16 August 2011

Slowly and quietly, Adolph Zietsman is arming his Bafokeng security company

Under the erstwhile command of the former koevoet operative Adolph Zietsman, it has always been expected that sooner or later, the well financed Bafokeng security will have to be heavily armed. It was a surprise though to see the Bafokeng chief feeling insecure amongst ‘his people’ at the recent Dumela Phokeng meeting held in April at Luka village.
Surrounded by heavily armed Zietsman’s security, all located at various strategic points, it is clear that the chief is threatened and fearful of ‘his people’. ‘He is isolated and disassociated. If he thinks he is safe within his covert security force, he is wrong, he is highly vulnerable. His safety can only be guaranteed when he is with and amongst his people. It is them that will give him protection. Not the security force or a small number of the rich who will be quick to abandon him when there is trouble. It is the very security force that will deal with him..’ warned Phistus Mekgwe, organizer of the Anti-Bafokeng Repression Campaign.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE BAFOKENG LAND BUYERS’ ASSOCIATION

The Bafokeng Land Buyers’ Association will hold their Annual General Meeting on the 28th August 2011 at Mokgatle Lodge, at 10am. Members are expected to be seated by 9:30am and are therefore encouraged to arrive early for registration. Attendants are further requested to bring R30 for braai.

Bafokeng singing pina-a-tshwene at the Kgotha Kgothe meeting

The voice of the voiceless people of Bafokeng has noticed the increasing numbers of newcomers to the intriguing Bafokeng Kgotha-Kgothe meetings. More and more frustrated, out of work young people, attend the Kgotha-kgothe meetings to air their views on poor Bafokeng administration and its feudal leadership.  
What many of the ‘newcomers’ do not realize is that the concerns they raise have been told a zillion times before by their ancestors in the same Kgotha Kgothe meetings. ‘If you say we are going to vote, how did you determine the quorum in this meeting?’ asked Terry Bogopane. The reported case of Bogopane vs Mokgatlhe (+1955) questioned the Bafokeng chief’s abuse of authority to take decisions with only a handful of people attending the Kgotha kgothe. In more recent times, many organizations and interest groups have been formed within the Bafokeng to raise the very same concerns. When a group of disgruntled people tried to disrupt the recent Kgotha Kgothe of the 18th June, they were in fact repeating what had happened in around 1922 when a group of rebels took over Kgotha Kgothe proceedings from chief August Mokgatle.
The point is that ‘newcomers’ must be aware that the royal family, with years of attendance to these meetings, knows exactly the issues that will be raised, and now sees these Kgotha-kgothe meetings as venting sessions, a therapeutic exercise for hungry, poor ‘new grumblers’. ‘Ke kgwele se se mofatlheng..o nkutlwile..i feel better now’. Without addressing the real concerns raised, the family goes back to their usual business...exploitation.
'The best option for Bafokeng Kgotha-kgothe newcomers is for them to join and strengthen existing dissenting organisations advocating legitimate concerns within the Bafokeng bantustan', advised Thusi Rapoo, secretary of the Bafokeng Land Buyers' Association.

03 August 2011

Koko Semane is back from retirement

Koko Semane Molotlegi, the Queen Mother of the Bafokeng as the media and others likes to call her, returned from retirement to open the Dumela Phokeng meeting at Thethe High School (Luka) and the follow up Bafokeng Kgotha-kgothe at the Phokeng Civic Centre.
People grumbled when she threatened at Luka that anyone who dare talk about succession to the Bafokeng’s chieftaincy, ‘o ta se bona’. She quickly clarified that she is not a witch as others will want to interpret that statement.. ’mara, o ta se bona’, she reiterated. She said that people must not bother her son, the Bafokeng Chief, with their land claims. She informed the people that her son does not own the land under claim in the current Mafikeng High Court case, but that he is only holding the land for their rightful owners and that it is the Courts that will determine who the rightful owners are.
At the Phokeng Kgotha Kgothe, her first salvo was that some people are spooks (ba tsamaya ba sule). She encouraged the meek and the powerless to learn from the biblical story of David and Goliath,  that David did not have to mobilize support to bring down Goliath. She advised people to stop mass demonstrations if they had issues. That they should approach ‘Goliath’ in their individual capacities and address issues in their mother tongues. She intimated her dislike for kids who could not communicate with their mothers in Setswana. In the end she instructed the poor Bafokeng people to start paying for their water supplies, starting in August.

02 August 2011

Mariga a tlile abe a laela..goodbye winter, hello spring!


Climate change has caught up with us! We shall experience severe drought or rainstorms this coming spring/summer.
When it is this cold, people usually hibernate from the streets to the comfort of their homes. Media houses and journalists have Julius to thank for making their lives easy, keeping costs down and profits soaring. Have a look at this past weekend’s papers..all journalists wrote about Julius from the warmth of their homes!
The voice of the voiceless has also been in hibernation due to this climate change, caused by amongst others, the Bafokeng Tribal Authority and their mining bosses (Anglo Platinum, Impala and Xstrata).
We should therefore not be apologizing for being away.. it is not us who caused this climate change! We should however thank you for your warm understanding.
Besides our ongoing court case in Mafikeng, we should have at least reported on the Dumela Phokeng visits by Kgosi Molotlegi during April 2011 and the follow up Kgotha Kgothe of June 2011. We are also planning for our Annual General Meeting for the 28th August 2011, 10am at Mokgatle Lodge. Keep logged as we publish those reports during the course of the week.