an extraordinary future. As a result of their foresight we own an extraordinary piece of land. Some of our elders tell us that we chose a valley that gathered heavy dew during the night. This dew was interpreted as a promise of a fertile land and prosperous future. This is why we are called Bafokeng, the people of the dew. Our name is a promise, a future foretold.

The land has been good to us. It has offered fertile soil for grazing and agriculture. It has even offered up its mineral riches to us. Running under it is the richest known reserve of platinum in the world. We are a small community, but the wisdom of our ancestors and the fortune of our platinum have allowed us to dream big dreams.

It has not been easy to keep our land. We have had to fight for it and work for it. All through our history we have had to resist invaders who have tried to take our land away from us.

In the mid-19th century, one of our great leaders, Kgosi (King) Mokgatle, made the decision to buy the land, even though it was already ours. He did this so that it would be ours legally in the eyes of the Boers of the Transvaal Republic.

Many Bafokeng have made sacrifices so that we could keep and enjoy our land today. In the late 1800s our young men went to work on mines to raise the money to pay for our land. Many years later, Bafokeng men and women stood together to resist the forces of apartheid that drove us into the bantustan of Bophuthatswana. We even had to fight the mining industry to keep our rights to the mineral wealth of our land. Through all of this we held on to the promise of the dew.

Today the Bafokeng people, known as the Royal Bafokeng Nation (RBN), own 1400 square kilometres of land in North West Province between the Magaliesberg Nature Reserve and Rustenburg in the south, and Sun City and the Vaalkop Nature Reserve in the north. About 300 000 people live in the territory. Just more than half are Bafokeng.

A lot changed for us when in 1999 a nine-year legal battle between the Royal Bafokeng Nation and Impala Platinum was settled out of court in favour of giving us significant platinum royalties. We have used these royalties and shares in platinum companies to create and manage community development. The Royal Bafokeng Nation ensures that all Bafokeng households, in the 29 villages, have access to water, electricity, roads, health care and education.

While platinum has given us advantages, we know that it will run out and that we cannot be dependent on platinum alone. It is very important that we diversify our economy and provide the kind of educational opportunities that will help our people enter the local, national and global economy.

The Royal Bafokeng Nation has grown into one of South Africa’s best examples of the sustainable use of mineral resources. We want our learning journey to generate models of best practice for other developing communities.

You might ask, ‘What exactly can a Bafokeng model offer communities that do not have access to the same kind of wealth?’ We do recognise that we are not like anyone else. We have unusual resources. But the model we offer others is not just about money. It is about the way we have committed ourselves to a long view of the future. It is also about the way we deliberately embrace tradition as a medium for managing conflict and change.

Some say we are lucky. But it is what we do with our luck that counts.

Through the responsible investment of our assets, the education of our people, the development of our villages, and an inspiring vision of the future, we will continue to fulfil the promise; we will continue to be the people of the dew — Bafokeng.

CHAPTER 2

EVEN WITH EXTRAORDINARY RESOURCES THERE ARE NO EASY ANSWERS

The success of platinum has created high expectations among our people, but we are learning to accept that even with our wealth there are no easy answers to the challenges of development.

If the current wealth of the Royal Bafokeng Nation was divided up among community members it would allow people to maintain their current lifestyle and expenses for the next fifty years. Then we would run out of money. For this reason wealth has to be invested on behalf of the nation and distributed strategically if it is to grow for our children’s children. For people who have needs that they want to see addressed immediately, taking the long view is not always popular.

Money cannot, on its own, ensure sustainable prosperity and success for the Bafokeng people. This requires a willingness to learn, the skills of critical and creative thinking, accountable leadership, meaningful political representation, a focus on development, a commitment to education, gender equity, opportunities for new businesses to grow, and care for the environment.

Success also requires something that has very rarely been achieved anywhere in the world — a dynamic and mutually beneficial relationship between the capitalist values of individuality and the traditional value of holding the community in higher esteem than the self. Are we foolish to believe that the two can coexist in a kind of ‘social capitalism’ where entrepreneurial drive seeks to benefit and inspire a community instead of an individual?

On the one hand, communities need schools, roads, water and street lights. On the other hand, individuals need student loans, opportunities for new businesses and career paths within our Bafokeng institutions.

We do not want to create a culture of dependency. We want to create a culture and an environment in which communities and individuals are encouraged to stand on their own feet and take control of their future.

To do this, we have embraced an integrated strategy called Vision 2020 — our plan for mining the future.

CHAPTER 3

IN ORDER TO CREATE YOUR FUTURE YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND YOUR PAST

A typical Sotho-Tswana homestead from the 1800s

Many people have said, ‘In order to create your future you need to understand your past.’

This is not always easy, as history is represented in many different ways and according to many different agendas. What we hear from historians and archaeologists does not always agree with what we have been told by our storytellers, praise singers and elders. Evidence comes to us in many different forms. There are ancient artefacts found by archaeologists and there are stories passed down through many generations. There are visual records like graveyards, photographs and video archives. There are written documents like historical records, title deeds and minutes from meetings. There are personal perspectives like published biographies and spoken eyewitness accounts. Evidence is even contained in artistic traditions like architecture and pottery. Making sense of all the evidence is one of the challenges facing us.

History is also not always positive and affirming. It may confront us with things our people did that we would rather not remember. But we don’t want to invent a version of the past that suits us or makes us look good. We want to learn from the experience of others and build on the gains of the past.

One of the things we have inherited from our ancestors is our totem, the symbol of our people — the crocodile. While some other Tswana groups also have a crocodile as their totem, our crocodile is unique because it is the only one with a closed mouth. This is usually interpreted as a symbol of peace and is linked to the way our ancestors were often diplomatic rather than antagonistic. The closed-mouth crocodile could also be read as our willingness to listen, watch and learn, instead of acting impulsively.

CHAPTER 4

A PROUD TRADITION OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

One of the things we have inherited from our ancestors is our traditional system of hereditary leadership. This system has been criticised as authoritarian, sexist and undemocratic. We think it offers some important advantages.

Our leaders cannot run away from their responsibility. They have to work with their people to address the issues of the day. They cannot benefit themselves for a term and then move on, unaccountable for the damage they have caused. They are not promoted out of their jobs when they do not perform. Our hereditary leaders, like the Kgosi (King) and the dikgosana (traditional headmen), are ‘leaders for life’.

Our leaders are also accessible. We have a long and proud tradition of community participation in decision making and planning. There are 72 wards, or makgotla, that span the 29 Bafokeng villages. The 72 traditional headmen, or dikgosana, are responsible for their makgotla where local people raise local issues. Makgotla take place at least once a month to debate and create solutions. Twice a year the whole community is invited to Kgotha Kgothe, a gathering of the Bafokeng people.

At Kgotha Kgothe any adult Mofokeng can raise issues, ask questions, put forward proposals and vote. These opportunities allow Bafokeng people to communicate with their leaders and participate actively in decision-making processes.

Our leaders are part of a tradition that tries to build on what has come before. We do not find ourselves in the position where every few years new leaders try to start everything from scratch just so that they can be seen to be the authors of new projects.

Our leaders are life-long learners. The chairpersons, treasurers and secretaries of makgotla are being trained in management and communication skills. Our dikgosana attend regular training courses on key issues like leadership, financial planning, HIV and global warming.

The Royal Bafokeng Nation is led by Kgosi Leruo T. Molotlegi. He assumed the role of kgosi after his brother Kgosi Lebone II died in 2000.

While the Kgosi is the supreme head of the Bafokeng Nation, he cannot act outside certain checks and balances. He must act within the consensus of the Supreme Council, which consists of all the hereditary headmen, five elected officials and five officials nominated by the Kgosi. He also receives feedback through the makgotla and Kgotha Kgothe.

CHAPTER 5

CLOSING THE GENERATION GAP

One of the challenges facing our traditional structures is the inclusion of young people.

They are the future leaders of our people. In the old days, they would slowly be integrated into decision-making processes over many years, first performing practical duties in their makgotla and only then, after proving themselves as loyal and reliable, would they be included in more important discussions. Today our education system encourages young people to think for themselves — and so they should, as they have so many more complex choices facing them. They are also skilled in using communication technologies that link them to a global culture. They often have access to more information than their own parents and dikgosana. Times have changed. We must find new ways to prepare them for leadership and responsibility.

Young people have great energy and new ways of seeing things. Their ideas and innovative approaches are some of our most important assets as a community.

Many of our young people travel far away from our territory and far away from our customs and traditions. We are slowly learning that when we meet up with them again, we need to learn from where they have been and what they have seen.

We need to ask them to tell the stories of their adventures so that we can all benefit from what they have experienced — and so that we can offer them encouragement and support. They can light the path to the future and share the best that the world has to offer, in the spirit of Vision 2020.

One purpose of Kgotha Kgothe is to update people on a wide range of developments

It can at times feel like a series of formal reports rather than a discussion. For this reason we have begun regional forms of Kgotha Kgothe, which will give more people, including the youth, the opportunity to be actively involved in the decisions that affect their lives. No one has a greater investment in the challenges that face us than our young people. They are the ones who will have to deal with the consequences of decisions made today.

Take charge of your own future

Learn how the system works by listening

CHAPTER 6

THE BAFOKENG ARE A VERY ANCIENT TRIBE BUT OUR TRUE ORIGINS ARE HOTLY DEBATED

Naboth Mokgatle, grandson of Kgosi Mokgatle, wrote this about the origins of the Bafokeng:

‘Our tribal symbol is a crocodile (kwena) and we call ourselves and are known as Bakwena … All I know because of the legend, which was handed down by the old to the young, is that from Lesotho my people went to Botswana. Their headquarters was Molepolole. They moved away, led by a man called Tshukudu whom they made their Chief as they moved south-eastward, and crossed the Madikwe River into the Transvaal. Tshukudu and his people moved on until they reached the mountains today known as Pilanesberg mountains … They reached a place called Mogoase where they settled down … At Mogoase, my ancestors’ first settlement as an independent tribe, they flourished and their wealth increased. They had the whole field open to them, their animals grazed anywhere they chose, and they hunted everywhere at will … They travelled far afield without coming into contact with other tribes and therefore made the whole land they travelled theirs. Because of the polygamous system they practised, the tribe grew, and they went on cherishing the crocodile symbol they adopted from their ancestors in Molepolole.

CHAPTER 7

THE BAFOKENG ARE A VERY ANCIENT TRIBE BUT OUR TRUE ORIGINS ARE HOTLY DEBATED

Before the 19th century concepts such as ‘Sotho’, ‘Tswana’, ‘Pedi’ and ‘Ndebele’ did not exist as group identities.

According to some archaeologists, such as Tom Huffman, the Fokeng were a dynamic grouping of many diverse people. This grouping originally came from northern Natal, with Nguni roots. Over time they adopted Tswana culture and eventually split into the Bafokeng, the Bapo and the Batlokwa. These groups were the ones who brought the technology of stonewalling into the area of the present North West Province.

Part of Huffman’s evidence is a particular kind of pottery, known as Ntsuanatsatsi pottery. It is found at sites in the northeastern Free State and the Rustenburg area and links the Fokeng to the inland movement of some Nguni.

If Huffman is correct, then our ancestors were not linked to the Bakwena as so many oral traditions suggest. His interpretation of the evidence does, however, let us make the proud claim that our ancestors pioneered stonewalling in the Rustenburg area between 1450 and 1500. By about 1780 this technology was used to build the impressive Tswana stone settlements like Molokwane (a Bakwena site) and Marothodi (a Batlokwa site). These each housed over 20 000 people two hundred and thirty years ago.

(Continues…)Excerpted from Mining the Future by Totem Media. Copyright © 2010 Royal Bafokeng Administration. Excerpted by permission of Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd.
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