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The 29 villages that make up the Bafokeng nation are the proud owners of a state-of-the-art sporting complex in Phokeng. Local children are trained in athletics, martial arts, netball, rugby and football.
TEN years ago Kgosi Moolwane Molotlegi of the Bafokeng in North West told his people that they would witness football’s biggest extravaganza in their backyard.
The story goes that none of those present could quite imagine the king’s vision – but out of deference, no one disagreed.
Fast forward a decade and the 29 villages that make up the Bafokeng nation are the proud owners of a state-of-the-art sporting complex in Phokeng.
The Bafokeng hold the rights to the platinum mines in their area, and are the richest tribe in Africa after a protracted legal fight with companies that had been mining in the area for years.
Last month, the stadium was one of those that hosted three Confederations Cup matches, including the third-place playoffs. This was after the stadium had been the venue for the Nelson Mandela Cup match when Bafana Bafana beat Norway 2-1.
Royal Bafokeng own Premiership team Platinum Stars and their deep pockets have also bought a rugby team, of all things.
On the rugby front Platinum Leopards have already made their big-league debut, though they fell 26-18 to the Boland Kavaliers in Wellington.
With heavyweights such as former PSL chairperson Trevor Phillips behind the building of their brand, it is no wonder that significant progress has been made in such a short time.
For instance, Stars recently flexed their considerable financial muscle by luring several footballing personalities.
Former Bafana Bafana captain Steve Komphela has come in as a coach. Rumour has it that he is one of the best paid managers in the league.
Dillon Sheppard has been lured away from Patrice Motsepe’s wealthy Mamelodi Sundowns, a feat thought to unthinkable just a year ago.
Royal Bafokeng Sports chairman George Khunou says: “When we won ownership of our land and its minerals, we knew we had to invest wisely and we established a trust to take care of that.
“We then realised the importance of sports in awakening and motivating people.
“And once we decided to go with it, there was no place for half-measures.”
Local children are trained in athletics, martial arts, netball, rugby and football.
“The Samba football project, which we launched about two years ago and is run in all villages, has given us 32 clubs already. The plan is for them to have a shot at the senior team one day,” Khunou said.
The project is run by two Brazilians, Marcello da Silva and David Olivier.
Other professionals have been brought in to head the different codes, such as former national captain Selloane Martha.
Mosoahle is in charge of netball and Chris Seabelo, a fifth-dan karate champion, who heads martial arts.
They are in charge of 500 local coaches, who take the kids through their paces every afternoon.
Watching Batswana children learning the intricacies of rugby makes for interesting viewing, but, as developmental director Ezzy Seabelo says, this falls in line with their 2035 plan.
“We started with mass participation, where talent in respective codes was picked and placed into the intermediate level.
“ The really promising ones go into the national level programme. They have to be good enough to eventually play in either Leopards or Stars,” Seabelo says.
Club management plans to move Stars from Johannesburg, hopefully in October.
A hotel and living quarters for the players are some of the amenities available.
Progress is not felt only in the boardrooms: elders are relieved that children have an outlet for adolescent energy. Maletsatsi Mekgwe, 59, says her 5-year-old grandson forced her to take him for Samba trials.
