Bafokeng at war over their riches
Rivals say chief uses platinum cash for himself
THE Bafokeng, Africa’s richest tribe, is at war with itself over claims that chief Leruo Molotlegi is hogging their wealth.
The Bafokeng Land Buyers’ Association and the Bafokeng Traditional Community say that Molotlegi has hijacked a fortune meant to have been shared by the tribe. They claim the chief:
Spent R6-million on his sister Tirelo’s wedding while refusing to add R300 a month to the tribe’s senior citizens’ oldage grants;
Authorised the purchase of an A119 Koala helicopter for the Royal Bafokeng nation from the Italian company AgustaWestland. It confirmed at the time that it had delivered the chopper as the “personal transport of King Leruo Molotlegi and will also carry other VIPs”; and
Unilaterally splurged tribal money on buying Platinum Stars, a Premier Soccer League club, and a rugby team that continued to be maintained using tribal funds.
Tribal members are calling for the Bafokeng’s bank accounts to be audited, and for the cash from the platinum fortune that lies under their land to be put in a special trust account so it can be equally distributed.
Thusi Rapoo, secretary of the Bafokeng Land Buyers’ Association, said: “The chiefs’ actions and performance in office, which they get paid for, should be subjected to public scrutiny and so should the traditional councils’ finances, accounts, revenues and actions.”
Rapoo said the Bafokeng Traditional Council should comply with the public finance laws, but it had not been audited by the auditor-general and was not accountable to the community.
“The chief continues, with ab- solute impunity, to act recklessly with tribal funds, squandering funds on his utopian, uninformed projects,” Rapoo said.
The Bafokeng Land Buyers’ Association and 15 other Bafokeng communities have challenged the chief in the High Court in North West and demanded that 29 mineral-rich farms in the area be transferred into their names.
This is a serious challenge to the Bafokeng’s reputation as the model for successful rural empowerment.
Although the tribe has used the platinum money to build schools, a hotel and a sports “palace”, critics say they are accessible only to the people
His actions and performance in office should be subject to public scrutiny
close to the king. Earlier this year, Monti Huma said: “These institutions were built for a specific, elite group of people. They are expensive for an ordinary community member to access. The private school costs something like R3 500 a month.”
This week, the Royal Bafokeng Administration’s chief operating officer, Keorapetse Tumagole, defended the purchase of the helicopter and sports teams. He said it was part of a greater “development vision”.
“The facilities we have built are fully utilised for the benefit of the communities. Unfortunately, we could not continue with rugby as a sporting code in our community given the number of individuals who participated in the said sport.”
Tumagole defended the wed- ding expenses and denied they cost R6-million. “The wedding of a princess is deemed a community celebration and a resolution was passed by the supreme council, not by an individual, to host and fund the wedding, albeit for far less an amount than alleged,” he said.
He also said the Bafokeng’s extra initiatives went “way beyond the R300” request from the elderly — it had bought medical supplies, built roads and old-age clubs, provided meals on wheels and had undertaken small business training.
Although Tumagole admitted that the nation owned an aviation arm called T-Jet Helicopters, he said it was not only a charter business. It also aimed to develop pilots and engineers. He said four commercially rated pilots, all from the Bafokeng community, had been trained.
He said that neither “the king nor any single individual” controlled the Royal Bafokeng nation’s finances and the “king did not own” any of the “assets you make mention of”. These were the Bafokeng’s assets and they are used as such.
“The Bafokeng adopted an approach towards diversification as an investment principle.”
The aggrieved Bafokeng have also approached public protector Thuli Madonsela and parliament’s standing committee on public accounts demanding that they probe a long list of grievances against the chief.
One of these claims is that the Bafokeng’s security company has used excessive force against community members who dare question the chief’s governance. Objectors also want the security company to be disarmed.
Rapoo’s organisation believes the Bafokeng’s traditional community has assets valued at more than R35-billion.