₦airaland Forum

Taba21:
Are you afraid be labelled as a terrorist groups you're already know for

Bolarineliza202:
People that are dating have sex,cause lust bound them together,while
married couples bounded by love makes love.

TMKsouth:
Give me credible sources my guy. The first one is dubious. Give me credible Pan-African or global source. The second attachment says nothing. The third one is too long, highlight the parts I should read.

But after my 3 years on Nairaland I've learnt there's a lot of fake news and bragging in Nigeria. Also, the Igbos want secession so it's natural they will exxagerate the role they play in Nigeria. They even brag about owning South Africa, which is a blatant lie.

TMKsouth:
The Zulu king controls vast lands that fall under the Ingonyama Trust, spanning half of KwaZulu-Natal kingdom. He owns all the mineral wealth and taxes on there. Plus as the majority black tribe in SA individually they have a majority of ownership in business enterprises across the country owned by black people including in mining. The SA private sector is something like 4 times the size of the SA GDP - so it's over a trillion dollars. Put all those Zulu shares together and the Ingonyama Trust and we're talking big amounts.

TMKsouth:
I'll take it you have nothing else to say coz i provided credible facts and u didn't. So from my end I'm done.

TMKsouth:
Forbes doesn't say Igbos are the richest in Africa, it speaks about a rich town of Igbos from back in the 1960s. And you're talking about Naira billionaires, what counts are dollar billionaires.

Let me break this down for u - Royal Bafokeng as a tribe is the richest coz their platinum wealth is calculated as a collective and falls under the trusteeship of the king, who also holds investments. Your Igbo wealth is scattered among different individuals and is not calculated as a unified collective. If that were the case the Zulu would also be claiming the spot just as u are.

TMKsouth:
No one trusts what Nigerians and their bias publications say. Royal Bafokeng have been declared the richest tribe by neutral international groups including FORBES itself. So go cry in a corner somewhere, u were lied to.

TMKsouth:
We're talking facts here, not wishful thinking.

TMKsouth:
We're talking facts here, not wishful thinking.

TMKsouth:
Reuters

A South African kingdom that partly governs a small stretch of the country's platinum belt has managed to transform mineral wealth into social stability.

The Royal Bafokeng Nation has funnelled money it earns from its Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPLat) company into a mini sovereign wealth fund that provides cash for schools, clinics and infrastructure.

A little larger than New York City, the kingdom stands out as a beacon of success amid the poverty of the platinum belt, which is home to nearly 80 percent of the world's known platinum reserves.

Although the nation is often called “the country's richest tribe”, it is still far from a paradise.

Its unemployment rate is well above the national average and crime is high, as are HIV infection rates. RBPLat pays its workers about the same as other platinum firms.

But the wages appear to go much further because of the kingdom's social spending, residents say.

For pensioners such as Baanjo Mfulmwane, the kingdom sends out vans to shuttle them for medical treatment: “There is someone to pick me up even though I don't have money,” she said.

Schools

At Lemao Boitshoko's school in Phokeng (the capital city), classmates play soccer under solar-powered floodlights on a synthetic pitch imported from Italy - facilities that would be difficult to find elsewhere in the platinum belt.

“I want to be a doctor. I can do that anywhere, but it's a lot easier to do because I live here,” Boitshoko said.

Public schools have, at the minimum, qualified teachers, books, desks and electricity. The ratio of students passing a high school graduation exam in the Bafokeng kingdom is about 20 percentage points above the national average.

Accomodation

Most miners in the Bafokeng Nation live with their families in modest homes connected to electricity lines and clean water, and along paved roads where garbage is regularly collected.

The conditions are far better than the shanties around many South African platinum mines, where miners pay to live alone in shacks without water, electricity and plumbing, sending money to extended families far away.

Investments

The kingdom set up Royal Bafokeng Holdings in 2006 to manage and develop its commercial assets, merging two other funds. It is a major shareholder in Impala Platinum and Zurich Insurance Company South Africa, and holds shares in major telecoms firm Vodacom and local manufacturers.

The holding company's portfolio was valued at $2.92 billion, according to its 2011 annual report. In 2010, it provided an $92.92 million dividend to the Royal Bafokeng Nation, equal to about $620 per person.

Three quarters of the dividend went to schools, sewage systems, roads, electric lines, sports, police, housing and social welfare, according to the kingdom's accounts published on the Internet, providing additional benefits over and above what the local and national governments spend.

The remainder, about $23.23 million, was spent on administration, including an undisclosed salary for the king.

The Future

At the current rate of platinum extraction, the mineral reserves in the Bafokeng land will last another 35 to 40 years, according the kingdom's estimates.

King Kgosi Leruo Molotlegi, born in 1968, trained as an architect and has a penchant for well-tailored suits. He is said to understand that the platinum wealth provides only a short timeframe to transform the kingdom.

“Our governance and internal controls must be benchmarked against the very best,” he wrote in the kingdom's master plan.

“Our plans must be realistic and affordable.”