Word: bophuthatswana
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Dates: during 1977-1977
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Apart from those ceremonial high points, the birth of the new "republic" of BophuthaTswana last week was singularly lacking in the kind of euphoria that independence rites usually inspire. The second of South Africa's nine tribal homelands to be granted "independence," BophuthaTswana (literally meaning "that which binds the Tswana") is not recognized by any country in the world except South Africa and another homeland, Transkei, which became independent last year. BophuthaTswana's creation was opposed not only by many South African blacks but also by much of world opinion. United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim last week...
...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...
...Prime Minister insisted that there would be no concessions on political power-sharing with blacks on a national level. He will proceed with his plans for constitutional changes to establish separate "parliaments" for whites, mixed-blood coloreds, and Asians, and will continue to develop the tribal homelands. This week BophuthaTswana becomes the second of these homelands to attain "independence...