Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

AfriForum and the Bakgatla Ba Kgafela Cultural Community – an influential Southern African people

AfriForum and the Bakgatla Ba Kgafela, an influential Southern African people living in South Africa and Botswana, will sign a historic mutual recognition and cooperation agreement in Cape Town this coming Thursday (26 July). Kgosikgolo Kgafela Kgafela II, who currently resides in the Western Cape for security reasons after his house and vehicle were destroyed in an arson attack, will sign the agreement on behalf of the Bakgatla Ba Kgafela.

According to Barend Uys, Head of Intercultural Relations and Cooperation at AfriForum, the agreement ushers in a new era of good relations and cooperation between Afrikaners and the Bakgatla Ba Kgafela – a relationship that suffered during the late 19th and 20th centuries.

The agreement will establish an alliance between the two cultural communities, particularly amidst Kgosikgolo Kgafela Kgafela II’s sharp criticism of corruption under the watch of some leaders of the ANC and the undue interference of South African officials in traditional affairs. Both Afrikaners and the Bakgatla Ba Kgafela strive, based on mutual recognition and respect, to build a future where cultural communities can peacefully co-exist freely, safely and prosperously without the undue interference of politicians.

The Bakgatla Ba Kgafela’s land in South Africa possesses rich platinum reserves, holding great potential for this cultural community. Kgosikgolo Kgafela Kgafela II came to South Africa to address the challenges plaguing the Bakgatla Ba Kgafela in South Africa. Challenges include allegations of corruption and theft of platinum proceeds amounting to hundreds of millions of rand, and undue interference by provincial officials and politicians in the community’s traditional leadership. However, Kgosikgolo Kgafela Kgafela II’s decisive actions and outspokenness on these serious issues have now made him a target of attacks.

“What makes the Bakgatla Ba Kgafela’s current aversion to the ANC noteworthy is the fact that Kgosikgolo Kgafela Kgafela II’s own father, Kgosikgolo Linchwe II, assisted the party during the Struggle. Today, things look completely different. The ANC has not only abandoned their former friends but, as it were, stabbed them in the back, becoming enemies of the Bakgatla Ba Kgafela and allowing the community’s wealth to be plundered,” explains Uys.

Historical context of Afrikaner and Bakgatla Ba Kgafela relations

The Bakgatla Ba Kgafela are divided by an international border but are united under the leadership of Kgosikgolo Kgafela Kgafela II, a descendant of Kgosi Kgamanyane. Kgosikgolo designates the Kgosi who leads, on his behalf, the approximately 350 000 South African members of the Bakgatla Ba Kgafela, living in 32 villages in the vicinity of the Pilanesberg National Park in the Northwest.

The Bakgatla Ba Kgafela cultural community has resided in the former Moruleng area (near the present-day Pilanesberg National Park) since the early 1800s. Although the majority of the cultural community live here today, a large portion, including the most notable families, emigrated to the Mochudi area in Botswana in the early 1870s under the leadership of Kgosi Kgamanyane. This followed strife with Paul Kruger and other officials of the then ZAR.

Relations between Afrikaners and the Bakgatla Ba Kgafela, under the leadership of Kgosikgolo Linchwe I, remained strained in the early 20th century due to the latter’s involvement in the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902) on the side of Britain.