Palace revolt looms for Royal Bafokeng

20 June 2010 - 02:00 By STEPHAN HOFSTATTER and ROB ROSE
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The Royal Bafokeng Nation faces a legal revolt from within its ranks - and one that threatens its R30.3-billion empire built on the world's richest platinum reserve.

The challenge by poor communities, who accuse the Bafokeng of grabbing their ancestral land containing platinum worth billions, could have nasty implications for the group that owns 13.2% of Impala Platinum, 20% of Astrapak and 30% of Merafe Resources.

Two families and 11 community groups, known collectively as the Bafokeng Land Buyers Association, have approached the North West High Court to stop the Royal Bafokeng getting legal title to 50 platinum rich farms. The association says the Royal Bafokeng Nation is "an undemocratic" minority entity consisting only of the royal family and its associates, and that it spends mining revenue in a "discriminatory way".

These farms near Rustenburg are registered in the government's name, and held "in trust for the Royal Bafokeng". But the communities claim it is their ancestors - not the Royal Bafokeng - who own the land. If they succeed this will leave a question mark over who is entitled to the platinum proceeds.

This battle over the Bafokeng's land is the first major threat to the Royal Bafokeng, which has become a slickly run corporate machine, managed by former Deutsche Bank boss Niall Carroll.

With assets of R30.3-billion, its bank accounts dwarf those of many JSE-listed companies. In 2008, it had dividend income of R1.6-billion. It also poured more than R200-million into upgrading Rustenburg's World Cup stadium, which hosted yesterday's Ghana- Australia clash.

"The other side of the story must be told," said Thusi Rapoo, who represents the Bafokeng Land Buyers Association. "The Royal Bafokeng Nation has spent R90-million on buying military helicopters, but we have been asking for basic housing for years.

"They are mismanaging the royalties that come from the mines," he added.

Bruno Seabela, head of governance for the Royal Bafokeng, denied that this was a land grab.

Seabela said the attempt to get title to the 50 farms was simply to streamline the running of the community, "correcting a situation (of fragmented ownership), which has been maintained for more than a century".

This view is at odds with that of Francine Setuke, an unemployed 57-year-old who lives with her five children in Ga-Luka village, near Rustenburg, on one of the farms that is claimed by the Royal Bafokeng.

In affidavits, Setuke paints a picture of a Bafokeng leadership that rides roughshod over the rights of her community, seeking to grab her "ancestral land" while the community remains "very, very poor".

"We do not get benefits from the Royal Bafokeng Nation, even though there is lots of money which comes from the mines, and even though the mining is on our ancestral land," she said.

Instead, she said, her group is ignored when the Royal Bafokeng dole out bursaries, housing or leadership positions.

And even though "the mining activities cause environmental harm to us", this is not addressed.

Seabela describes Setuke's claim of the cash going to an elite minority as "simply incorrect".

"When it comes to basic services, all community members benefit from this ... if the argument is about people not benefiting equitably outside of these basic services, it's not about providing payments to specific individuals," he said.

Seabela also played down any view that there was widespread unhappiness, saying there were "few individuals, if any at all, who experience this level of dissatisfaction".

What irks the community group particularly is that the Bafokeng has not launched an inquiry to determine who really owns the land, but has instead approached the courts to claim the 50 farms.

But Seabela disputes the assertion that this undermined the constitutional aim of land reform.

"The Bafokeng community has to be viewed as a collective, and there are some individuals who still want to emphasise individual rights," he said.

"To the extent that these individuals are disgruntled, well, this matter is before the courts and we have confidence in them to resolve it."

Though the Royal Bafokeng remains wealthy, global recession has not passed it by. Last year, it received R339-million in dividends - a steep drop from the R1.6-billion it got in 2008.

Nonetheless, it still has R4.7-billion in cash, and it plans to spend R800-million on various projects this year on education and on building utilities.

It is this cash that Setuka's community is alleging does not benefit it at all - money that is diverted rather to serving the interests of the elite rulers of the Royal Bafokeng monarchy.

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