Royal Bafokeng Holdings (RBH) is a community-based investment company whose growth uplifts and creates intergenerational wealth for the Royal Bafokeng Nation (RBN), a 100,000 strong Setswana-speaking community in South Africa’s North West province.

Some 100,000 members of the Setswana speaking Royal Bafokeng Nation (RBN) – as well as a further 50,000 non-Bafokeng – live in the Rustenburg valley. The valley contains one of the largest deposits of PGMs in the world and, as a result of an innovative approach to development, the revenue from this mineral resource has been wisely invested for the benefit of the community. In 2004, the Supreme Council of the RBN led by Kgosi Leruo Molotlegi, resolved that the Royal Bafokeng Nation Development Trust (RBNDT or “the Trust”) be registered in order to achieve Vision 2020 objectives. The Trust would then be responsible for the management and development of the commercial assets of the RBN.

The beneficiaries of the Trust are the RBN and any voluntary association whose members are Bafokeng or any company controlled by the Trust. Hence, the affairs of the Trust are operated in line with the customs, traditions and values of the RBN. In this regard, decision-making processes have been largely aligned with those of the existing RBN structures such as the RBN Supreme Council, which remains responsible for the identification, prioritisation and delivery of social needs to the community.
In managing and developing the commercial assets of the RBN, the Trust is then the sole shareholder of the Nation’s investment arm, known as Royal Bafokeng Holdings (RBH). RBH strives to continually improve the economic wellbeing and quality of life of all stakeholders by investing in businesses that will generate exceptional returns over the long term, thus enabling it to contribute directly to the upliftment of the RBN community, both today and into the future. Dividends received from investee companies are used to sustainably fund the development of the RBN in line with strategic focus areas outlined by the Supreme Council.