Modjadji Village, Limpopo
17 April 2009
MEC of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism, Mr Collins
Chabane
Greater Letaba Municipality Mayor, Mr L Matlou
Mayors from Giyani, Tzaneen and Maruleng Municipalities
Chiefs from various traditional authorities
Professors and other academic leaders present
Members of the media
Community members
Ladies and gentlemen
Please allow me to start by narrating a short, but very important story
which developed over many centuries up to this day. Without this story, we
would not be able to gather here today.
In the 1800 century a Karanga kingdom princess together with a small group
of followers embarked on a historical journey from Monomotapa, which is modern
day Zimbabwe, and headed towards south. The princess and her handful followers
settled in the area with spectacular mountain ranges, picturesque valleys, the
Molototsi River and forests rich in a variety of flora and fauna.
When she left Monomotapa, the princess who was later known as Queen Modjadji
brought along rare traditional medicine and special beads that enabled her to
perform rain-making ancestral rituals. She became renowned as a rainmaker and
her reputation soon spread throughout Southern Africa and later
internationally.
Queen Modjadji mystic powers brought respect and even from great warriors who
at the time were notoriously known to be hungry for power left her and the
small tribe untouched.
It is on record that even renowned warriors such as king Shaka and
Muzilikazi paid tribute to Queen Modjadji at a time it was a taboo for a woman
to command political respect she had.
King Shaka showed his respect for the queen by sending black cattle to pay
tribute to Queen Modjadji the 1st and called her the rainmaker of rainmakers
which reinforced the great supernatural ability the queen possessed. Other
kingdoms such as Lesotho led by Moshoeshoe, the Swazis, and others in Southern
Africa also paid tribute.
The honours
I have no doubt that today we are honouring a unique legacy which existed
since the pre-colonial days. While other men led dynasties collapsed, the woman
led dynasty still lives on to this day. This speaks volumes of the capacity of
women to rule.
We are handing over to Greater Letaba Municipality a development with rich
legacy that should be relatively easy to develop further and make a success out
of it. The many honours conferred to Queen Modjadji dynasty over the years
provide unwavering evidence of my confidence:
* Modjadji's international reputation was established in the 1880s, when
populist adventure writer Rider Haggard incorporated her into his blockbuster
book, King Solomon's Mines. Haggard further developed Modjadji's mystic
attraction, when he based the cult book, She, on the Rain Queen. The book,
about a stunningly beautiful and immortal queen with supernatural powers, who
ruled over a hidden kingdom, was turned into an influential movie in the
1970s.
* South African Weather Service honoured Queen Modjadji for their
contribution to the good rains
* our first democratically elected President, Nelson Mandela has described
one of Queen Modjadji as one of the most powerful women in Africa, and even
compared her to Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain
* the third Rain Queen, Khetoane Modjadji III, was described by past South
African Prime Minister Jan Christiaan Smuts as âhandsome and intelligentâ. This
honour was bestowed on her by a member of a racist apartheid government who saw
black peoplesâ intelligence as very limited
* the small forestry town of Duiwelskloof in Limpopo's sub-tropical Letaba
Valley, was officially renamed Modjadjiskloof in honour of the Balobedu
people's unique monarch, the legendary Rain Queen Modjadji. This area will
benefit a great deal from the renaming of the town after Modjadji. Tourists
will also be eager to see the dense forest of cycad trees which are the highest
in the world in the Royal Modjadji Nature Reserve.
Modjadji is a powerful name that is known across the world. For many,
however, the main attraction of this area is not so much its natural beauty
which is in abundance but rather the historical and legendary figure of
Modjadji, the Rain Queen.
By allowing us to use her dynasty name which is set to continue with the
successive Rain Queens, the Rain Queen will be putting this area on the tourist
map and will be helping create jobs and eradicate poverty.
Our department has funded a project that has created assets which we are
handing-over to Greater Letaba Municipality to manage in line with the aims and
objectives envisaged.
Amongst many expectations, our department wishes to see the assets managed
effectively, efficiently and economically with the spin-offs benefiting people
represented in the Balobedu Trust. We believe all the basic fundamentals are in
place for the custodian to achieve great results in turning a facility named
after the legendary Queen Modjadji into phenomenal success.
I would like to encourage the municipality to be economically creative and
also seek assistance whenever they experience challenges.
Like the successive Rain Queens in the Modjadji dynasty, we would like to
see the great assets we are handing-over today passed on from generation to
generation in good condition and achieving similar successes the legacy of
Queen Modjadji is famous of.
Thank you
Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
17 April 2009
Source: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (http://www.environment.gov.za)
