1. On 6 December 1977 this 'homeland' was granted independence by the South African government. Bophuthatswana's capital city was Mmabatho and 99% of its population was Tswana speaking.

2. The Bophuthatswana government had consistently refused to take part in the April 1994 multinational elections, and when this boycott was formally endorsed by the Bophuthatswana cabinet, African National Congress (ANC) supporting mobs took to the streets of Mmabatho and Mafeking, the two main towns in the homeland, demanding that the independent