This Day in History: December 1, 1978
Additional Date: December 1, 1978
Transkei's first President, Paramount Chief Botha Sigcau, died of a heart attack. Prime Minister K.D. Matanzima announced his retirement from active politics, but would accept nomination as President. Botha Sigcau died two years after Transkei became an independent homeland.
In 1960, before Sigcau became the President of Transkei, Pondoland Revolt erupted where eleven people were killed, many of them shot in the back, and more than 48 casualties were hospitalized and others arrested. Botha Sigcau was blamed for the massacre because he was seen as supporting the apartheid government. This led to the uprising in Pondoland between 1960 and 1963.