Amavundle clan want to document their roots

The Amavundle clan under the Bafokeng Kopanang grouping are on a fact-finding mission so that they can document their roots, culture and customs and foster unity among those who originate from this clan.

Last Saturday, members of this clan from across the province gathered at Site C to officially open their calendar year and discuss a programme of the action.

The Bafokeng Kopanang was established in 2011 with the key mission to research about their roots, heritage and traditional customs.

Bafokeng Kopanang provincial president, Thembelani Makhoba, said through their association they wanted to research their history and how they should perform their cultural practices.

He said they set four key agendas which they wanted to tackle. These are their heritage, the kingdom of Amavundle, land and cultural practices.

He said they wanted to document their history so that their children and grandchildren did not find themselves feeling lost because they were clueless about their roots.

Mr Makhoba said each province had been tasked with conducting research and in April they will have a seminar in the Eastern Cape to present their findings and verify all the information gathered.

Their ultimate goal, he added, was to unify the entire clan that belong under Amavundle and be a one big family.

In order to do that, he said, they had set up branches across the country, in addition to their national office in the Eastern Cape which oversees all their work.

“We want to build a strong, united family. We are also in the process of writing a book. We want everyone who belongs to this clan or one of the houses that belongs to this clan to know their heritage.

“We want to define the right history of our culture. We want to build the kingdom of Amavundle,” he said.

He said they were pleased with their progress so far and hoped that everything would go according to plan.

Victor Mbauli, a senior chief deployed in the Overberg area and member of Bafokeng Kopanang said as the lost generation they wanted to unify members of the Amavundle who were scattered far and wide and who may have adopted cultural practices from other clans because they didn’t know about theirs.