Queen Mother of the 300 000-strong Royal Bafokeng - Africa's richest and most prosperous royal family - Semane Moletlegi was born into one dynasty, the Khama, and married into another, the Bafokeng. The Bafokeng kingdom, with almost R10bn in mining assets, has been enterprising for centuries and is located on the world's second-largest platinum reef, about 250 km northwest of Johannesburg.
The instrument of rule of this nation is an ambitious, vigorously pursued programme called Vision 2020. Through it they have built schools, provided international scholarships, clinics, roads and access to electricity and water.
Queen Semane was born Semane Khama in 1943, into the royal Khama family of Botswana, whose seat is based in Serowe in the east of that country and is the seat of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which has ruled the country since independence in 1966.
She married the late king of the Bafokeng, Kgosi Lebone Mollwane Moletlegi, renowned for his prudence, strategic swiftness and for his preservation of the mineral rights of his people even under the most punitive political regimes.
Wily past leadership resulted in land dispossessions and through the intervention of missionaries the Bafokeng people were able to buy back their land.
The land yielded platinum and asbestos. The Bafokeng then leased it back to mining houses on a use-it-or-lose-it basis - then used the royalties to develop their 70 000 ha of land, that is divided into 72 traditional wards.
Central to latter-day planning and development is Queen Semane, often said to be the power behind the throne of her son King Leruo Moletlegi - 36th paramount ruler of the Bafokeng.
The Queen Mother had a privileged education. She also ensured a modern education for her children, sending them to top private schools in Natal and universities in SA and abroad. Yet she kept a tight rein on their grooming as traditional leaders. She is known for her fraternal approach to the royal houses in the Southern African region, often using her community spirit to advance investments and relationships - earning her the reputation of being a skilful statesman.
She has often championed the role of traditional leaders in the conservation and promotion of indigenous foods, resources and is a compelling advocate of rural entrepreneurship.
She is the author of a case study and position paper titled
"Developing and Nurturing Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises as a Tool to achieve the 2020 Vision of the Royal Bafokeng". The paper is instructive as an assessment of SMME development in SA.
She works with modern companies to secure the social and economic interests of the Bafokeng. She initiated and saw to the development of a web of highly functional enterprise development projects in the kingdom, and authored various publications on the commercialisation of life and development in traditional societies.
She has struck up relationships with mining houses like Amplats and other big businesses like Sun International. She is also credited with the foresight to have leveraged the tourism potential of the North West Province to the benefit of the subjects of her kingdom.
She started a project called Craft Planet, which uses refuse to make African crafts. These have been so successful that they have been showcased in various national decor fairs, including Decorex.
These mats, cushions and tablecloths have been part of a booming trade to tourists to the North West, who come for its wildlife and gambling at entertainment resort Sun City.