Bantustan Leaders Jointly Reject the Mandela-De Klerk “Record of Understanding”
On 29 September 1992, following the signing of a “Record of Understanding” by the leader of the African National Congress (ANC), Nelson Mandela, and the apartheid South African President, F.W. de Klerk, three prominent leaders of the Bantustans that were opposed to the domination of the negotiations by the ANC and the apartheid government, issued a joint statement after a trilateral meeting in Mmabatho, the capital of the then Bophuthatswana Bantustan.
In the statement issued by Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi of KwaZulu, Lucas Mangope of Bophuthatswana and Brigadier Oupa Gqozo of the Ciskei, they maintained that they rejected the “Record of Understanding” and charged that De Klerk and Mandela had taken decisions affecting their interests without involving them. For the three Bantustan leaders, they considered this as a sign that the apartheid government was pursuing a bilateral agreement or agenda with the ANC over their heads. Furthermore, Buthelezi went on to warn that the deals struck between the ANC and the apartheid government were “illegitimate” and “unimplementable”.
On 26 September 1992, during a summit between the apartheid South African government and the African National Congress (ANC), both parties agreed to a conclude a Record of Understanding, which was to set up a timetable for establishing a Constitutional Assembly, an Interim Government and dealing
