The Royal Bafokeng Nation (RBN) is a community of approximately 150, 000 people living in the Rustenburg Valley, in the North West Province, South Africa. The Bafokeng are under the traditional leadership of Kgosi (King) Leruo Tshekedi Molotlegi. Our capital is in Phokeng. The Bafokeng own 1400 square kilometers of land which is rich in platinum and other minerals. We have used wealth from these minerals to build social structures and support social development that benefit the entire population on the Nation.

The Royal Bafokeng Nation values its history and heritage. Setswana sa re 'Maropeng go a boelwa, go sa boelweng ke teng' : mankind will always refer back to his origins in order to forge ahead and progress. The Bafokeng Digital Archive was created to collect and disseminate information about events that shaped the Bafokeng past and our identity as a nation. Using the new to preserve the old, the archive is a collaborative effort to document and make accessible the community’s indigenous knowledge.

The BDA's target audience include members of our local community, students and teachers, researchers, the media, tourists and international partners.

Our collections are derived from provincial, national and international official archives as well as personal collections such as family albums. The archive includes materials in different forms, including digital scans of photos, letters, official documents, newspapers and journal articles, books, posters and art works, virtual representations of heritage sites, audio and video recordings.

The active collection, recording and preservation of heritage, history and indigenous knowledge through community-based processes is central to the BDA. This particularly includes the on-going collection of oral histories from Bafokeng community members. Oral history interviews are available as text, audio files and in some cases as video files.

Whether you are Mofokeng or not, join us in exploring and contributing to Bafokeng history and heritage!

The BDA team