Bophuthatswana Tribal Homeland Is Created (South Africa)
Bophuthatswana was established as a tribal homeland in South Africa on December 5, 1977, catering primarily to the Tswana people amid the apartheid regime that enforced strict racial segregation. As part of a broader policy, the South African government created several bantustans, or homelands, aimed at isolating black populations while maintaining control over them. Although Bophuthatswana was declared an independent nation, it was landlocked within South Africa, comprised of disconnected territories that often featured undesirable land. This arrangement left the inhabitants economically dependent on the South African state, undermining any genuine autonomy.
Notably, Bophuthatswana included the area known as Sun City, which capitalized on its nominal independence by legalizing activities like gambling and adult entertainment. This attracted visitors from the more conservative South African areas, turning Sun City into a popular tourist destination that provided economic benefits to some residents despite the overall hardships of the apartheid system. The bantustan policy, including Bophuthatswana, was eventually dismantled in the early 1990s with the end of apartheid, leading to a significant shift in the political and social landscape of South Africa. Today, the legacy of Bophuthatswana serves as a historical reflection on the complexities and contradictions of apartheid-era policies.
Bophuthatswana Tribal Homeland Is Created (South Africa)
Bophuthatswana Tribal Homeland Is Created (South Africa)
On December 5, 1977, the “independent” nation of Bophuthatswana was created within the nation of South Africa. The South African government was still pursuing apartheid, the segregationist policy whereby a white minority rules in a black-majority nation, and had created homelands or bantustans, for various black racial groups. Bophuthatswana was the most prominent of the homelands, in this case created for members of the Tswana tribe. The homeland policy was a cynical effort by the South African government to isolate, while still maintaining effective control over, black populations in areas where they could not cause any problem for the white ruling class.
Bophuthatswana and other homelands were granted nominal independence, but even though they were technically sovereign nations they were completely landlocked within South African territory and typically consisted of mostly undesirable and undeveloped land. The result was that the blacks living there were still economically and financially dependent on the South African state, which had washed its hands of them. Bophuthatswana was not even territorially contiguous; its domain consisted of seven different land parcels scattered through the country.
The bantustan system was abolished by the early 1990s with the collapse of apartheid and the implementation of black majority rule, so Bophuthatswana has largely faded from history. However, its legacy includes an interesting and ironic twist on the failed policies of the apartheid regime. One region of Bophuthatswana, known as Sun City, was located near the large city of Johannesburg. Taking advantage of its theoretically independent national status, Bophuthatswana legalized gambling, nude dancing, and other forms of entertainment that were strictly prohibited by the morally conservative government of South Africa. The government could do nothing about it without acknowledging to the international community that the homelands were a sham, so it took little action while massive casinos and other recreational facilities were built in Sun City. The result was what became known as the “Las Vegas of South Africa,” visited daily by thousands of whites from Johannesburg to sample its forbidden pleasures, and thus at least a portion of Bophuthatswana and the bantustan population was able to prosper economically in spite of the apartheid regime. Sun City remains a thriving community despite the dismantling of apartheid.