Word: bophuthatswana
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...seven are in transitional stages on the road to autonomy. But that road is fraught with difficulties. Only three of the homelands, Ciskei, Qwaqwa and KaNgwane, are unitary territories; the rest are fragmented enclaves, surrounded by land reserved for whites. Only Transkei possesses a deep-water seaport. Apart from BophuthaTswana and Lebowa, which have rich mineral deposits, the rural homelands lack exploitable resources. Their inhabitants are engaged mainly in subsistence-level farming, while about half of the men are forced to migrate to South Africa in search of employment...
...most outside observers, that dream seemed more like a mirage. The mango-patch "republic" (pop. 480,000) is unlikely to win recognition from any nation apart from South Africa, Zimbabwe Rhodesia, and its fellow black homeland states of Transkei and BophuthaTswana, which obtained "independence" from Pretoria in 1976 and 1977. The fragility of Venda's new status was even reflected in its stage-prop capital, Thohoyandou ("head of the elephant"). Pretoria had hastily fitted out the town for the occasion with a cluster of government buildings, a hotel, a supermarket and the stadium...
...first homeland to accept independence, Transkei, at least had the distinction of being virtually a self-contained entity with an Indian Ocean coastline and a deep-water port. Landlocked BophuthaTswana, by contrast, consists of seven patches of territory scattered from the northwestern Transvaal to the Orange
...foreseeable future, the new state will be financially dependent on Pretoria, which will also advise on BophuthaTswana's diplomatic and defense affairs. Nonetheless, the new homeland has a considerable economic potential: at present it accounts for two-thirds of the total platinum production in the Western world. It is also rich in asbestos, granite, vanadium, chromium and manganese. By 1979 the homeland should be receiving direct mining revenues of about $30 million a year. But only 10% of BophuthaTswana's total land area is arable, and much of that is covered with scrub brush...
Like Transkei's Prime Minister, Chief Kaiser Matanzima, who attended the independence ceremonies last week, Mangope is a political conservative without any viable opposition. His BophuthaTswana Democratic Party won overwhelmingly in pre-independence elections, and has 92 out of the 96 seats in the national assembly. Mangope has vowed never to let his territory become a base for black militants or anti-South African terrorists. Some urban blacks have attacked him as a puppet of Pretoria for going along with the independence scheme. Mangope argues that the plan will enable his people to consolidate their political power and thus...