Bophuthatswana

Flag of Bophuthatswana

Location of Bophuthatswanas in South Africa

Map of Bophuthatswana

Bophuthatswana , also BophuthaTswana (officially: Setswana Repabolika ya Bophuthatswana 'The land that binds the Tswana ' ) was a homeland in northern and central South Africa . It was declared independent in 1977 and re-incorporated into South Africa in 1994. It consisted of seven isolated areas, six of which were enclaves in South Africa. They were scattered over the then South African provinces of Cape Province , Transvaal and Orange Free State , and covered about 44,000 km². The capital was Mmabatho . The village of Heystekrand near Rustenburg was developed as the administrative center of Homeland. According to other information, Ramitsogo is said to have been the capital city.

geography

All seven regions are in the Highveld .

Stamp imprint from the Ramatlabama border crossing

• The capital Mmabatho, today a district of Mahikeng , was located in a part of the country directly bordering Botswana . This area is also where Mmabatho International Airport and Mafikeng City are located. The five road and rail border crossings from this area to Botswana were operated by the Bophuthatswana authorities.
• To the west of it was an approximately 20,000 km², desert-like area with no large towns. It was close to Botswana, but had no common border with this state. The Morokweng Crater is located in the area near the village of Morokweng . Immediately south of this area is the city of Kuruman .
• South of the first two areas was a small part of Bophuthatswana with the town of Taung . To the south of this area is the city of Kimberley .
• To the west of Lesotho and east of Bloemfontein , in the area of ​​today's province of Free State , was another area with the central town of Thaba Nchu . Numerous Basotho also live there . This part was the furthest from Mmabatho.
• Another large part of Bophuthatswana lay east of the former area. There are major platinum mines and Sun City amusement center . The largest town in the area is Madikwe . The highest point is the Pilanesberg . Rustenburg is located immediately south of this area . Part of this area belongs to the Royal Bafokeng Nation .
• East of the latter part was an area with the places Ga-Rankuwa and Mabopane . These two cities are now part of the Tshwane metropolitan area in Gauteng Province .
• Further to the east was a small area that bordered what was then the homeland of KwaNdebele . It was not assigned to Bophuthatswana until after 1977.

population

In 1989 the number of inhabitants was around 1,656,000. The population density was around 38 inhabitants / km². De jure , the population was 3.2 million, as Batswana living in South Africa were included.

history

Territorial Authority

At the end of 1962 the South African government publicly announced that under the direction of the Ministry of Bantu Administration and Development, six “Territorial Authorities” had been established for regions of the Bantu population . For the area of ​​the later homeland Bophuthatswana, this was the Tswana Territorial Authority with nine regional administrative units (Regional Authority). These were (respective administrative centers in brackets):

• Pilanesberg Regional Authority (Rustenburg)
• Hurutshe Regional Authority (Marico)
• Ditshobotla Regional Authority (Lichtenburg, Ventersdorp, Delareyville)
• Barolong Regional Authority (Mafeking)
• Huhudi Bechwana Regional Authority (Vryburg)
• Taung Regional Authority (Taung and Barkly West)
• Seokama Dichaba Regional Authority (Kuruman)
• Batlhaping Regional Authority (Herbert)
• Bakgatla Ndebele Regional Authority (Hammanskraal).

Bophuthatswana was created as the only homeland for the Setswana- speaking South African population.

Self-governing status

On June 1, 1972, the South African government gave the area self-government status within the republic. This was done on the basis of the Proclamation R130 of May 26, 1972 . On October 4, 1972, elections were held in Bophuthatswana.

Bantu State

On December 6, 1977, Bophuthatswana was granted formal independence as the second South African homeland. However, this status has not been recognized internationally. All residents of Bophuthatswana automatically lost their South African citizenship. In 1980 the city of Mafikeng became part of Bophuthatswana after a referendum.

Lucas Mangope was installed as the country's first president. As chairman of the Bophuthatswana Democratic Party (BDP), he won all 72 available seats in the 1982 National Assembly elections. Another 36 seats were occupied by appointed parliamentarians, including 24 representatives from the regions and 12 “specialists”. After a coup in 1988, Mangope was reinstated a day later with the help of South African troops . Another coup failed in 1990. At the beginning of 1994 he was replaced by a transitional government because he had blocked himself from reintegrating Bophuthatswana into the Republic of South Africa. Members of the Boer African Resistance Movement (AWB), who saw a chance together with Mangope to prevent the South African parliamentary elections, penetrated Mmabatho and shot several passers-by. The television images that were shot in the process contributed to the fact that many white South Africans gave up their resistance to the impending takeover of power by the black majority of the population.

Reintegration

On April 27, 1994, Bophuthatswana was reunited with South Africa along with the nine other homelands. Four of the seven parts of the country were in the province of Northwest incorporated, as is the area around Ga-Rankuwa - later came Ga-Rankuwa and Mabopane to Gauteng - the territory Thaba'Nchu in the Free State and the eastern region in the province of Mpumalanga .

Demographics

Bophuthatswana was established as a homeland for all Tswana speaking ethnic groups. In 1982 Bophuthatswana also lived 91,000 Shangaan and 60,000 Sotho and 2,400 whites.

economy

The world's largest platinum deposits, as well as the extraction of diamonds , chromium and vanadium as well as the income from the Sun City casino - gambling was prohibited in South Africa itself - made Bophuthatswana the wealthiest homeland. It was not, like the other homelands, financially dependent on South Africa. Agriculture was hardly practiced, as 90% of the land in question is considered sterile.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Entry on britannica.com (English), accessed on December 1, 2015
2. ^ ^{A b c d} Fischer-Weltalmanach 1988 , Frankfurt 1987, ISBN 3-596-19088-6 , entry on Bophuthatswana
3. ↑ Muriel Horrell: The African Homelands of South Africa . SAIRR , Johannesburg 1973, pp. 57, 155.
4. ↑ UN, Food & Agriculture Org. (Ed.): Apartheid, Poverty and Malnutrition (= Food and Agriculture Organization [Ed.]: FAO economic and social development paper . Volume 24 ). 1982, ISBN 92-5101203-2 , ISSN  0259-2460 , p. 65 (English, limited preview in Google Book search).
5. ^ SAIRR: A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1963 . Johannesburg 1964, pp. 107-108
6. ↑ Muriel Horrell: The African Homelands of South Africa . SAIRR , Johannesburg 1973, pp. 57-58
7. ↑ Information on Mafikeng , accessed on March 4, 2010