Lucas Mangope Retreats
On 10 March 1994, President Lucas Mangope, the leader of the apartheid Bantustan, Bophuthatswana, retreated from the capital, Mmabatho, in the face of a popular uprising after he had tried to boycott participation in South Africa’s first democratic elections. Mangope rejected the South African Independent Electoral Commission’s pleas for free political activity in Bophuthatswana, as a member of the anti-election Freedom Alliance. His stance caused widespread demonstrations in which 40 people were shot and wounded by local police.
A public servants’ strike was called in the entire Bantustan. In Mabopane and Ga-Rankuwa, large banners of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the African National Congress (ANC) were waved over the crowds. Masses of people were pouring in from different directions, each group with its own flags and placards: “Away with Bantustans!” “Away with Mangope!”, “Forward to a democratic South Africa!” Marshals formed human chains. Police, marching alongside the crowd as escorts, raised clenched fists and responded to shouts of “Viva ANC!” Police took off their uniforms and joined the marchers.
Reacting to these insurrectionary developments, Mangope dismissed the staff of the Bophuthatswana Broadcasting Corporation, shutting down 3 radio and 2 television stations. He then sought armed support from the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) to quell the uprising. However, the Bophuthatswana Defence For
