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EExperience the warm hospitality and rich culture of the Basotho people in the stylishly created Bakone Malapa Museum near Polokwane, Limpopo. The Bakone, a sub-group of the Northern Sotho people, will happily introduce you to their contemporary customs and traditional way of life.
Just outside Polokwane, the capital of the Limpopo province, the Bakone Malapa Museum is a showcase for the Basotho culture. Two traditional homesteads house exhibits that explain much of the multifaceted Basotho history.
The name Bakone is a Northern Sotho clan name taken from Bakone ba Matlala a’ Thaba, who lived here in the 17th century. Malapa is the Sotho word for homestead. Archaeological digs show that the Ndebele and the Shangaan also lived in the area, and evidence has been found of a Stone Age influence dating back 20 000 years.
Did You Know?
AA tiny savannah bird, the scaly-feathered finch, is the totem of the Bakone people.
TThe on-site cultural village offers visitors further insight into the Bakone people, a sub-group of the Basotho. The village has been reconstructed in a style that was typical about 250 years ago. Run by several Basotho who live in the village, the centre offers a warm and authentic welcome from people happy to share their current, as well as historic, way of life with you.
Bakone Malapa open-air museum
TThe organised tour of the Bakone Malapa Museum begins with a visit to an area recreating the modern ways of a Basotho family. Here, within the lapa, you will see the separate thatched brick and mortar bedroom, kitchen and living room. Floors are still made from a mix of mud and cow dung, as they have been for hundreds of years. You will then be given a view of life as it was 250 years ago.
While visiting here, you can learn how fire is made, how beer is brewed and how maize is ground. Handcraft demonstrations such as woodcarving, pottery, basketry and beadwork are popular, and a craft shop sells locally produced crafts.
Informative tours are conducted at set times throughout the day. Most guides are skilled in the African tradition of storytelling and will answer all your questions about the cultural aspects of the life of the Basotho.
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