The Royal Bafokeng people in the North West are literally sitting on the a platinum mine.
This will become even more evident when leader, Kgosi Leruo Molotlegi gathers his people at the Phokeng Civic Centre near Rustenburg this weekend to brief them on how he used the money they have built up in their coffers over the years.
Since R5-billion in 2003, the various businesses the Bafokeng own are now worth R50-billion.
In the preceding decades, Bafokeng fought a long a hard battle for the recognition of their ownership of the land of their ancestors – a land endowed with the richest platinum deposits in the country, and definitely among the richest in the world.
Pot of gold
When they eventually won, they leveraged that for a royalty fee, hitherto a novel idea that would turn them into the “Richest Tribe” in the world.
Profits earned and vested in Royal Bafokeng Holdings (RBH) were used to acquire shareholding in companies and in other instances, start new ones.
The company has diversified since that today less than half of its income derives from mining assets with the rest coming from financial services such as banking, insurance and medical aid schemes as well as infrastructure.
The King regularly communicates with his people
RBH spokesperson Obakeng Phetwe said Kgosi Leruo will outline how the company’s commercial ventures fared in 2024 and what is in the offing for 2025.
“Whether times are good or bad, RBH realised that communication was the most powerful tool to make sure that the administration aligns itself with the communities.
“We are very disciplined about the issue of Kgotha Kgothe [the general traditional meeting], if you go too long without taking the temperature of your people, then you are cooking a recipe for disaster,” he said.
He said Kgosi Leruo will present the annual financial statements to his subjects.
Phetwe said the financial statements are audited unqualified.
Visionary leadership
He said the modus of Bafokeng is that whatever RBH holds, belongs to the entire community.
He said when the current generation hands over to the next, it must bequeath a bigger and better legacy.
“These assets we must leave in a better state when the current generation hands over to the future generation,” he said.
Phokeng, the land Bafokeng owns, covers 1 400 square kilometres or more than 50 percent of the Rustenburg municipal land area comprising 29 villages in five regions.
Though the schools in Phokeng, around 40 of them, are run by the department of basic education, they were built and are maintained by Bafokeng.
Bafokeng are the envy of SADC
Bafokeng also pays for the utilities – water and electricity.
Phetwe said communities in SADC, a region also rich in mineral deposits like Phokeng, always seek their counsel.
“They come to us to ask how we make sure that the mines in our area do not become a curse but a blessing. It is not necessarily what you own, you may own everything but if you do not take care of it and have a clear vision for, you cannot build a balance sheet from R5-billion to R50-billion,” he said.
Kgotla Kgothe is held twice a year in July and in November.
