22 September 2004

By Mogale City reporter

IN a symbolic African homecoming ceremony, a statue of Kgosi Mogale - the forefather of Batswana - was formally handed over to the Mogale City municipality on Tuesday, 21 September.

The function - the start of Heritage Month in Mogale City and part of the celebrations of 10 years of democracy - saw the who's who of Mogale City turn out for the ceremony at the Carnivore Restaurant in Muldersdrift.

A 2.5m bronze statue of the chief, sculpted by Adam Madebe, was handed over to the city, and will stand outside the municipal offices.

"It is during this Heritage Month that we assert our diverse identities, while also promoting our unity, as well as respect for our cultural diversity and the creativity of all our people," said Mogale City mayor Lentswe Mokgatle.

The mayor, members of the Mogale royal family, as well as representatives of other South African royal families, and companies supporting arts, culture and heritage in the area were all present. Local artists and Madebe also attended.

"We are here today to honour and celebrate what Kgosi Mogale wa Mogale represented during his reign of the Bapo tribe and the Tswana-speaking people," said Mokgatle.

"The commissioning of the statue was a way of preserving the history and legacy that Kgosi Mogale left and is also a prominent part of the African-themed restaurant. Madebe did a fantastic job in carving the exact image of how Kgosi Mogale looked," the mayor added.

The statue was commissioned by Recreation Africa, which operates several Mogale City tourist attractions like the Carnivore Restaurant, Misty Hills Country Hotel, and Kedar Country Hotel and Conference Centre.

"Many of us today don't know the history of Kgosi Mogale, not because we chose to ignore it, but due to the fact that it was never properly recorded," the chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders, Mpiyezintombi Nzimela, said in a message of support read on his behalf. "We are here today to learn more about him and his people."

King Mogale, who arrived in the 19th century from Botswana, was a leader of the Tswana-speaking people who originally lived in the Magaliesberg and Krugersdorp area. The name Mogale means 'the brave one' in Setswana. Mogale's people were agriculturists and cattle-farmers and tradition has it that they were also traders and miners of gold and their trade extended as far as Egypt.

"The region has great cultural and historical wealth to draw from and there is substantial potential tourism in the area, both foreign and local," said Robert Forsyth, the executive chairman of Recreation Africa Hotels and Resorts Group.

The statue will be driven, with a police escort, from the Carnivore Restaurant to its permanent home outside the municipal offices of Mogale City. The executive mayor of the West Rand District, Sister Bernard Ncube, will unveil the statue at its new home on Heritage Day, 24 September.

"In returning the king to his rightful place, we acknowledge Batswana and hope that the statue will create a sense of pride in the community for its ancestry, culture and political history," said Forsyth.

An area steeped in history
Mogale City, previously known as Krugersdorp Local Council, was named after Chief Mogale, the young heir to the Po Chiefdom of the Batswana. The Po tribe, one of the original tribes, occupied the territory now known as Mogale City.

Magaliesburg
The village of Magaliesburg lies just below the southern range of the Magaliesberg.