Word: matanzima
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Backed by Transkei's 8,000-man army, Major-General Bantu Homolisa announced the overthrow of Prime Minister Stella Sigcau. In September, Homolisa had helped put Sigcau in office by deposing George Matanzima, who had ruled the "republic" since 1979. Homolisa accused Sigcau of corruption and bribery. As head of the new ruling military council, Homolisa advised Pretoria that he sought to "rectify the state of affairs for the good...
Transkei, the oldest of the independent homelands, is a case in point. Its first Prime Minister, Kaiser Matanzima, now 72, quickly established an authoritarian presence and installed his younger brother George as his successor when he became President in 1979. Together the Matanzimas managed to acquire large amounts of state land to add to their already substantial farming interests. More recently, however, the brothers had a falling out. The rift was exacerbated when Kaiser, now semiretired, feared that George, 68, was about to be unseated as a result of corruption charges. Two weeks ago, while George was recuperating from...
...Matanzima dynasty has long been an embarrassment to South Africa, and not just because of its alleged corruption. When Pretoria rebuffed his claim to South African territory bordering on Transkei, Kaiser briefly committed the diplomatic farce of breaking off "relations" with the government that had granted Transkei its dubious independence. Last February Transkei-trained commandos were accused by authorities in Ciskei of attempting to assassinate their President, Lennox Sebe. The incident led to a virtual state of war between Pretoria's two pseudostate offspring...