Note to Editors: The following is an extract from a speech delivered by Roy Jankielsohn MPL on Heritage Day 2023 in Phomolong, Kroonstad
We have a unique opportunity on Heritage Day to commemorate and seek to emulate unique Free Sate individuals from whom we can learn tolerance and mutual respect.
One such person whom all Free Staters should learn from is Morena Mohlomi. In 2011 Max du Preez introduced Mohlomi to us during a lecture at the University of the Free State. Mohlomi was a visionary leader whose counter-intuitive leadership should not only be recognised, but become part of our collective vision for the province.
Born around 1720 in the Mohokare Valley, now called the Caledon Valley between Lesotho and the Free State, this grandchild of a Bakoena chief was named Mohlomi, the builder. During visions as a teenager, Mohlomi was guided to be a man of peace and love; to be fair and just; to see all people as his brothers and sisters; to have compassion and patience; and to give special consideration to children, women and old people. He was also told to study medicine and to become a healer of bodies and minds.
Mohlomi became a chief in his early adulthood and was well-loved and respected by all groups of people in the Southern African region. He shared his great herd of cattle, ensuring that his people were never hungry. He promoted the concept of justice for all regardless of how many cattle you owned.
His unorthodox philosophies showed great counter-intuitive leadership. Unlike every other chief in central South Africa, he did not build a strong army, instead he disbanded his fighting units completely, telling his able-bodied men to get involved in agriculture and to be better husbands and fathers.
This radical counter-intuitive behaviour in those troubled times showed counter-intuitive leadership. It was Mohlomi who started the custom, still alive to this day, that one should greet a stranger with an open, raised hand and the exclamation “Khotso!” (peace).
Every individual in our diverse province should learn from this great, uniquely Free State philosopher. Using this philosophy and heritage as a basis, the DA in the Free State will build a prosperous future for all our people in the province based on Morena Mohlomi’s vision of freedom, fairness, opportunity and diversity.