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Thabo Mothibi, Managing Editor, thabo@ncnn.live
Kimberley Sunday, 13 May 2018-
A great deal of the South African San indigenous knowledge threatens to go asunder following the death of prominent San leader Reverend Mario Mahongo of the !Xun and Khwe communities of Platfontein near Kimberley on Saturday, 12 May.
Reverend Mahongo reportedly died at the scene of a car crash after his vehicle collided with an electric pole. Police are investigating a case of culpable homicide.
He was a revered figure in the affairs of the minority San of South Africa, considering that outside of Platfontein, the only other known grouping are the Khomani San of the Kalahari who also lost another popular and visionary figure in traditional leader Oom Dawid Kruiper.
Chairperson of the ANC in the Northern Cape Dr Zamani Saul, Secretary Deshi Ngxanga, Sol Plaatje Executive Mayor Mangaliso Matika and other senior leaders visited the bereaved family on Sunday afternoon.
Ngxanga said in a statement; “it is with a great sense of loss that the ANC learnt of the passing on Chief Mario Mahongo.” SACP Secretary in the province and MEC for Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Norman Shushu also went to put vigil shortly after Reverend Mahongo’s death.
Reverend Mahongo died having been the longtime chairperson of the Platfontein Communal Property Association (CPA) and also the traditional leader of the !Xun San. He also held various other positions such as; chairpersonship in the South African San Institute (SASI), !Xun Council of Elders and vice-chair of the South African San Institute.
Known to be a brilliant mind and story teller, Reverend Mahongo often chronicled to the South African media, researchers, authors of various genres of books – the journey of the !Xun from ancestral Namibia. He also aided efforts into the recording of !Xun folk music.
In many court appearances of residents of Platfontein, Reverend Mahongo would interpret from !Xun to Afrikaans and has largely been perceived to be the lifeblood of the !Xun community.
Born in Angola on 12 January 1952, Reverend Mahongo was one of the few !Xun born outside of Namibia where they were used as trackers by the then South African Defence Force (SADF) in the border battles mirrored by many a warfare against Namibian and South African freedom fighters that were largely sheltered in independent Angola which also led to insurgencies for territorial control.
Reverend Mahongo and many other San trackers were part of the decorated soldiers in the notorious SADF’s 32 Battalion and other specialised units but were later discarded and forced to trek to South Africa.
In 1998, Reverend Mahongo took to the stand at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Special Hearings focused on human rights violations perpetrated by the apartheid’s armed forces in Namibia’s Caprivi which lies to the north towards Angola. He testified about the atrocities carried out against the San that were employed in the apartheid army. The TRC heard about a massacre which left four San soldiers dead after they had defied orders in Angola.
The !Xun and the Khwe were dumped at Schmidtsdrift, sheltered in army tents for years until they were ultimately relocated to Platfontein, at a farm bought for them by the democratic state. Today there are over 10 000 !Xun and Khwe residing in low-cost houses, with access to a school, clinic and able to advance their passion for arts and crafts. However, they still find themselves ravaged by unemployment.
The immediate response to Reverend Mahongo’s death by the ANC and its alliance partners shines on the embrace of the late Nelson Mandela whose reconciliatory spirit found validation through government’s addressing of the plight of the San and granting them benefits that comes with being a citizen.
As a traditional leader, Reverend Mahongo joined the ANC in 1994 but somehow struggled with an understanding of the balance between traditional leadership and political systems and the leadership stemming from it.
Ngxanga told eNCA that Reverend Mahongo whom he referred to as “Comrade Mahongo” in the media statement, believed in raising issues directly and would not resort to the media. “We intent to do more on the issues that need our attention,” was Ngxanga’s response when asked about some of the shortcomings being experienced by the residents of Platfontein and other indigenous communities.
His death also comes at a time when the CPA has been afflicted by tensions, with a split between the !Xun and Khwe being imminent. The warring factions in the CPA executive have called for the separate management of their affairs. The !Xun are mainly from Namibia whilst the Khwe are from Angola – By Northern Cape News Network (NCNN).
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Thabo Mothibi is a former broadcast journalist (TV and Radio) – with specialist reporting experience; SABC Political/Parliamentary and TRC Teams over a period of five years (1995 to 2000).
One key foreign assignment - is the 11-nation African Connection Rally – overland journey from Africa’s northern-most pole in the coastal Tunisian city of Bizerte to the southern-most pole in South Africa’s Cape Agulhas. From the journalistic years, Thabo then delved into Government media liaison and serving two former Ministers and three MECs. He became the Northern Cape Provincial Government’s first department based Communications Director at Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development - 2008-2010 – where he also served as Head of Ministry from 2003 – 2008.
As a former anti-apartheid activist, his political background and professional training aided him in spearheading the Northern Cape ANC’s 2004 National Elections media and publicity campaign and that of the 2006 Local Government Elections.
Whilst based in Waterkloof in Pretoria -2010 to end 2011, he consulted for Manstrat Agricultural Intelligence, then returned to the Northern Cape in 2012 to date, to consult independently and pursue other entrepreneurial interests in media and communications through KwaVuko Communications and Marketing.
Thabo Mothibi obtained his NQF7 through Wits University’s Graduate School of Public and Development Management (P&DM) in Johannesburg, a Unilever Mandela Rhodes Academy for Marketing and Communications Academy (UMRA). The goal of the NQF7 programme was to educate and train public and private sector professional communicators and marketers in government communications..
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