Bafokeng enthrone new king

2003-08-16 16:11

Phokeng - Thousands of people from Africa's wealthiest tribe, the Bafokeng, joined leaders and royalty from across the continent on Saturday to celebrate the enthronement of their new king.

Drums beat and a choir sang as the 20 000 crowd witnessed the ceremony for Kgosi Leruo Tshekedi Molotlegi at a stadium in the dusty Bafokeng capital of Phokeng, about 150km north west of Johannesburg.

First lady Zanele Mbeki, former president Nelson Mandela, Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini and Modjadji, the Rain Quee, were among those attending the ceremony.

Small blue donkey-drawn cart

Molotlegi is the 36th ruler of the 800-year-old Bafokeng ("People of the Dew") kingdom - located on the world's second largest platinum reef - and his family is said to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Molotlegi arrived at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Stadium on a small blue donkey-drawn cart symbolising his alignment with the downtrodden, with over 100 singers and dancers in traditional blue outfits following him and a cheering crowd waving green, blue and cream Bafokeng flags to welcome him.

During the ceremony, the king was given a shield and a spear to symbolise that he is the protector of the people, and a leopard skin as a public demonstration and acknowledgement of his kingship over his nation.

The new king used the occasion to urge his people not to rely on natural resources for their economic strength. "Platinum is a finite resource. It is there today, but one day it will run out."

"When you think about the economic strength of our community, I must insist on one thing: please don't be misled to think that platinum is our the saviour of our future," the 35-year-old said.

Education priority

Molotlegi will use his reign to implement an economic programme called Vision 2020 that will use the tribe's mineral wealth to ensure that it becomes self-sufficient by 2020.

"In order to meeet the economic challenges head on, we require highly skilled and well informed professionals, so we will make educational reform a top priority," he said to loud applause.

He also encouraged his people to remain true to their African heritage.

"We denigrate traditional leaders, while we fawn over European royalty. Despite what many think, there is plenty of evidence to support the idea that our traditional form of government espouses the principles of democracy," he said.

Molotlegi is the third of six children. He succeeds his elder brother, King Lebone Molotlegi II, who died of a heart attack in April 2000.

He is single and lives in his house on the premises of the royal residence, which he shares with his mother and siblings.

Molotlegi holds a degree in architecture and urban planning from the University of Natal in the east coast city of Durban and is a member of the board of Impala Platinum, the world's second largest platinum producer.

The Bafokeng are descendants of a pastoral community which gradually migrated south from central Africa.

By 1850, the newly arrived farmers annexed all the Bafokeng's land. In the 1870s, members of the tribe went to work on the newly discovered diamond fields to raise money to buy back their land.

But the Bafokeng remained relatively underdeveloped until the discovery of the platinum reefs beneath their land in 1925.

The tribe's first platinum mine was established in the late 1960s.

The royalties derived from mining have enabled the Bafokeng to build schools, roads and clinics and to install water and electrical networks.

- AFP