Who they are:
The Bakoena Ba Mopeli Royal House, situated in Namahadi, Qwaqwa, is the seat of the Bakoena Kingship. Led by His Majesty Morena e Moholo Moremoholo Motebang Mopeli, Paramount Chief of the Bakoena Nation in the Free State, the royal house stands as a central pillar of Basotho cultural preservation, heritage, and community leadership. Today, the Bakoena Royal Council under King Motebang Mopeli oversees 43 traditional chiefs and represents the most dominant royal family in the Qwaqwa area.
Services offered:
The royal house maintains a formal, strategic partnership with the UFS, particularly through the Qwaqwa Campus, which lies within its traditional territory. This relationship, structured through a signed Memorandum of Understanding, provides researchers with direct access to the community and embodies the principle of engaged scholarship, ensuring that university knowledge directly benefits local people. The partnership extends into governance and capacity building with members of the royal house participating in specialised training programmes through the UFS Business School, including financial management and cost accounting. The royal house also holds a direct seat in university research structures, with Morena Tsolo Mopeli serving on the Advisory Board of the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU), guiding sustainable development and environmental research in the Maloti‑Drakensberg region. The UFS further acts as an academic custodian of the royal house’s history, hosting major events such as the Dr TK Mopeli Memorial Lecture and Symposium, which merge indigenous knowledge systems with modern scientific research and education.
Contact
Lebohang Mopeli
T: +27 72 620 6739
E: bakoenakingship@gmail.com
A: 451 Namahadi Village, Witsieshoek, 9869 in Qwaqwa, South Africa.
C: -28.560053515955634, 28.832235780341463 (488 Namahadi)
There is a signed MoU between the UFS and the Bakoena Ba Mopeli Royal House.