Lebowakgomo is the seat of the Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality and was the capital of the former

Bantustan A Bantustan (also known as a Bantu peoples, Bantu homeland, a Black people, black homeland, a Khoisan, black state or simply known as a homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party (South Africa), National Party administration of the ...

Lebowa Lebowa was a Bantustan ("homeland") located in the Transvaal Province, Transvaal in northeastern South Africa. Seshego initially acted as Lebowa's capital while the purpose-built Lebowakgomo was being constructed. Granted internal self-gover ...

. Lebowakgomo lies southeast of the

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

capital of

Polokwane Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Provin ...

. The majority of Lebowakgomo's inhabitants speak SePedi.

History

The township was established in the early 1970s to become the capital of

, and was enlarged and developed in the 1980s. The name is derived from two

Northern Sotho Sepedi, also known as Northern Sotho, is one of South Africa’s twelve official languages and belongs to the Bantu language family, specifically the Sotho-Tswana group. The language is spoken mainly in Limpopo Province, and to a lesser exten ...

words ''Lebowa'' ("north") and ''Kgomo'' ("cow"). The land where Lebowakgomo is located was donated to the former Lebowa Government by Chief Mmutle Mphahlele of the ''Bakgaga ba gaMphahlele''. The chief's palace lies 10 km southeast of the township in Seleteng village. Lebowakgomo was one of the eight townships in the former

; the seven others were Mahwelereng, Sešego, Mankweng, Lenyenye, Namakgale, Praktiseer, Mašišing and Senwabarwana.

Educational institutions

In the early 1990s, Lebowakgomo had three primary schools in Zone A (Little Bedfordview, Mogodumo and Ntseekgopu), in Zone F (Dr Dixon Mphahlele) and in Zone B (Eureka), and three high schools: Derek Kobe High School, Lebowakgomo High School, SJ van der Merwe Full Service Technical High School and towards the late 90s Lebowakgomo Commercial(which later became Waterberg FET College), and Mathomomayo High School. Before 2005 two more primary and secondary schools were built in Zone A and Zone S.

Radio station

Greater Lebowakgomo Community Radio (GLFM) is one of two local radio station broadcasting at 89.8 FM. A digital radio station now exists called Connect Radio and broadcasts on www.connectradio.co.za.The radio stations target the communities within Lepelle-Nkumpi Municipality and the youth with content such as news, sports, talk and music.

Health facilities

Thabamoopo Hospital is a psychiatric hospital located in Lebowakgomo Zone A just a few kilometres from Lebowakgomo Hospital. Both are public hospitals and offer free services to those who are eligible for free services and charge government hospital rates to other citizens. There are other public health facilities and clinics in Lebowakgomo Zone B and Lebowakgomo Zone R. The township has always been dominated by public health facilities and a handful of private health facilities. Over the years there has been a rise in private general practitioners, psychologists and gynaecologists. The private hospital Medleb commenced operations in 2018.

Sports and recreation

Lebowakgomo Stadium was a multi-use municipal facility which was mostly used to host private functions and recreational events like the annual AKasiDream event hosted every Easter to bring the youth together and a family fun day hosted every spring filled of fun and games for family and children. This facility was capable to administer sporting events such as soccer, tennis, netball, basketBall and baseball. Currently that is done at Baroka Village, a world class local facility by Baroka FC which caters for soccer and events. Tennis was once very popular with the people of Lebowakgomo. This was due to the collective effort of community members who, through their own interest in the sport, taught themselves and then others to play. Tennis has paved a career pathway for many junior players in sports.

Neighbouring communities

Lebowakgomo is a township in GA-Mphahlele surrounded by small to medium-sized villages that contribute the vast majority of day dwellers in its business district. These villages include Makotse, Ga-Ledwaba home of the Traditional Authority of Ga-Ledwaba, Ga-Rakgoatha, Ga-Mphahlele, Sepanapudi, Ga Masemola and Zebediela. Zebediela is home to the Zebediela Citrus Farm, which in its prime, prior to land redistribution, exported citrus to international and local markets. Its oranges were famous among locals. Just 13 km out of Lebowakgomo lies the

Zion Christian Church 300px, Zion City Moria beside the R71 route, Limpopo The Zion Christian Church (ZCC) is one of the largest African-initiated churches operating across Southern Africa, and is part of the African Zionism movement. The church's headquarters ...

, former headquarters Podingwane from 1937 to 1942 before moving to Moria.

Notable people

Notable people from Mphahlele and Lebowakgomo include: * Baroka F.C., soccer team * Arthur Mafokate, musician * Sefako Makgatho, second president of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

* Lehlogonolo Masoga, Deputy Speaker of the

Legislature, former

ANC Youth League The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (N ...

leader * Stanley Mathabatha, premier of the

Limpopo Province Limpopo () is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers ...

, South Africa * Bokang Montjane, Miss South Africa 2010 * Es'kia Mphahlele * Letlapa Mphahlele, former president of

Pan Africanist Congress of Azania The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, often shortened to the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), is a South African pan-Africanist national liberation movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert S ...

* Ramahlwe Mphahlele, South African football player *

Lilian Ngoyi Lilian Masediba Matabane Ngoyi, "Ma Ngoyi", OMSG (25 September 1911 – 13 March 1980) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. She was the first woman elected to the executive committee of the African National Congress, and helped ...

née Matabane, first woman elected to the executive committee of the

* Cedric Phatudi, Chief Minister of

1973–1987 * Shebeshxt, recording artist

References

External links

"Greater Lebowakgomo Community Radio"
31 July 2014. Accessed 28 September 2018.

Accessed 28 September 2018.
"Traditional Leaders Capricorn District Municipality"
Accessed 4 October 2018. {{Authority control Populated places in the Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality 1970s establishments in South Africa