HOEDSPRUIT: Colonel by day, DJ by night
Colonel Nation Mokgwabone, also known as Dj Nation is a young man who is a soldier in the South African Air Force (SAAF), and young man with charitable blood in him.
Dj Nation was born on 8 May 1979 in the small town Taung in the North West Province.
He is on a quest to uplift the lives of people in his home town.
He speaks deliberately, with a commanding tone, his speech belying from where in South Africa he hails from.
“I completed my Grade 12 at P.H. Moreetsi Agricultural High School in 1996 in Taung, and in that year we had a visit from blue wearing uniform men.
At first I thought they were police officers.
No, they were soldiers from the Air Force coming to tell us about various careers available for us in their organisation.
The following year, 13 January 1997, I joined the SAAF,” he said.
“In 1999 I went for my Officer Formative Training.
In that time Basic Military Training was still in me and I was physically fit but the officer’s course is totally different and demanding,” said Mokgwabone.
Colonel Mokgwabone started training as an Air Traffic Controller (ATC) in 2000.
In 2004 he was selected to attend an Approach Control Course that was presented in South Korea.
Colonel Mokgwabone has worked at Air Force Base (AFB) Waterkloof as an ATC.
He was also an ATC at AFB Makhado.
“When I left AFB Makhado I was transferred to Air Force Command and Control School between 2005 and 2010 as an Air Traffic Control Instructor”, said Mokgwabone.
At work he is Colonel Nation Mokgwabone, and when he takes off the uniform he transforms into DJ Nation, the pride of not only Taung but the entire North West Province.
Dj Nation is well known across South Africa and has people dancing to his deep house music in Botswana into the early hours of the morning.
Dj Nation enjoys visiting prisons to motivate inmates about life.
He makes time to go into prison, a place that many fear, to give motivational talks, play music for inmates and give out essentials that inmates use on a daily basis.
He hosts the Dj Nation Annual Bash in Taung to celebrate life and Collect funds for his many activities and for various outreach programs he runs. “My annual bash works more for the people of Taung and Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Party lovers look forward to the music, street vendors look forward to making money, everyone comes looking for something at the bash.
I look forward to making people dance, moreover I love what the bash gives me to pass on to others,” he stated.
The Dj Nation Annual Bash attracts people of different ages, races and unites people of the SADC.
In December 2017 it will be in its 6th edition and each year the eventcgathers over 15 000 people.
The Dj Nation Annual Bash attracts internationally acclaimed Dj’s and musicians including Black Coffee, Christos, Glen Lewis, Ralf Gum, Louis Vega, Casper Nyovest and Monique Bingham.
Colonel Nation Mokgwabone, Dj Nation is a man serving the nation is many ways.
He treats people fairly and with respect, he respects and supports others.
He carries out his many missions with courage.
Dj Nation has the courage to assist people he does not know and might never meet again.
His pledge is to the people of South Africa.
He is a selfless human being, he never invoices people in the community for what he puts out for them, yet his blood family and relatives needed every cent, he treats everyone fairly.
“Everyone is a priority in my life,” says Dj Nation.
“In the military I am inspired by all soldiers that are passing on their knowledge to juniors without resistance.
My role models in the entertainment are Louie Vega, Vinny da Vinci and Christos.
I am a growing person, I know where I want to be, I will get there, and I will sit in the league of my role models,” he says.
