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 congratulates Morena e Moholo Montoeli Mota on his 50th birthday and reaffirms its cooperation with the Batlokoa Ba Mota

This media statement is also available in: Sesotho and Setswana

AfriForum today congratulates Morena e Moholo (Principal Traditional Leader) Montoeli Mota – the Morena e Moholo of the Batlokoa Ba Mota of Tsheseng, south of Phuthaditjhaba in the Free State – on his 50th birthday. As part of its congratulations to Morena e Moholo Mota on this milestone, the organisation also today reaffirms its commitment to cooperation with the Batlokoa Ba Mota cultural community.

Morena e Moholo Mota’s birthday was celebrated in a colourful manner during this year’s Batlokwa Cultural Week, held in the last week of September. Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, conveyed congratulations to Morena e Moholo Mota during the gala evening on 25 September and also delivered a message of friendship and cooperation to the Batlokwa nation the following day, during the highlight of the Batlokwa heritage festival celebrations.

Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, delivers a congratulatory speech during the celebrations.

The various Batlokwa communities and their royal leaders, who have organised themselves within the Federation of Batlokwa Councils, attended the cultural week. This federation serves as a voice supporting the development and protection of the cultural identity of the Batlokwa nation, who are spread across Southern Africa.

Kriel wishes Morena e Moholo Mota a blessed and prosperous year ahead. “It is our prayer that he and his community will prosper and thrive in the years ahead. It has been a great privilege to extend a hand of friendship, based on mutual recognition and respect, to the Batlokwa communities across Southern Africa. We are grateful that the Lord has given us hands to build the future we desire for our children. While differences exist between cultural communities, we choose to collaborate on matters of shared interest to make a positive impact at grassroots level. It is precisely through cooperation between different cultural communities that mutual understanding and trust are fostered,” Kriel emphasises.

Barend Uys (Head of Intercultural Relations and Cooperation at AfriForum), *Morena e Moholo* Montoeli Mota (*Morena e Moholo* of the Batlokoa Ba Mota) and Kallie Kriel (CEO of AfriForum).

Barend Uys, Head of Intercultural Relations and Cooperation at AfriForum, explains that good relations and cooperation between different cultural communities are a prerequisite for the prosperous and peaceful continued existence of all the various nations at the southern tip of Africa. “We are grateful for the hand of friendship that the Federation of Batlokwa Councils has extended to AfriForum. It is a blessing that, in addition to being friends, we are also brothers and sisters in Christ – a privilege we do not take for granted,” says Uys.

In 2025, AfriForum, the National House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders (NHTKL) and the office of Morena e Moholo Mota collaborated to implement a solar-powered water system that ensures a reliable water supply to the offices of the Batlokoa Ba Mota Traditional Council and the local vegetable garden. This initiative followed the NHTKL taking the lead in forging this historic partnership as part of the inaugural annual Lenaka Memorial Lecture held at Manthatisi Secondary School in Tsheseng towards the end of 2024. AfriForum and the Batlokoa Ba Mota also concluded a mutual recognition and cooperation agreement in 2025.