The story of the Bafokeng people is a poignant one of land ownership, colonial influence, mining, modernity and tradition.

At a time roughly contemporary with Shaka Zulu, Kgosi Mokgatle - then leader of the Bafokeng people - decided to buy back the land on which they had lived from the Boers, using money earned by the young men of the community who were sent to work in the diamond mines of Kimberley.

Under the current leadership of Kgosi Lerou Molotlegi the Bafokeng people now have a new vision: to turn their land and its mineral wealth into wisdom and skills to transform the economic reality of the Bafokeng people for the future.
This new college of excellence is a keystone project of this vision and is situated on the Tsufi Ridge overlooking Phokeng town and the Bafokeng land.

The main concept is to recreate a set of villages, with teaching buildings, community gathering spaces and homes; large public spaces for everyone, and small ones for intimate gatherings, some tree-shaded avenues where people easily mingle; integration between learning and living, an organism based on normal societal values encountered in the family, in the community.

The college is designed with the dramatic landscape to express the idea of transcending from mineral wealth to the wings of knowledge. Environmental issues were carefully considered, most notably the rehabilitation of a quarry into sports fields in order to minimise the impact on the indigenous landscape. The school village has been integrated with existing trees, and the architectural envelope makes use of natural ventilation and sun screening.