Lucas Mangope, Bophuthatswana homeland leader is deposed

On 13 March 1994, Lucas Mangope was ousted as President of the homeland of Bophuthatswana.  Mangope came to power in Bophuthatswana in 1966 during the reign of former Prime Minister B J Vorster.  Mangope governed Bophuthatswana from 1977 until 1994.  His reign was characterised by widespread corruption and mismanagement.  Mangope was deposed in 1994 after he refused to allow free campaigning in Bophuthatswana as well as not wanting to take part in the general election that was to be held during that year. In December 1991, like other homeland leaders at the Codesa talks, Mangope attempted to present Bophuthatswana as a semi-independent territory, with the same status as the British protectorates of Swaziland and Lesotho.  This ploy failed to change the view of Bophuthatswana as an Apartheid sham state.  In March 1994, rioting broke out in Bophuthatswana and Mangope called in his erstwhile allies the Afrikaner Weerstand Beweging (AWB) to support his regime and thus prevent the homeland from collapsing.  This invasion failed and the South African Government in consultation with the African National Congress (ANC) ousted Mangope as leader of Bophuthatswana.