Bophuthatswana
Encyclopedia
Bophuthatswana officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana (Tswana
Tswana language
Tswana or Setswana is a language spoken in Southern Africa by about 4.5 million people. It is a Bantu language belonging to the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho languages branch of Zone S , and is closely related to the Northern- and Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalagadi...

: Repaboleki ya Bophuthatswana; Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

: Republiek van Bophuthatswana) was a Bantustan
Bantustan
A bantustan was a territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa , as part of the policy of apartheid...

 – an area set aside for members of a specific ethnicity – and nominal parliamentary democracy in the northwestern
North West (South African province)
North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mafikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng.-History:...

 region of South Africa. Mmabatho
Mmabatho
Mmabatho is the former capital of the North-West Province of South Africa. In the apartheid era, it was the capital of the former "Bantustan" of Bophuthatswana. Following the end of apartheid in 1994, Bophuthatswana was integrated into the newly established North-West Province and Mmabatho was...

 was its seat of government.

Historically, Bophuthatswana's significance is twofold: it was the first area to be declared an independent state whose territory constituted a scattered patchwork of individual enclaves, and during its last days of existence, events taking place within its borders led to the weakening and split of right-winged Afrikaner
Afrikaner
Afrikaners are an ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers of Dutch, French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.-Related ethno-linguistic groups:The...

 resistance towards democratizing South Africa.

In 1994, it was reintegrated into South Africa, and its territory was distributed among the new provinces of the Orange Free State (now Free State
Free State
The Free State is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Orange Free State Boer republic and later Orange Free State Province. The current borders of the province date from 1994 when the Bantustans...

), Northern Cape
Northern Cape
The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of an international park shared with Botswana...

, and North West Province
North West (South African province)
North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mafikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng.-History:...

.

Establishment

The area was set up as the only homeland
Bantustan
A bantustan was a territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa , as part of the policy of apartheid...

for Tswana
Tswana language
Tswana or Setswana is a language spoken in Southern Africa by about 4.5 million people. It is a Bantu language belonging to the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho languages branch of Zone S , and is closely related to the Northern- and Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalagadi...

-speaking people in 1961. It was given nominal self-rule in 1971 and became nominally independent on 6 December 1977. For the first election shortly before independence, 48 seats in its 96-seat parliament were open, the remainder being reserved for appointed local chiefs. Kgosi Lucas Manyane Mangope
Lucas Mangope
Kgosi Lucas Manyane Mangope is the former leader of the Bantustan of Bophuthatswana and current leader of the United Christian Democratic Party, a minor political party based in the North West province of South Africa....

 became president after his Democratic Party (DP) gained the majority of them. Six seats were won by the Seoposengwe Party (SP).

Bophuthatswana's independence was not recognized by any government other than those of South Africa and Transkei
Transkei
The Transkei , officially the Republic of Transkei , was a Bantustan—an area set aside for members of a specific ethnicity—and nominal parliamentary democracy in the southeastern region of South Africa...

, the first homeland to gain nominal independence. In addition, it was later internally recognized by the two additional countries within the TBVC
Bantustan
A bantustan was a territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa , as part of the policy of apartheid...

-system, Ciskei
Ciskei
Ciskei was a Bantustan in the south east of South Africa. It covered an area of 2,970 square miles , almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province, and possessed a small coastline along the shore of the Indian Ocean....

 and Venda
Venda
Venda was a bantustan in northern South Africa, now part of Limpopo province. It was founded as a homeland for the Venda people, speakers of the Venda language. It bordered modern Zimbabwe and South Africa, and is now part of Limpopo in South Africa....

.

Despite its official isolation, however, the government in Mmabatho managed to set up a trade mission in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, and conducted some business with neighbouring Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...

 in an effort to sway attitudes; furthermore, Botswana agreed on "informal arrangements" short of official recognition in order to facilitate cross-border travel.

International reaction

Arguing in favour of independence, President Mangope claimed that the move would enable its population to negotiate with South Africa from a stronger position: "We would rather face the difficulties of administering a fragmented territory, the wrath of the outside world, and accusations of ill-informed people. It's the price we are prepared to pay for being masters of our own destiny."
United Nations Secretary-General
United Nations Secretary-General
The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the Secretariat of the United Nations, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....

 Kurt Waldheim
Kurt Waldheim
Kurt Josef Waldheim was an Austrian diplomat and politician. Waldheim was the fourth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981, and the ninth President of Austria, from 1986 to 1992...

 stated that he "strongly deplored" the establishment of "another so-called independent tribal homeland in pursuance of the discredited policies of apartheid," and in resolution A/RES/32/105N, passed on 14 December 1977, the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...

 linked Bophuthatswana's "so-called 'independence'" to South Africa's "stubborn pursuit" of its policies, and called upon all governments to "deny any form of recognition to the so-called 'independent' bantustans." During a parliamentary debate in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 on 6 December 1977, Foreign Secretary David Owen
David Owen
David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen CH PC FRCP is a British politician.Owen served as British Foreign Secretary from 1977 to 1979, the youngest person in over forty years to hold the post; he co-authored the failed Vance-Owen and Owen-Stoltenberg peace plans offered during the Bosnian War...

 replied in the negative when asked "whether Her Majesty's Government intend to recognise travel documents
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....

 issued by the authorities of [...] Bophuthatswana for the purpose of admitting visitors to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

."

While the majority of news reports echoed these official declarations, there were others which opined that Western critics should "suspend judgment for a time," and despite its generally critical stance on South Africa's policies, Time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....

magazine wrote that Bophuthatswana had "considerable economic potential" with an expected $30 million a year coming from mining revenues.

Bophuthatswana maintained an unofficial embassy in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 during the 1980s, located next the British embassy in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

. The Israeli Foreign Ministry objected to the embassy's presence, as Israel did not recognize Bophuthatswana as a country. The bantustan's president, Lucas Mangope, was nevertheless able to meet with prominent figures such as Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan was an Israeli military leader and politician. The fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces , he became a fighting symbol to the world of the new State of Israel...

 during visits to Israel.

Series of coups d'état

On 10 February 1988 Rocky Malebane-Metsing of the People's Progressive Party (PPP) became the President of Bophuthatswana for one day when he took over the government through a military coup. He accused Mangope of corruption and charged that the recent election had been rigged in the government's favor. A statement by the defense force said "serious and disturbing matters of great concern" had emerged, citing Mr. Mangope's close association with a multimillionaire Soviet emigre. During the subsequent invasion by the South African Defence Force
South African Defence Force
The South African Defence Force was the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994. The former Union Defence Force was renamed to the South African Defence Force in the Defence Act of 1957...

, Mangope was reinstated and continued his reign unabated. P. W. Botha, president of South Africa at the time, justified the reinstatement by saying that "[t]he South African Government is opposed in principle to the obtaining of power by violence."

In 1990, during a second coup in which an estimated 50,000 protesters demanded the president's resignation over his handling of the economy, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

 reported that seven people had been killed and 450 wounded "after police officers in armored cars fired their rifles into the crowds and used tear gas and rubber bullets." After Mangope had asked for help from the South African government, he declared a state of emergency and cut telephone links to the territory "for political reasons," claiming that "normal laws had become inadequate." The United Nations' Human Rights Watch put the number of protesters at 150,000.

Coup of 1994

In the beginning of 1994 with South Africa heading for democratic elections, the President Lucas Mangope
Lucas Mangope
Kgosi Lucas Manyane Mangope is the former leader of the Bantustan of Bophuthatswana and current leader of the United Christian Democratic Party, a minor political party based in the North West province of South Africa....

 resisted reincorporation into South Africa. Forty people were wounded when Bophuthatswana Defence Force troops opened fire on striking civil servants. Mangope took an increasingly hardline stance, rejected Independent Electoral Commission
Independent Electoral Commission (South Africa)
The Independent Electoral Commission is South Africa's independent election management body. It manages elections to the National Assembly, the provincial legislatures and the municipal councils....

 chairman Judge Johann Kriegler
Johann Kriegler
Johann Christiaan Kriegler is a former Constitutional Court and Appeal Court judge from South Africa.-Early life:Born in Pretoria, he matriculated at King Edward Vll School in Johannesburg in 1949. He then attended the South African Military Academy for two years. He studied law at the University...

's plea for free political activity
Freedom (political)
Political freedom is a central philosophy in Western history and political thought, and one of the most important features of democratic societies...

 in the territory, and fired the staff of the Bophuthatswana Broadcasting Corporation, closing down two television stations and three radio stations.

The white supremacist group Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging
Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging
The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging is a South African far right separatist political and former paramilitary organization, since its creation dedicated to secessionist Afrikaner nationalism and the creation of an independent Boer-Afrikaner republic or "" in part of South Africa...

 (AWB) took the opportunity to move in and try to restore the apartheid status quo, but was humiliated in early March when, in the presence of photojournalists and a TV crew, uniformed members of the AWB on an armed incursion
Bophuthatswana coup
The Bophuthatswana coup of March 1994 occurred in the tribal homeland of Bophuthatswana and resulted in the reincorporation of the homeland into South Africa following the negotiated ending of apartheid...

 to the Mmabatho/Mafikeng
Mafikeng
Mahikeng – formerly legally, but still commonly known as Mafikeng – is the capital city of the North-West Province of South Africa. It is best known internationally for the Siege of Mafeking, the most famous engagement of the Second Boer War.Located on South Africa's border with Botswana, it is ...

 area shot at people alongside the road, injuring and killing many. They themselves were shot at by members of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force (BDF) and the Police and forced to retreat. Three wounded AWB members were shot dead at point blank range by Ontlametse Bernstein Menyatsoe of the BDF while retreating. These killings effectively spelt the end of white military opposition to democratic reforms. Mangope was replaced by an interim government.

Dissolution

With the end of apartheid, of the 7 enclaves, 5 were added into the North West Province
North West (South African province)
North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mafikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng.-History:...

. Thaba Nchu
Thaba Nchu
Thaba Nchu is a town in Free State, South Africa, located 60 km east of Bloemfontein. Its population is largely made up of Tswana and Sotho people. The town was settled in the 1830s and officially established in 1873...

 became part of the Free State and Moretele
Moretele
Moretele is a local municipality in Bojanala Platinum District Municipality, North West Province, South Africa. Population: 180,000....

 (the easternmost part) became part of Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga , is a province of South Africa. The name means east or literally "the place where the sun rises" in Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, north of KwaZulu-Natal and bordering Swaziland and Mozambique. It constitutes 6.5% of South Africa's land area...

. The capital, Mmabatho, was merged with Mafikeng and the combined city is now the capital of the North West province.

Geography and demographics

Bophuthatswana had a surface area of approximately 40 000 km² and consisted of six enclaves dispersed over the former South African provinces of Cape Province
Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa...

, Transvaal
Transvaal Province
Transvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...

 and Orange Free State
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...

. The capital Mmabatho
Mmabatho
Mmabatho is the former capital of the North-West Province of South Africa. In the apartheid era, it was the capital of the former "Bantustan" of Bophuthatswana. Following the end of apartheid in 1994, Bophuthatswana was integrated into the newly established North-West Province and Mmabatho was...

 was situated in an area bordering Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...

. The homeland was set up to house Setswana-speaking peoples. In 1983 it had more than 1,430,000 inhabitants; in 1990, it had an estimated population of 2,352,296. Only 10% of Bophuthatswana's total land area was arable, and much of that was covered with scrub brush.

Though the majority of its population was Tswana-speaking, Tswana, English, and Afrikaans were all designated as official languages by the constitution.

Economy

Bophuthatswana was the richest of the TBVC-states as it had platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...

 mines
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

, which accounted for two-thirds of the total platinum production in the Western world. It was also rich in asbestos, granite, vanadium, chromium and manganese. Additional revenues came from the Sun City
Sun City, North West
Sun City is a luxury casino and resort, situated in the North West Province of South Africa. It is located about two hours' drive from Johannesburg, near the city of Rustenburg. The complex borders the Pilanesberg Game Reserve.- History :...

 casino, which was a day trip from Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

 and Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...

, where gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...

 was illegal under the National Party
National Party (South Africa)
The National Party is a former political party in South Africa. Founded in 1914, it was the governing party of the country from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994. Members of the National Party were sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats. Its policies included apartheid, the establishment of a...

 government, as it was throughout all of South Africa.

Security forces

Towards the end of its existence, the Bophuthatswana Defence Force (BDF) had an estimated number of 4,000 troops, mostly infantry. It was organized into six military regions, and its ground forces included two infantry battalions, possessing two armored personnel carriers. The Bophuthatswana Air Force of 150 personnel possessed three combat aircraft and two armed helicopters. The president was commander-in-chief and was authorized to deploy the armed forces in both cross-border operations as well as domestically.

During its last days in 1994, the Bophuthatswana Police had 6,002 police officers, operating from 56 police stations throughout the territory.

With the dissolution of Bophuthatswana in 1994, the BDF and the Bophuthatswana Police were incorporated into the South African National Defence Force
South African National Defence Force
The South African National Defence Force is the armed forces of South Africa. The military as it exists today was created in 1994, following South Africa's first post-apartheid national elections and the adoption of a new constitution...

 and the South African Police Service
South African Police Service
The South African Police Service is the national police force of the Republic of South Africa. Its 1116 police stations in South Africa are divided according to the provincial borders, and a Provincial Commissioner is appointed in each province...

, respectively.

Notable persons

  • Kgosi Lucas Manyane Mangope
    Lucas Mangope
    Kgosi Lucas Manyane Mangope is the former leader of the Bantustan of Bophuthatswana and current leader of the United Christian Democratic Party, a minor political party based in the North West province of South Africa....

    , long-time president of Bophuthatswana

See also

  • Bantustan
    Bantustan
    A bantustan was a territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa , as part of the policy of apartheid...

  • Unrecognized countries
  • Diplomatic recognition
    Diplomatic recognition
    Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral political act with domestic and international legal consequences, whereby a state acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state...

  • Puppet state
    Puppet state
    A puppet state is a nominal sovereign of a state who is de facto controlled by a foreign power. The term refers to a government controlled by the government of another country like a puppeteer controls the strings of a marionette...

  • Satellite state
    Satellite state
    A satellite state is a political term that refers to a country that is formally independent, but under heavy political and economic influence or control by another country...

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