Kgoshi praises locally born national leaders
THE Bahlaloga royal house, home to kgoshi Kgabo Moloto III in Moletjie, was the venue for a ceremony to honour Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago and North Gauteng high court judge Tati Makgoka on Saturday.
LIMPOPO – THE Bahlaloga royal house, home to kgoshi Kgabo Moloto III in Moletjie, was the venue for a ceremony to honour Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago and North Gauteng high court judge Tati Makgoka on Saturday.
The ceremony was characterised by drum beating and recitals of praise songs amid loud ululation.
Dozens of guests, including luminaries, traditional leaders, academics, business owners and the public from all corners of the province and neighbouring Botswana, descended on this close-knit village for this ceremony.
In a moving speech, Moloto was full of praise for Kganyago and Makgoka who he said put the area on the map.
“These two icons we are honouring today were born and bred here. It was here where they attended school in dusty villages with no tarred roads and running water.
“Today all of us kneel down before them in honour,” he said.
He called on young and old not to cite poor back-grounds as excuses for failure.
Moloto also paid tribute to all professionals including teachers, radio presenters, academics and sports personalities who hailed from this area.
In response to the honour, Kganyago said that despite serious complaints about lack of educational facilities pupils were far much in better positions today as compared to his school days.
Speaking in front of an attentive audience, Kganyago recalled that he completed gr. 2 under a tree at Ga-Maribana village and only had one mathematics teacher in his entire secondary school career.
“Textbooks were expen-sive and most of us shared one textbook taking turns using every day it into the early hours of the following morning, but we persevered,” he said.
Makgoka revealed that it has always been his burning passion to see the villagers of rural Moletji area making the whole country proud in various spheres of leadership.
South African Congress of Traditional Leaders president, kgoshi Setlamorago Thobejane, told attendees that traditional leaders often counted Moletji as the one place in the country where they were sure the traditional leader gave recognition to the value of education.
Premier Stanley Matha-batha’s representative at the ceremony, the MEC for economic development, environment and tourism (Ledet), Seaparo Sekoati, urged parents to stop preventing pupils from attending school during community protests.
