I became an activist at a young age, and to this day.

Tebogo Dikale

by Tebogo Dikale

I’m an activist resident of Phokeng, which is part of the Royal Bafokeng Nation in the North West. Tebogo is my name, from an organisation called FATLHOGA. Phokeng is a community mining host, and recently, there have been two or three open-cast mines operating around.

I became an activist at a young age, and to this day, I am still an active member of society and passionate about the environment.

Being part of a youth structure made me realise there’s a lot I could learn from other activists, how to challenge the status quo, and how to raise concerns in community meetings, and so forth. As a mining host, population statistics showed growth, and the area started to face several issues, such as:

– Environment

– Drugs

– Water

– Health

– Air pollution

– Drainage system

– Crime

– Safety

– Gender Violence

– Economic Challenges amongst young people, etc

These are some of the challenges we started raising around, and why we are facing them as communities. Mine became a common factor. Such challenges made me realise I have a voice to make an impact through speaking out to councilors, the municipality, and to the mining bosses, with the crisis we are facing as a community around mines.

From the municipality side, the lack of service delivery became the norm, such as: –

– Water

– Road Infrastructure

– Electricity

– Maintenance

Looting became a thing in the municipality, and not delivering the mandate to the voters.

As activists, our challenge is to raise concerns, force them to account, and speak out in community meetings and do awareness campaigns on such issues.

That’s why, till this day

I am an activist.

Maatla????????