Saturday, February 17, 2007

South African Royalty Visits General Assembly

The House of Representatives was honored to have a very special guest in our chamber on Thursday: Her
Majesty, the Queen Mother Semane Bonolo Molotlegi. Her Majesty is a member of the Royal Family of Royal
Bafokeng Nation based in the North West Province of South Africa. Her third son King Leruo Tshekedi
Molotlegi is the current King of the Royal Bafokeng Nation.

Her Majesty, as Queen and now as Queen Mother, has played a pivotal role in helping her country become a model to which other communities in the region hope to aspire. She champions the issues of job creation for her people, the rights of women in her country, improving education, and health care. In September 2006, a delegation of citizens from North Carolina was invited by a South African Religious leader to meet Her Majesty and to share community, religious, and medical strategies to eliminate health disparities. During that visit, she learned of a health care model that had been in place in NC for nearly a decade.

The purpose of The Queen Mother’s visit to North Carolina was to learn more about North Carolina’s health care innovations. While here, she and members of her delegation toured East Carolina University’s telemedicine program, the Windows on the World Teleconferencing center in Roper, NC, and other health care facilities.

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