International Journal of Development and Sustainability ISSN: 2186-8662 – www.isdsnet.com/ijds Volume 4 Number 5 (2015): Pages 588-598 ISDS Article ID: IJDS14061703 The authoritarian force, the Bafokeng conflict and the Bophuthatswana donkey massacre: An historic–agricultural perspective Anis Mahomed Karodia * Abstract The paper explores over time the authoritative force that the former homeland of apartheid South Africa was engaged in. Bophuthatswana maintained power by the use of the authoritative force over the people and resorted to violence to maintain the status quo. It explores briefly, the Bafokeng conflict, which today (post - apartheid) falls into the new North West Province of democratic South Africa, post 1994 and, within the platinum mining belt that is experiencing unrest in today’s South Africa. Further exploration of the title of the paper will outline the great donkey massacre under this former repressive regime and show the devastating consequences that the massacre has had upon agriculture in the former homeland. The paper attempts to explore these issues from a historio – agricultural perspective, in order to recall the events that led to the donkey massacre and to record some of these devastating incidents for purposes of record and history. The paper does not pretend to capture all of the nuances that permeate this part of the former homelands repressive history. Keywords: Conflict; Authoritarian; Totalitarian; Massacre; History; Repression; Agriculture; Donkey; Nationalism; Traditional Authorities Published by ISDS LLC, Japan | Copyright © 2015 by the Author(s) | This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. NOTE: This research article emanates from the PhD Thesis submitted by the author in 2008 to the North West University, North West Province, Republic of South Africa, in completion of the Doctor of Philosophy Degree. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] International Journal of Development and Sustainability Vol.4 No.5 (2015): 588-598 1. Introduction Bophuthatswana was accorded independence by its colonial master apartheid South Africa in 1977. It operated in spite of non - recognition by the world as an independent sovereign state for nearly two decades. It was a homeland that was accorded independence together with three other South African homelands, to be known as the TBVC states (Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei). South Africa accorded these pseudo states independence in order to prop up apartheid and independence was granted to these states on different dates. The post 1977 assault on tradition and rhetoric of Batswana nationalism and the United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP), although very important, remained hemmed in by a them versus us framework. There was no human message, just the same old suffocating parochialism. To challenge the language and categories of the UCDP on a terrain so well-trodden by them was bound to be futile. By itself, ideology as mythmaking is powerless to fashion reality in its own image, married to this kind of organization, however, it acquires that capability by squeezing out of the social organism, remaining vestiges of its pseudo independence and repressive authority of an irreverent and non – ideological mode of thought. Even when its control over people was far from completed, the magic that had been injected between experience and reality on the one hand and concepts and discourse on the other, still remain operative, in spite of two decades of South African democracy. This was the hallmark of the UCDP that was in power that greatly accentuated the general degradation of Batswana thought in politics and culture in the erstwhile Bophuthatswana and this still perpetuates itself even today, in democratic South Africa. 2. The purpose and significance of the study The purpose of this study was to evaluate and assess some of the parameters of uneven development, the fiscal, administrative, discontinuity and legitimacy crisis within the erstwhile Bophuthatswana state over time. In so doing an emphasis was placed on the agrarian and legitimacy questions including the impact of some political factors. The problems, which the study attempted to investigate, are located within a socio – historical context. What was apparent in the context of this nominal state was the reality of authoritarian force and, that it, lacked credibility and support of the overwhelming majority of people in governance. This affected the capacity to bring about effective public management and administration which was characterized by oppression and repression. The significance of the studyis that it could contribute to agricultural debate in terms of development, extension and training in the new North West Province of the Republic of South Africa. In addition it captured an important aspect of history in relationship to agriculture, as a whole in the area that was defined as Bophuthatswana and which is now incorporated into the North West Province of the Republic. 2.1. Research hypothesis The central theoretical statement of the study was as follows: Efficient and effective management of agriculture and veterinary services in the erstwhile state of Bophuthatswana was flawed due to legitimacy ISDS www.isdsnet.com 589 International Journal of Development and Sustainability Vol.4 No.5 (2015): 588-598 crisis in state power; lessons from poor utilization in functional areas of agricultural extension and training can be learned for agricultural improvement in the New North West Province of South Africa. 2.2. Research methods An in depth literature study was conducted in respect to agricultural discourse, oppression and the authoritative force that characterized the erstwhile Bophuthatswana. Examination of reports, agricultural policy statements and agricultural bulletins issued by agricultural institutions were utilized. A pilot study previously undertaken by the researcher was utilized for extrapolation purposes to prove a number of assertions made within the dissertation. In addition the use of electronic sources together with applicable literature that was available was utilized. Quantitative structured questions were constructed and field work was conducted and, the collection of statistical data made available through government institutions at that time was analyzed and used. In addition the researcher for emphasis adds his own observations and critical thought processes in the assembling of this paper. 2.3. Results The results of the specific research in this paper are captured at the end of the article under some conclusions. It does not capture the conclusions and recommendations of the entire thesis for obvious reasons, as this paper only deals with the authoritative force, the Bafokeng conflict and the Great Donkey Massacre in the erstwhile Bophuthatswana. 3. The authoritative force The corrupt politics of ethnicity and economics together with the issues in respect of social and cultural aspects of the Bophuthatswana regime assumes significance in the context of SouthAfrican history. What then were some of the dynamics that permeated these issues? The linkage in respect to the economic dimension, as it pertains to the conflict with the Bafokeng tribe (Settled near the town of Rustenburg and in the mining belt of the North West Province). The idea that political authority should reside in the agency that best embodies the national will ties in with the notion in reform law, that authority is always unitary, never fractured, mediated or conditioned. In this regard Samir – al Khalil (1990: 138) states that “because authority in the state is one, this means the negation of the idea of multiplicity of powers, legislative, executive and judicial.”The size of the agency acting on behalf of the ‘national will’ does not matter. By definition this agency has already established that the people have objectives, corresponding to its own. On the other hand the Legal Reform Law text (1877: 28) indicates that “Power is not exercised for its own sake but for achieving objectives, the method of practicing the power which is defined by the constitution, is itself influenced by the economic, social, cultural and political reality of the country over which power is exercised. Owing to the importance that these foundations enjoy, they have to be stressed and declared in the constitutional document. Yet, the social, economic and political principles included, may not be in part data but an objective 590 ISDS www.isdsnet.com International Journal of Development and Sustainability Vol.4 No.5 (2015): 588-598 or aim to be realized.” Therefore, in this meaning, the constitution shall also be a guide of action for the political leadership and a programme for a future policy the political leadership intends to realize through exercising the power. Tyrannies and dictatorships resort to violence when their authority is placed in jeopardy. But for President Lucas Manyane Mangope and his UCDP, violence was no longer merely the ultimate sanitation used periodically against a genuine opposition. The UCDP invented their enemies; violence, not a threat of it was institutionalized, reproducing and intensifying that all pervasive climate of suspicion, fear, and complicity so characteristic of their polity. Violence generates the fear that creates the complicity that constitutes the power, which was first passed to