PART TWO

THE BACKGROUND

A. THE BACKGROUND IN SUMMARY

Bophuthatswana was created an independent homeland and republic by the South African Government on 5 December 1977, in terms of the Status of Bophuthatswana Act, No 89 of 1977, under the presidency of President Lucas Mangope. As appears from the map on page 2 above, it consisted of seven separate small areas of land, incorporating twelve districts, scattered throughout the former Transvaal Province of South Africa and the Northern Cape with one part at Thaba'Nchu in the province of the then Orange Free State. The largest area was that around and adjacent to and incorporating the Mmabatho/Mafikeng area. Mmabatho became the capital.

In December 1992 the negotiation process for an interim constitution for South Africa in which the African National Congress and Nationalist Party led South African Government were the main role-players got under way at the World Trade Centre at Kempton Park. This signalled the fact that the era of apartheid had gone for ever, that there would be a new constitution which would incorporate all South Africans and that, as a result, the independent homelands would disappear. The Interim Constitution came into being in terms of Act 200 of 1993 in November 1993 and a Transitional Executive Council was appointed, pending the outcome of a general election on 27 April 1994.

There was bitter resistance to these events on the part of right-wing conservatives, including the Conservative Party under Dr Ferdie Hartzenberg, the Afrikaner Volksfront, a senior member of which was the retired former head of the South African Defence Force, General Constand Viljoen, and the militant Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging under Mr. Eugene Terre'Blanche. Under General Viljoen, the Afrikaner Volksfront had set up a so-called "Boere People's Army" consisting mainly of farmers but also of Afrikaner Volksfront followers from other walks of life, most of whom had previous military experience.

The position of Bophuthatswana became a matter of concern for both the people of that country and for its Government, particularly for its President, President Mangope. Although the Bophuthatswana Government took part in the negotiations at Kempton Park, President Mangope made it clear at all times that while doing so his intention was to negotiate the best deal that would suit Bophuthatswana, which would remain independent and would not agree to being re-incorporated into South Africa . His Government also became part of the so called Freedom Alliance which had been formed between the Conservative Party, the Afrikaner Volksfront, the Kwazulu Government, the Inkatha Freedom Party and the Bophuthatswana Government. President Mangope's insistence on his country's remaining independent became a major issue between the Government and the people. The Commission heard evidence that the majority of the people favoured re-incorporation and were desirous of participating in the upcoming South African general election on 27 April 1994.

Political activity aimed at achieving these aims, in which the African National Congress took a major role, increased in Bophuthatswana but was heavily Suppressed by President Mangope using the Bophuthatswana Police Force, who employed force against those engaged in such activities to do so. Students at the University of Bophuthatswana, particularly were victims of police brutality during protests against the Mangope regime.

At the same time two significant pieces of legislation had been passed by the South African Government in pursuance of the intention, as evidenced by the negotiation process, to re-incorporate the homelands, and particularly Bophuthatswana, into the new South Africa. They were Section 230(1) of the Interim Constitution Act, No 200 of 1993 which provided for the repeal of the Status of Bophuthatswana Act on 27 April 1994, and the Restoration and Extension of Citizenship Act, No196 of 1993 by which South African citizenship was restored to citizens of Bophuthatswana as from 1 January 1994 enabling the latter to apply for and obtain South African identity documents so as to allow them to vote in the election on 27 April 1994.

Those who were particularly concerned with what the future of Bophuthatswana was to be were persons in the civil service, members of the teaching and nursing professions, and members of the Bophuthatswana Police and Defence Forces.

Aware that Bophuthatswana only generated 29% of its annual income and was dependent on South Africa for the remaining 71%, their major concerns were who would in future pay their salaries and what was likely to happen to their pensions if Bophuthatswana should choose to "go it alone". The pensions aspect was one of particular concern. President Mangope did little to allay their worries. In his public utterances he indicated clearly that Bophuthatswana would remain independent and its citizens would not participate in the election.

During October 1993 the 64 000 members of the public service attempted to form an Association of Public Servants appointing a Task Team to do so. Meetings of the Task Team were held with the Cabinet and at one of these in January l 994, President Mangope announced his intention to retrench public servants. At subsequent meetings he accused public servants of being influenced by the African National Congress and said that they would be dismissed from their jobs if they were found to be members of the African National Congress.

Members of the public service became extremely agitated and a meeting to discuss possible strike action was forcibly dispersed by police on the instructions of President Mangope. A Crisis Committee was then established and in late February 1994, members of some 52 departments went on strike causing the complete collapse of the public service throughout Bophuthatswana. One of the departments was the Health Department. Members of the nursing profession also went on strike. The strike of the public servants was followed by a general strike of the country's 30 000 teachers. The countless broadcasting services also ceased to exist as a result of strike action by its members. By the week of 7 to 13 March 1994 the country was in complete disarray. President Mangope, however, remained intransigent in his attitude to re-incorporation and to participation in the coming election. The facilitation of that election was in the hands of the Independent Electoral Commission under the Chairmanship of a South African Judge, Mr Justice Johan Kriegler. The latter visited President Mangope with a view to setting up the procedures to allow South African citizens in Bophuthatswana and those who had acquired the right to vote, to take part in the election but President Mangope refused to co-operate in order to allow this to occur.

By the week of 7 to 13 March 1994 there was also grave dissatisfaction among the members of the Bophuthatswana Police and Defence Forces. Due to their forcible methods in suppressing free political activity the members of the Bophuthatswana Police Force were perceived as inimical to the general populace and were greatly unpopular with the latter. They were insulted, verbally abused and physically assaulted and their homes and families attacked. Like the ordinary citizens, many were in favour of re-incorporation and found it increasingly difficult to be loyal to the Mangope regime. Similarly within the Bophuthatswana Defence Force a large number of its members favoured re-incorporation and feared for their future should this not occur. They expressed these fears at meetings with President Mangope who accused them of disloyalty and told them that they could leave the Bophuthatswana Defence Force and he would get "others" to take their places, without however, saying who whose "others" would be. This attitude of the President only served further to increase their dissatisfaction.

It was against this background of strikes, civil unrest and discontent that the Bophuthatswana National Security Council met on Tuesday, 8 March 1994. It consisted of the heads of the Bophuthatswana Police Force, the Bophuthatswana Defence Force, the National Intelligence Service, and certain Cabinet Ministers and was presided over by President Mangope. Present at that meeting at the invitation of President Mangope was General Constand Viljoen. The situation pertaining to Bophuthatswana was discussed. It was also reported that armed cadres of the African National Congress were planning to invade the Mmabatho/ Mafikeng area on the weekend of 12 - 13 March 1994. A decision was taken that if the situation should further deteriorate and become critical, General Viljoen would be asked to come into the area with a contingent of his "Boere People's Army" to assist in maintaining stability by being deployed in a defensive capacity to guard key buildings and installations. This decision was not communicated to the general body of members of the Bophuthatswana Police Force or Bophuthatswana defence Force. The motivation behind the decision was to keep the situation stable until Tuesday 15 March 1994 on which day the Bophuthatswana Parliament had been summoned to sit to decide whether Bophuthatswana should re-incorporate into the new South Africa and should participate in the election on 27 April 1994. It was, however, made clear to General Viljoen that if the assistance of the Afrikaner Volksfront was called for, the invitation to assist should not include members of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging who were seen as undisciplined militant racists whose presence in the area would not be welcome. General Viljoen gave the assurance that the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging would not be invited. He and Dr Ferdi Hartzenberg instructed Mr Terre'Blanche that he was not to bring in his members if the Afrikaner Volksfront were called in.

On Thursday 10 March 1994 the situation had deteriorated further and civil unrest was widespread. The administration of the country had collapsed completely. President Mangope was advised for his own safety to leave Mmabatho and to go to his tribal home at Motswedi which he did in his personal helicopter at about 14:00 on that day.

Later on the same afternoon a large number of disenchanted policemen led by a Lieutenant K A Lethlogile marched in a peaceful demonstration to the South African Embassy in Mafikeng where they handed a memorandum to the South African Ambassador, Professor Tjaart van der Walt, calling for Bophuthatswana's re-incorporation into South Africa, to the right to take part in the coming election and for the resignation of the Commissioner of Police, General Seleke. At about the same time as this was happening, another group of disenchanted policemen effectively mutinied when they laid down their weapons and joined protesting students at the University where a police Nyala was also set on fire. These action by the police meant that effective police activity came to a halt and although some policemen tried to carry out their duties they were largely unsuccessful and by the late afternoon of 10 March 1994 policing had to all intents and purposes cease' to exist.

This was the signal to unruly members of the populace, not only in the Mmabatho/Mafikeng area but throughout Bophuthatswana, to go on the rampage and mobs of rioters and looters descended on shops and shopping complexes, such as the large Mega City Shopping Complex in Mmabatho, the Central City Complex in Mabopane, and other large shopping complexes in Ga-Rankuwa Temba, Makapanstadt and elsewhere, completely devastating them and in man instances burning them to the ground. Conditions of complete chaos existed everywhere.

It was also on the afternoon of 10 March 1994 that following his departure from Mmabatho and because of the virtual disintegration of the country and of further reports of the presence of African National Congress cadres on the country border (which, from the evidence before the Commission, were in fact mere] unsubstantiated rumours), President Mangope called on General Viljoen for h assistance. Members of the Afrikaner Volksfront "Boere People's Army" who were to be commanded by a retired South African soldier, Colonel J Breytenbach, were rapidly mobilised and in the early hours of Friday 11 Mar' 1994, led by Commandant Douw Steyn, were escorted by a convoy Bophuthatswana Defence Force vehicles to the Air Force Base on the outskirts of Mmabatho. At about the same hour units of the South African Defence Force moved into Bophuthatswana to the South African Embassy in Mafikeng in order to protect the Embassy and the lives, property and interests of South Africans in the area.

It deserves to be mentioned here that despite the fact that in 1988 the South African Government had come to his assistance in putting down an attempted coup by certain dissidents and restoring him to power, President Mangope did not call on the South African Government or the Transitional Executive Council or the South African Defence Force to assist him in stabilising the situation and restoring law and order and peace and calm to the country. He did not do so, he said, because he did not trust the South African Government or the Transitional Executive Council and felt that if he had called on them to assist, they would have staged a coup and deposed him and his Government. Neither the South African Government nor the Transitional Executive Council nor the South African Defence Force could on their own initiative, so the Commission was told, have intervened in the situation then existing. Bophuthatswana was still an independent state, so it was said, and in terms of an 'Inter-State Agreement' intervention in its affairs could only have taken place at its request.

Meanwhile on the afternoon of Thursday 10 March 1994, despite requests and instructions not to do so, the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging was mobilising its members to enter Bophuthatswana later that day. In the early evening a large contingent of Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging members entered Bophuthatswana and encamped on the outskirts of Mafikeng. Some of these embarked on forays during the night into the Mmabatho/Mafikeng area. A farther large contingent gathered on the Bophuthatswana border near the border post of Rooigrond.

Information as to the presence of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging members we. given to the head of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force, General H S ("Jack" Turner, who directed one of his senior officers, Colonel Antonie Botes, to instruct Mr Terre'Blanche to withdraw his men and not to enter Bophuthatswana as hi. presence and that of his members was not welcome. Mr Terre'Blanche said he was not prepared to take orders from a colonel. During the night he met with Genera Turner who again asked him not to enter Bophuthatswana as he was not welcome Mr Terre'Blanche insisted that he and his men were there at the invitation o President Mangope and refused to withdraw. President Mangope strenuously, denied inviting Mr Terre'Blanche and the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging to assist him. After much discussion an agreement was reached that the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging members could remain in the area provided they placer themselves under the command of Colonel Breytenbach and Commandant Doug Steyn and removed all their Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging insignia from their clothing but that Mr Terre'Blanche personally would withdraw from the area. It the early hours of Friday morning those members of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging who were encamped on He outskirts of Mafikeng joined the end of the Afrikaner Volksfront convoy that was being escorted by the Bophuthatswana Defence Force and also proceeded to the Air Force Base.

They did so, however, only after a prayer by someone described as a "Dominee' during the course of which the latter asked that "die Here ons moet bewaar, want dit sal van ons verwag word vandag om kaffers dood te skiet".

After gathering at the Air Force Base certain members of the Afrikaner Volksfront were deployed to guard various key positions in Mmabatho on the morning o Friday 11 March 1994. During the previous night and earlier that morning some 37 members of the public had been shot, according to the evidence, by elements of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging. These facts and the presence of right-wingers in the area, about which they had not been informed, raised the anger of the black members of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force who threatened to take the law into their own hands and attack the Air Force Base and the right-wingers there. It was then decided to withdraw the Afrikaner Volksfront members from their guard duties. As their usefulness had then ceased to exist it was agreed that the Afrikaner Volksfront members would be escorted out of Bophuthatswana at 16:00 that day by a route around the Mmabatho/Mafikeng area to avoid contact with the general populace.

The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, however, who despite their agreement to remove their insignia and place themselves under the command of the senior Afrikaner Volksfront officers, done neither of these things, did not wait to be escorted out of the area but at about 12:00 to 13:00 left the Air Force Base on their own and drove through the Mmabatho/Mafikeng area on their way out of Bophuthatswana. It was while doing so that members of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging shot a large number of members of the public causing many of the deaths which the Commission investigated. It was also then that the three members of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging whose deaths were depicted on television were part of a convoy that was engaged in a skirmish with Bophuthatswana Defence Force troops resulting in their car being brought to a halt, their emergence from the car and their subsequent shooting by Constable Ontlametse Bernstein Menyatsoe of the Bophuthatswana Police Force.

It was also while the Afrikaner Volksfront was being escorted out of the area that two other Afrikaner Volksfront members were shot and killed, probably by undisciplined members of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force.38

All right-wingers were out of the area by about 18:00 on Friday 11 March 1994.

At about 15:00 on the same afternoon at a meeting at the South African Embassy, General Turner in defiance of an instruction by President Mangope not to do so, but in view of the chaotic conditions, the loss of life, and the situation which he described as "desperate", called on the South African Defence Force, under the head of it, General G L Meiring, to assist in stabilising the situation and restoring law and order. Units of the South African Defence Force thereupon entered the Mmabatho/Mafikeng area and by the next day had stabilised the situation while in other areas members of the Internal Stability Unit of the South African Police, who were similarly called in to assist, stabilised the situation in those areas.

Meanwhile on the political front Judge Kriegler on 11 March 1994 again called on President Mangope to get him to agree to the necessary steps being taken to set up arrangements for voters to be able to exercise their votes on 27 April 1994 but President Mangope was as uncooperative as he had been on the previous occasion. On Saturday 12 March 1994 an emergency meeting of the Management Committee of the Transitional Executive Council was held. This factor, plus the conditions of virtual anarchy that had prevailed as well as the complete breakdown of the public service and the cessation of effective policing caused certain far-reaching decisions to be made at that meeting. As a result that evening the South African Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr R F (Pik) Botha, together with the Joint Secretaries of the Transitional Executive Council, Messrs Mac Maharaj and Fanie van der Merwe, General Meiring and Professor Tjaart van der Walt saw President Mangope at Motswedi where he was informed that his presidency was no longer recognized by the South Afiican Government and that his Government was no longer in office. Professor Van der Walt and Mr Job Mokgoro were appointed Joint Administrators of Bophuthatswana and took over the running of the country. An application by President Mangope to have these actions set aside was dismissed in the Bophuthatswana Supreme Court on 18 April 1994. The people of Bophuthatswana voted in the election. In terms of the interim constitution the Status of Bophuthatswana Act was repealed on 27 April 1994 and Bophuthatswana as an independent state ceased formally to exist and was reincorporated into South Africa on that day.