Father of the Bantustan dies

BOPHUTHATSWANA president Lucas Mangope died yesterday aged 94. Already calls are being made, in particular by the premier of the North West, Supra Mahumapelo, to afford Mangope some sort of official funeral for the role he played in this country.

Mahumapelo, who governs the province that incorporates swathes of the patchwork blanket that was once the “self-governing state” of Bophuthatswana, preSouth Africa’s democratic liberation in 1994, believes this will be in keeping with the spirit of reconciliation and reconstruction espoused by Nelson Mandela. It’s a call that will find resonance, since 2018 has been declared by the ANC to commemorate the centenary of Mandela’s birth (as well as Albertina Sisulu’s).

But, as former presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj pithily pointed out yesterday, reconciliation can only be premised on acknowledging the truth of the past and moving on. Mangope’s supporters – and apologists – will point approvingly to the infrastructural development in the region; from roads to universities and government buildings still in use, including the Sun City resort as the enduring legacy of the father of the Bantustan.

This is undeniable. What is also undeniable is his determination to cling to power in the face of the overwhelming hunger of his “subjects” for reincorporation into a democratic South Africa and flirtation with some of the worst extremes of the white farright that almost precipitated a blood bath in March 1994.

We forget, at our peril, as we ignore the repressive tactics his police and soldiers used to subdue dissent, and especially prevent liberation movements from establishing any presence in his territory.

He doesn’t deserve an official funeral; his gift was to be left to live unhindered and free in a society he did his damnedest to prevent.