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14 MARCH 1994

Mangope is axed
Bophuthatswana President Lucas Mangope was finally ousted yesterday, but over 60 people lost their lives in a week of drama that changed the face of the Western Transvaal region.
Mangope was removed from office by South African Foreign Minister Pik Botha and Transitional Executive Council (TEC) member Mac Maharaj following a late night flight into the capital Mmabatho on Saturday.
Anger grew among residents as the immensity of the loss of black lives, partly through random shootings by ultra-rightwingers on Friday, came to the fore.
Official estimates of the dead yesterday stood at 60, while fears also grew that the rightwingers might take retribution among their black labourers on the farms for the killing of three AWB members.
The three were shot after a shooting spree in which rightwingers killed a number of civilians in Mmabatho and also took pot shots at a police station.
ANC president Mr Nelson Mandela said yesterday he was happy with the removal of Mangope.
There was no word of Mangope's whereabouts yesterday.
Sowetan, Monday 14 March 1994

IFP won't take part in election
The IFP will not contest next month's election despite the "good progress" made at Friday's meeting between the party and the ANC on whether or not to seek international mediation, IFP central committee members confirmed yesterday.
Members Walter Felgate and Dr Ziba Jiyane said the party's central committee meeting in Ulundi on Thursday had settled the election issue.
"We have decided against participation in the election, and we have no intention of submitting any lists of candidates", said Felgate, one of Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi's most trusted advisers.
The Star, Monday 14 March 1994

Bizarre stunt pulls crowds to festival
Ermelo – Despite angry protests from animal lovers throughout the country, the controversial parachute jump by a horse from a helicopter took place at the weekend.
However, it was not Jonti the seven-year-old blue roan in the flesh, but rather a realistic polystyrene reproduction that splattered as it hit the ground from about 400m.
Amid cheers, a record audience roared cries of "Long live Jonti" as the live horse's owner, Oubaas de Jager, proudly rode him around the arena.
The announcement by the Wool Carnival Committee last week that Jonti, fitted with a specially designed parachute, would jump from a hovering helicopter, drew adverse reaction from animal lovers throughout the country.
"I assured the SPCA as well as scores of concerned people that Jonti would in no way suffer", said De Jager, who had a sharp-shooter on hand to provide a "mercy shot" should anything go wrong.
"On Friday I was inundated with calls, including a fax from the South African embassy in Australia", said carnival co-ordinator Wendy Gardiner.
As he lovingly stroked Jonti afterwards, De Jager said: "It's heartening to know that so many South Africans are so very concerned about the well-being of animals."
The Star, Monday 14 March 1994

13 MARCH 1994

TEC, SA to take over in Bop
A joint Transitional Executive Council (TEC) and South African government delegation flew into Bophuthatswana last night to begin taking control of the homeland.
This followed an emergency meeting of the TEC management committee to discuss President Lucas Mangope's refusal to give Independent Electoral Commission head Justice Johann Kriegler satisfactory assurances that he would allow free and fair elections in the territory.
Before the meeting, President FW de Klerk said the government believed "very firm action" was required ensure stability in Bophuthatswana, and to ensure that free and fair elections could take place there.
TEC management committee chairman Colin Eglin said the joint delegation would assess the homeland's security situation, and consider ways of ensuring that services were restored after the collapse of the Bophuthatswana administration.
The delegation would also decide on immediate action in the light of Mr Mangope's failure to respond "in direct terms to the call for free and fair elections and the transitional steps to be taken for the reincorporation of Bophuthatswana into South Africa".
At a news conference after the committee meeting, ANC secretary-general Cyril Ramaphosa went further, saying the TEC and SA government would appoint an administration to replace Mr Mangope's government.
Sunday Times, Sunday 13 March 1994

12 MARCH 1994

Horror slaying of 3 AWB men
"Please God help get us some medical help", pleaded the bearded member of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB).
They were his last words before a Bophuthatswana soldier calmly stepped up and pumped six bullets into the bearded, khaki-clad man and two colleagues in Mmabatho yesterday, reports an eyewitness, Reuters photographer Kevin Carter.
One of the AWB men was unconscious and bleeding to death. Now all lay dead beside a green Mercedes riddled with bullets.
Their car had been in an AWB convoy of civilian vehicles ambushed by paratroopers in a street in the centre of Mmabatho, capital of Bophuthatswana.
At least 60 people have been killed in Bophuthatswana and 300 wounded or injured in three days of continuous rioting, looting, burning and fighting, mostly around the capital Mmabatho.
Thousands of heavily armed right-wingers made to leave Bophuthatswana after fierce fighting with the Bophuthatswana Defence Force (BDF).
But as they pulled out from the BDF airstrip in a 400 vehicle convoy, they were again confronted by troop carriers of the BDF.
"Every route the AWB tried to take out of town, the BDF prevented them from doing so", news photographer Ken Oosterbroek said.
Gunfire broke out and he suspected the rightists had suffered many casualties. They then asked for an SA Defence Force escort out of town.
"The SADF said they would help get them out as long as they promised not to return", Oosterbroek said. The Citizen, Saturday 12 March 1994

Front makes cut-off: IFP misses out
A Freedom Front delegation submitted its candidates' list at the Independent Electoral Commission's Johannesburg office minutes before yesterday's midnight deadline.
But IEC official Norman du Plessis said the Inkatha Freedom Party had failed to register in time for the midnight cut-off.
Du Plessis said this meant the IFP "comes off the ballot". Technically, this meant the party would no longer be able to contest the election.
Du Plessis refused to disclose whether Afrikaner Volksfront leader General Constand Viljoen's name was on the list submitted last night by the two-person delegation.
At the last minute last Friday, Viljoen provisionally registered the Freedom Front, pending confirmation by the AVF's controlling body. The controlling body decided not to participate.
Weekend Star, Saturday 12 March 1994

11 MARCH 1994

SADF heads for Bop
Mmabatho – The South African Defence Force began roling towards riot-torn Bophuthatswana before dawn today amid reports that heavily armed rightwingers had mobilised to assist the homeland's troops.
At first light, more than 100 SADF Ratel troop carriers were seen in convoy, heading for Mmabatho.
Foreign Minister Pik Botha said today that the government had ordered SADF troops to the South African embassy in Bophuthatswana.
Heavy rioting has now spread to most parts of the homeland, and gunfire could be heard throughout the night. Widespread looting and arson has been reported.
The Star, Friday 11 March 1994

Mangope flees home
Bophuthatswana's leader Lucas Mangope fled the homeland's capital in a helicopter last night. Tracing the route of his escape from Mmabatho, Sowetan has confirmed that his helicopter first landed at his rural home at Motswedi and later at Sun City.
Sporadic shots could be heard in Mmabatho last night after a day of widespread looting. The movement of armed members of the AWB near Ventersdorp was also reported.
Earlier, thousands of singing residents took to the streets of the capital waving ANC and SACP placards. People in cars, minibuses and piled on trucks with blaring horns were displaying the clenched-fist black power salute.
Police presence was at an absolute minimum, with only three police cars seen scurrying towards the massive show of popular support for Bop's reincorporation into South Africa.
The Sowetan, Friday 11 March 1994

Pressure on 'Downs
Kaizer Chiefs, who find themselves in an unusual position – that of being underdogs – will beat Mamelodi Sundowns in the BP Top 8 final at FNB stadium tomorrow.
Even Chiefs coach Philip "Witchdoctor" Troussier believes his boys will do the job for him.
Lucas Radebe, Jacob Tshisevhe, Ntsie Maphike and Wedson Nyirenda, who missed Sunday's fateful Castle League match which Chiefs lost 2-1 to Vaal Professionals, are back.
A look at "The Brazilians" shows a balanced side: a midfield with the best marshal in Ernest "Wire" Chirwali, a backline strengthened by Sizwe Motaung, and a frontline powered by the presence of Daniel "Mambush" Mudau, Chippa and Bennett Masinga.
But Chiefs are hungry for success.
The Sowetan, Friday 11 March 1994
[Kaizers Chiefs went on to win the match - Ed.]

10 MARCH 1994

40 wounded as Mangope's men open fire
Mmabatho - About 40 people were shot and wounded, three critically, when police opened fire on demonstrators in the Bophuthatswana capital yesterday.
As tensions heightened, the public servants' strike widened.
President Lucas Mangope took a hardline stance, rejecting Independent Electoral Commission chairman Judge Johann Kriegler's plea for free political activity in the homeland, and firing the staff of the Bophuthatswana Broadcasting Corporation, closing down two television stations and three radio stations.
ANC officials listed 20 injured people, ranging in age from 13 to 68. A doctor operating from his rooms below the ANC's office, Dr F Munim, said most of the victims had been shot in the back.
The badly wounded were sent to SA hospitals because those in the homeland had been closed by the public servants' strike.
Mmabatho shops remained closed and the streets were filled with burning tyres, stones and overturned rubbish bins as people fled from police firing birdshot and teargas.
Business Day, Thursday 10 March 1994

Inkatha, Freedom Front fail to submit candidates' lists to IEC
Confusion reigned at the Independent Electoral Commission's offices in Johannesburg yesterday as the 4.30pm deadline for the submission of candidates' lists passed, and IEC chairman Judge Johann Kriegler conceded that his "final" deadline could be amended retrospectively if there was political agreement.
However, the Inkatha Freedom Party, General Constand Viljoen's Freedom Front and the unknown Realist Party had failed to submit their lists three hours after the deadline. Twenty-six parties beat the deadline to confirm their participation in the April election.
"The deadline is a journalistic concept", Kriegler said. "We are not traffic inspectors trying to determine whether someone has exceeded the speed limit. We are trying to organise an election of national reconciliation."
Business Day, Thursday 10 March 1994

Merv's angry prod could buy more trouble
A spontaneous reaction to a taunt from an SA cricket fan on Tuesday could land burly Victorian fast bowler Merv Hughes in more hot water with the Australian Cricket Board.
Hughes who, together with legspinner Shane Warne, was fined R1 000 and received a severe reprimand from Test match referee Donald Carr for abusive language during the SA-Australia game at the Wanderers, was captured on television prodding a spectator with his bat.
This was after a dogged last-wicket stand with teammate Tim May, which at times looked as though it might earn Australia a draw. Hughes, who was continually taunted by fans during the Test while fielding on the boundary, reacted angrily to something said by a spectator as he headed for the dressing room after the match.
Words were exchanged before an enraged Hughes pushed his bat between the fence separating the players' walkway from the grass embankment and prodded the spectator in the stomach.
Business Day, Thursday 10 March 1994

9 MARCH 1994

TEC bares teeth at Bop
The Transitional Executive Council (TEC) last night threatened strong action against the Bophuthatswana government.
The range of threatened measures, including the cutting off of funds to Bophuthatswana, came as the protest and strike crisis in the homeland deepened yesterday.
There were also reports last night of security forces firing live ammunition in an attempt to disperse the "raging masses".
And the Bophuthatswana Cabinet backed away from its earlier opposition to taking part in next month's election.
The Star, Wednesday 9 March 1994

Arms theft: SAP move in
Police are understood to be questioning a South African Air Force flight sergeant in connection with the theft of weapons from 10 Air Depot at Voortrekkerhoogte at the weekend.
Sources said several other men – all believed to be SAAF employees – are being sought for questioning.
At least 50 "light weapons", said to include R5 and R4 assault rifles, were taken when the weapons store at the depot was broken open and the alarm system immobilised.
The ANC has expressed its "serious concern" about the theft and the regularity of such raids on SADF arms depositories.
The organisation said that either the South African Defence Force, and the SAAF in particular, was guilty of serious negligence, or members of the SADF were directly involved "in aiding the ultra-right wing to arm themselves".
The Star, Wednesday 9 March 1994

Businessman's cellular phone launched
Coinciding with an international launch, OfficeMart has introduced the Nokia 2110, which it claims is the smallest, lightest and most feature-packed digital cellular unit on the market.
Capabilities include 125 memory locations, speed dial memory slots and high-speed wireless data/fax support. It costs R4 199.
The Star Business, Wednesday 9 March 1994

8 MARCH 1994

Mangope calls out troops as unrest flares
Tensions in Bophuthatswana rose yesterday after the homeland's government decided against registering for the election and the ANC called for a blockade of the territory.
Police vehicles were set alight, ANC offices were petrol-bombed and police teargassed striking public servants and the offices of Lawyers for Human Rights.
The Bophuthatswana Defence Force was called in as the homeland tried to contain unrest as the public servants' strike entered its fourth week.
Lawyers for Human Rights called on the Transitional Executive Council to send in SA security forces to stabilise the region.
Business Day, Tuesday 8 March 1994

End looms for two despised laws
The writing is on the wall for two of SA's most despised laws – Section 29 of the Internal Security Act and Section 206 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
The Transitional Executive Council's law and order subcouncil yesterday recommended that Section 29 be repealed immediately. It said 75% of the subcouncil's members favoured abolishing Section 29 immediately, while the minority favoured retaining it after an SAP report had recommended that it should not be scrapped until after the election.
The subcouncil said adequate legal provisions existed to meet any possible security threat and its retention would hamper sound police/community relations.
Business Day, Tuesday 8 March 1994

TEC turns to flag question as time runs out
Pretoria – With time running out for a final decision on a flag for the new SA, the Transitional Executive Council today considers designs for the first time.
There have been suggestions that the peace flag be used until the government of national unity can deal with the matter after the elections. However, a management committee member said this was not an option.
After the negotiating council failed to agree on a flag, negotiators Roelf Meyer and Cyril Ramaphosa were given the task of finding a solution.
The ANC expected that about 100 000 new flags would have to be made for the new government’s inauguration. Local manufacturers, alarmed at the delay, have urged quick action.
Business Day, Tuesday 8 March 1994

PREVIOUS PAGES:

• 1 - 7 March 1994

	The ultra-rightwing Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging gets mixed up in the popular uprising against the Bophuthatswana homeland administration ... three of its members pay with their lives (The Citizen, 12 March 1994)

	Rightwingers mobilise as rioting and looting spread throughout the homeland (The Star, 11 March 1994)

	Apartheid's homeland system starts to disintegrate as Bophuthatswana's founding president flees the capital (Sowetan, 11 March 1994)

	The 'businessman's' Nokia 2110 boasted '125 memory locations, speed dial memory slots and high-speed wireless data/fax support' The Star Business, 9 March 1994

	Blockade homeland, says ANC. Send in SA security forces, say Lawyers for Human Rights ... (Business Day, 8 March 1994)

10 Years of Freedom: South Africa 1994-2004 Looking back on 10 years of freedom. Looking forward to a South Africa Alive with Possibility.