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Speech by the Executive Mayor Advocate Lentswe Mokgatle during the unveiling of Kgosi Mogale wa Mogale I am thrilled that in the Heritage month we can celebrate and honour kgosi Mogale was Mogale. Indeed, we celebrate what he represented during his reign of the Bapo tribe and the Batswana speaking people. I am happy that finally Kgosi has come home. We would like to thank Recreation Africa for having committed themselves in making this possible. Well done. We would like to thank the sculptor Adam Madebe-what a sterling job. This is a fantastic job. In Mogale City, we have developed a good working relationship with businesses to facilitate an exchange of ideas and one of the tangible ways was to establish the Mogale foundation , where talented individuals like Hugh Masekela, Ace Ntsoelegoe, Robert Forsyth, Jean Davidson, Bushy Kelebonye, Dr. Leon Wessels amongst others insights into developmental issues. We have a rich cultural and historical heritage in Mogale City. We need to celebrate this living heritage. It is appropriate to celebrate because this year marks 10 year of Freedom. It is fitting that as a city we do not shy away from the history of our leaders. Kgosi Mogale is one of those leaders that we honour today. Out living heritage could be defined as all the objects and practices that communities, groups, and individuals recognise as part of their cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation. This heritage is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, therefore promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity. At Mogale City, we celebrate heritage Month as a vehicle for a long-term vision of collecting, preserving, protecting, promoting and disseminating living heritage. The commissioning of the statue by Recreation Africa was a way of preserving the history and legacy that Kgosi Mogale left for us. In the 1800, Kgosi Mogale ruled over the current territory that is today known as Mogale City, which includes Krugersdorp, Magaliesberg, Muldersdrieft, Hekpoort, Tarlton, Munsieville and Kagiso. His political influence went as far as Hartbeespoort, Brits, Northcliff and the Vaal region. Kgosi Mogale was an heir to the Po chiefdom. He led the Tswana community to settle in the Magaliesburg Valley and the surrounding areas. The word and name Magalies is the bastardization of the name Mogale. This shows the attempt by colonialists and mischievous historians to try to wipe out any trace of Kgosi Mogale's legacy in the area. In proper historical context, the Magaliesberg Mountains should be known s Dithaba tsa Mogale. This is the history that we should contextualize and rewrite. This is the history we cannot forget. Contrary to convention wisdom, the issues of governance are not foreign to African people and this demonstrated in the way Kgosi Mogale organized his government. He ruled his people through councilors, who reported directly to him. His council advised him about matters affecting his area of jurisdiction. This is the rich heritage highlighting the sophistication of our past African leadership. Kgosi Mogale's governance structure included elderly men, who were responsible for two or three households and the elder men reported to the village councilor. Each village had a local court, where cases could be heard with an appeal court of the King. At this level decisions taken by the King's court were final and binding. It is important to note that Mogale City emerges as a local Municipality that embraces the values of bravery and leadership projected by Kgosi Mogale. Today when we talk of governance, we cannot ignore values of accountability and transparency in how we operate and deliver services to our citizens. We also have councilors, who play a pivotal role in advising the municipality's administration on how to better serve our people. These concepts of governance were not foreign to the period when Kgosi Mogale ruled. Mogale City Local Municipality shall aspire to show leadership in serving our communities better. In the spirit of Kgosi Mogale, we shall bravely endeavour to find effective ways to serve and protect out citizens. This is what Kgosi Mogale represented. It is amongst this background that we receive the statue of Kgosi Mogale today. Programme Director, I would like to assure people that the statues of Paul Kruger, Strydom shall remain where they are and will not be moved. Those statues remind us of another important part of our history. In essence, that is why names are so important. For all those who do not know, the municipality is named after Kgosi Mogale. Mogale means the brave one. That is why when you drive into the borders of Mogale City, you shall see signs welcoming you to Mogale City. Mogale City is a place of royalty. Ke ko bogosing. Kuse Bukosini. In Mogale City we are building a desirable place where people would want to live in, invest and visit. W celebrate today because we want to transform the conditions of our people, offering them a possibility to maintain their identity and dignity. We also want to emphasise that to unveil Kgosi Mogale's statue is a sign that we will promote reconciliation amongst our citizens and communities. Gone are the days of looking at one another in suspicion because of misconstrued history. We would like to create a platform for conversation. We want to be a city that shapes fruitful and meaningful conversations about our history. A people who do not know where they come from are doomed. Today, and as part of our struggle to build a moral and people-centred society, our city and country is preoccupied with the challenge of what Nelson Mandela once described as "the RDP of regeneration and a new patriotism. We are proud to say that we are "Proudly South African". All this has to do with the living, intangible heritage for whose preservation, protection and dissemination, we will seek to use Heritage Month. It should therefore be clear that the fact that it is "intangible" does not mean that is it unimportant. Colonialism and apartheid deliberately sought to negate our cultural heritage, to deny us our own sense of identity and continuity. In the process our own masters then tried to take away our names. Mogale became Magalies, Sipho became Jim. Accordingly renamed, they sought to use us as putty in their hands, to model and redefine us that we should forever do their bidding, as their willing and mindless instruments. It is during Heritage month that we can assert our diverse identities, while also promoting our unity, as well as respect for our cultural diversity and the creativity of all our people. We want to salute Kgosi Mogale. Bayete Nkosi!
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