The Batlhaping Ba Ga Phuduhucwana under Bophuthatswana rule: Governance and resistance 1977- 1994

Abstract

This dissertation examines the relationship between Batlhaping and the government of Bophuthatswana with special reference to Batlhaping Ba Ga Phuduhucwana. In examining the relationship, I situate Batlhaping Ba Ga Phuduhucwana at the centre of the above-mentioned relationship and provide historical background in relation to their origin, chieftaincy and how the government of Bophuthatswana interfered in the Batlhaping affairs and in their chiefly successions. The dissertation uses the Batlhaping Commission of Inquiry (Commission) and other commissions that were established by the Bophuthatswana regime as a lens through which to explore the relationship between the Bophuthatswana “state” and dissident tribal authorities. Its core theoretical approach is based on an understanding of the Commission as a political tool, not a neutral document with an apolitical evidentiary basis. As such, the dissertation argues that the establishment of the Commission, the evidence it used, the questions it asked, and the recommendations and answers it gave shine a light on the efforts of the Mangope regime to socially engineer rural communities in line with the broader Bophuthatswana project, reflecting the state’s conceptualization of land, chieftaincy, and political rule. Mangope was the first and the last President of the erstwhile Bophuthatswana state. He evidently and enthusiastically supported separate development.