This book explores the rise and fall of Bophuthatswana, a forgotten legacy of the apartheid era.
This book explores the rise and fall of Bophuthatswana, an apartheid-era legacy. During the 1970s and 1980s, while South Africa faced systemic human rights violations, Lucas Mangope sought dignity for the Batswana people through peaceful coexistence.
Declared a Republic in 1977, Bophuthatswana became a center for racial harmony and free-market principles for seventeen years. It achieved significant successes and fostered the hope that South Africa’s future might lie in a constellation of states governed by free-market principles and equality.
However, the 1990 CODESA negotiations following Nelson Mandela’s release, marginalized Mangope’s vision for a federal, multicultural democracy. In the rush to unify the ANC and the government, Bophuthatswana was sidelined and dissolved, ending Mangope’s presidency in March 1994.
HERO TO ZERO: Bophuthatswana 1977 TO 1994
HERO TO ZERO: Bophuthatswana 1977 TO 1994 By Danie Schoeman
