SOUTH AFRICA | Apartheid's Fake States?

During the Apartheid era in South Africa, four territories were given independence. Known as the Homeland States, they became better known as the Bantustans - a word deriving from Bantu, the leading language group of southern Africa, and '-stan', a colloquial term for a state (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, etc.). However, they were never recognised by the international community. Indeed, the move was heavily condemned by the UN Security Council and the General Assembly. This raises some fascinating questions about statehood in international relations.
For many decades, the system of racial segregation imposed by South Africa was condemned by the international community. Put in place to preserve white minority rule, the system was underpinned by several homelands in South Africa and neighbouring South West Africa (now Namibia). Four of these - Bophutatswana, Ciskei, Transkei and Venda - were even given independence by the South African government. As a result, any black South African assigned 'citizenship' of these states immediately became a 'foreigner' in their own country. But just how exactly did these states emerge, and what exactly happened to them?
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VIDEO CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction and Titles
00:42 The Bantustans and Statehood
02:01 South Africa: Location and Population
03:02 The Creation of South Africa
04:43 The Emergence of Apartheid
06:17 The Creation of the Bantustans
10:14 The End of the Homelands
12:13 The Bantustans and Statehood in International Relations
SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
Government of South Africa www.gov.za
Apartheid Museum www.apartheidmuseum.org
Apartheid, 1948-1994 amzn.to/3RxXDGe
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DISCLAIMERS
- The contents of this video and any views expressed in it were not reviewed in advance nor determined by any outside persons or organisation.
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#SouthAfrica #Bantustans #Apartheid

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Many apologies for the prolonged absence. If you get my community feed, you will have read my message about it. There have been some big changes at my end. As a result, this is a slightly different video from my usual ones, which now tend to focus on contemporary events. I wrote this script quite some time ago, but never got round to filming it. I then managed to film it just before I left the UK, but I couldn’t edit it before setting off. But at long last, here it is. I’m still having a few technical issues, but I hope to be back to making regular new videos very soon. I’ve got a lot of topics I really want to cover. In the meantime, I hope you find this one interesting.

[@sulaak]

We really missed you. I was looking forward to your podcast on Niger military coup and France's interest and failure in the Sahel.

[@Hashi88.]

Absolutely very insightful and informative, i thought you are a Canadian but i learned you from UK, keep the good work it helped many people to know the world, thank you.

[@solowingpixi]

Pleasure to have you back!

[@CharlieMile]

One mistake at 0:17 , you refer to white majority not white minority rule. Great to see another video though, missed the contents of this channel

[@metapolitikgedanken612]

Well, thanks for some historiography. But we have to acknowledge something there. Those 'fake states' did work better than South Africa right now, which is turning into a crime and corruption ridden failed state. Well, so are other countries that hated South Africa in the past.

[@KuyaBJLaurente]

During the apartheid era, 2 of these bantustans (Transkei and Bophutatswana) joined the Miss Universe pageant as their own different countries. In the same era, South Africa was sending 2 candidates in Miss World: one white, wearing “South Africa” sash, and one black, wearing “Africa South” sash. Following the international condemnation of the apartheid, these pageants banned South Africa from joining for ages until after the apartheid ended.

[@lemondisaster1476]

Great video, watching from South Africa. My parents lived in Bophutatswana in the Apartheid era and my hometown, Mafikeng, was its capital. There are a lot of mixed opinions from people in their generation about its past and its leader Mangope with some praising his leadership whilst others viewed him as a traitor or tyrant(the laws in Bophutatswana were harsh). There is a place called Madikwe where my parents once stayed at where there was a lot of conflict between people who supported Mangope and those that supported the Communist party around 1994 with some burned houses still being there when I passed by earlier this year. I always like learning about the 80s and 90s when the system was nearing its end and after as a lot was going on back then.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you so much. It’s always amazing to get a perspective from the ground. I really appreciate it. It’s so interesting to hear that there are mixed feelings about it now. However, I guess I can sort of understand why. Some people will have done relatively well out of it, even if it was designed to support minority white rule in the rest of South Africa.

[@mafatsheng]

maftown standup, I'm from Rivera Park and there's always been mixed opinions about Mangope's rule

[@officialtshwarotshite1886]

Mahikeng Bophuthatswana was a great leadership to it's people, Mahikeng was on another level

[@gopolanglekoto]

@officialtshwarotshite1886 Yes, it was on a level of Dictatorship where Mangope thought Tswana people were his kids and Bophutatswana was his household.

[@allyeneedislove]

Good to see you back, James. :) The Bantustans are a fascinating part of SA history. The only other example I can think of forced statehood, albeit under markedly different circumstances is the explusion of Singapore from Malaysia.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks so much. Nice to be back! :-) Singapore-Malaysia is a fascinating case. I actually did a video on it kzbin.info/www/bejne/boGtan2KpMlsjpIsi=WGZFU06XCYS48RQ3

[@user-ni2nv7my5j]

Austria after WWI.

[@seneca983]

I think Saarland was also a kind of an example of a forced statehood (which quite quickly ended through the will of its own population).

[@LarzGustafsson]

@@seneca983 And Danzig?

[@fToo]

I remember as a kid seeing postage stamps from Transkei and Ciskei - I never knew how they were integrated back into RSA, so great to see a full history. Also, wonderful historical maps - some great content there.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you so much. I had been fascinated in this subject for ages. I remember his apartheid had been in the news so much when I was growing up in the 1980s. Fascinating to hear that the Bantustans even issued stamps.

[@FredoRockwell]

Great video! I've always found the Bantustans fascinating as well. I'd never thought of the anomaly of international law they created, though! I have a copy of the autobiography of the first head of state of Transkei. It's extraordinarily pompous, but still manages to be very boring.

[@FredoRockwell]

@@rohluxe1415 That's the chap!

[@marcocolo7151]

It's great to have you back Professor! And thanks for providing us with a video on a rather obscure topic I knew very little about!

[@mesamies123]

Thank you, Professor, for this excellent talk about South Africa and its political histories of oppression and the realities of what colonialism and boundaries mean. This is a necessary education for many of us. Glad you've returned, and hope you're settling in well. We're happy to wait for your next talk! Thank you! 🙂😎

[@randomguy4116]

And look at South Africa now. A failed state

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks so much. I missed you all. Unfortunately, the move took a little longer than I expected to get sorted out. But so glad to be getting back into things again. :-)

[@prodh2]

I'm from what used to be the State of Gazankulu, it's leader at the time Hudson William Edison Ntsanwisi, from what I hear he was a great leader and not a politician like we have today. Some of the infrastructure that he built is still standing till this day, he built stadiums, schools, towns and state of the art universities/colleges of which my parents are a product of, but today these buildings remain unoccupied. He is the type of leadership that the entire country is needs at the moment.

[@TheLocalLt]

Welcome back Professor Ker Lindsay! I’m glad you mentioned the battles, and near-war, that broke out in Bophutatswana during the long-running negotiations in the early 1990s, with many volatile factions including Bophutatswana leader Mangope, the Bophutatswana Army, local anti-Mangope protesters, various strands of Afrikaner nationalists, hardline fascists of Eugene TerreBlanche, and more. A fascinating and under-covered chapter for sure. Thanks as always for your informed perspective and for such high-quality content!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks. Glad to be back! :-) The shootout with the Afrikaner nationalists marked a strange and gruesome last stand of the apartheid era. I still remember the pictures. I didn’t want to include them as YT can easily demonetise videos. But they are easy enough to find.

[@JoffesThoughts]

I can't remember how long ago I asked for this but thank you so much for covering it! Great video.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks. It is such an interesting subject. A little different from my usual videos. But I had wanted to make it for ages!

[@cryptostormer2512]

@@JamesKerLindsay Maybe you can do a video on how everything worthwhile is still owned by the same people since they instigated the Boar war to steal the natural resources. The very same people that financed "Black African Nationalism" and are the driving forces behind mass immigration into Europe. Stephan Mitford Goodson's books are a wealth of information.

[@Asamations]

Nice to see you back James! Really enjoyed this. I never even knew about this. Keep up the great work!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks so much, Asa. Nice to be back. It was a much longer absence than I wanted, but getting there finally. I hope all is well at your end.

[@aguochaku]

Thanks so much for the free (but quality) education. You've really helped me to broaden my knowledge in recent history and geo-politics with your un-biased videos/lectures. I'm very grateful.😊😊❤❤

[@Mzukisi_Gwata]

Bantustans were a bizarre thing. My grandmother, an isiXhosa speaking woman, had a citizenship card for one of the Bantustans called Ciskei. This was odd, because she was not born in the Ciskei. She also didn't have relatives there. She was in fact a citizen of South Africa.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks. This shows how utterly absurd the whole system was. It was designed for only one reason, to deny black South Africans their rights. It completely went against UN principles of self-determination.

[@hrishikeshmasurkar8434]

Great to see you back professor Ker-Lindsay!!! Very informative video about a little known event in history, thanks!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks so much! Really nice to be back. It has been far too long. But hoping to be able to post regularly again.

[@richardsimms251]

Great video. Thank you

[@erictevoedjre3966]

Thank you for this great video!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you so much. It is a fascinating a story that seems largely unknown these days.

[@Clark_Kent_ZA]

Interesting video. However, I must warn you that a lot of Afrikaaner Nationalists will swarm into your comments and try to defend apartheid.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks a lot. It seems a few have already found it and doing precisely that!

[@jjhout5988]

@@JamesKerLindsay I must say I do not care about south africa any more.I am a white south african and have learned that most of South Africa's White, Coloured, Indian and Black citizens were/are ruled by previous and current regimes that are infiltrated with free masonary. Even the churches, no matter what denomination they subscribe, to are infiltrated and run by free masons. The whole system is sick and corrupt.

[@toast2610]

How rude of anti-colonists to give another side of the colonial supremacist mindset that shaped this corrupted world to now be at the brink of WWIII and total annihilation of the Palestinians and other Arabs in greater Israel region. Pat yourselves on the back.

[@markaxworthy2508]

What "national" institutions did the Bantustans have? Heads of state? Elections? Representative Parliaments? Their own legislation? Independent judiciaries? Armed forces? Foreign ministries empowered to act without reference to South Africa? Was there any credible measure of their populations' attitudes to "independence"? Did the tribal populations of the Bantustans themselves have a different attitude to independence to that of their fellow tribesmen living outside their borders largely in the cities of South Africa? And where did they fall short of the institutions necessary for true statehood? What could they not do that Lesotho and Swaziland could?

[@louvendran7273]

It's a long story. I could probably write dissertation on it 😂

[@RaduB.]

This video seems to have been hastily bundled up.

[@siphomogale779]

Most of Bantu leader were kings in their area hence apartheid chose them those kings reported to Parliament of SA

[@agrid2608]

In the end they were all run, designed and funded from Pretoria for the purpose of determining land & location for other people, as cheap labour reserves, while keeping the bulk of SA land, as well as the fruits of centuries of natives' blood, labour & livestock in colonists' hands.

[@dannyarcher6370]

They were basically the equivalent of the Dominions in the British Empire. They were empowered to handle everything on their own domestically but foreign policy was left to South Africa. They had parliaments, their own police and military. The long-term plan was that South Africa would become something like the EU.

[@andrewsarantakes639]

Very informative. Thanks for discussing this topic.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks so much, Andrew. I love to make these historical videos from time to time. Sadly, they never really do terribly well (although they have a much greater longevity than many of my more current videos), but they are so interesting to put together.

[@zz-by4op]

The best channel on KZbin, Interesting, intelligent and insightful. Welcome back.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks so much. :-) I’m hoping to get back into my regular schedule now.

[@peterkops6431]

Thanks Prof. So good to see you back👍🏻👍🏻

[@justasklimas9572]

Nice to see a new video, though I'm surprised you didn't make it about Nagorno Karabakh. Though I suppose even 1 week from now the video will be different from what it would be today.

[@ChadNiebuhr]

Absolutely fascinating video! Even as a South African, I didn't really know about the Bantustans. Thank you for this exceptionally well-informed and educational content!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you so much! :-) I’d wanted to cover them for ages. They were such strange anomalies in the international system and raised some fascinating and very important questions about statehood.

[@Healingson]

As a young black South African the most insidious part of the homeland systems legacy is the division it has created amongst my people, tribalism remains an issue and sore point amongst black south africans today, although we might not admit to this publically

[@blackrepo]

Nope, Black Africans are no where close to tribalism. Rather say we have stereotypes about each other. If really want to see tribalism, go travel Africa or read more about the year before out 1994 elections. SA is no way close to tribalism amongst it's citizens.

[@christoduplessis8177]

That existed all the way back? The Xhosas captured the Khoi people and they merged. The Zulus and thee Xhosas have been at it for 500 years? The Sotho's had to flee into the mountains to get away from the Zulus. The Swati was all to happy to assist the white trekkers against the Zulus too. And so on? Just because people share a certain shade of skin colour doesn't mean they just get along. Look at Rwanda. Look at the two wars in Europe the last century. I don't quite get how you say tribalism only exist today due to apartheid? That is factual?

[@sakabula2357]

Tribalism was there way before apartheid..ever heard of Shaka?Or what the Xhosa did to the Khoi?

[@msizimhlongo6215]

@@christoduplessis8177 I would argue that the apartheid government perpetuated tribalism to divide and conquer, they even encouraged tribal violence, arming different factions such as the IFP. Those divisions still exist, especially among older black people. Nowadays young black South Africans shun tribalism, one of the successes of the post 94 era was the end of tribal violence.

[@christoduplessis8177]

@@msizimhlongo6215 I don't think you even have to argue that. They (the apartheid government) 100% did that. They certainly tried to divide and conquer and they definitely armed both sides (especially the Zulus ans Xhosas) to kill amongst themselves. I would never argue that as it is true. And their horrendous dirty work is all over South Africa till today (although the ANC really messed that up today if you compare it to say Rwanda whose history is way worse). However, the divides long preceded the NPs, they just took advantage of centuries long struggles that already existed. And it isn't to shift blame. Its just not as simple as just blaming them. Or useful. In my opinion at least.

[@daggerdan12]

Good to have you back professor

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks so much. Sorry for the absence!

[@RoboticDragon]

Always appreciate your super informative videos.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you so much! :-)

[@EamonCoyle]

Yay, I have missed you James and I hope you had a good break !!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks so much Eamon. Sorry about the absence. It was longer than I hoped or expected. But I’m really hoping to return to a regular schedule now.

[@timor64]

It's so great to have you back

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks so much. Many apologies for the prolonged absence. I haven’t quite got everything sorted, but I hope to return to my regular schedule now.

[@TheVanpablo79]

All new news to me. Thanks for making the video

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks. They are a little less known aspect of the apartheid era.

[@nanyabusiness4965]

I am from SA. This history has always made Native American reservations extremely interesting. The difference in attitudes to them and how one is seen to give rights while another is exploitative. Both implemented because of colonial conquest.

[@gysgijsbers4202]

Which one is which? It seems the SA system gave rights in their own Homeland (self-governing), but not outside. In SA the indigenous people were sent to their original traditional areas. In the USA, they were sent to new far away areas. In SA the indigenous groups together were a majority, in USA not. Seperated there was not an outright majority, closer balance for Democracy / Federal possibly. It is all speculation today, because SA abolished all the Homelands incorporating the former Homeland into 9 x "Provinces" based on ethnic groupings anyway. The world & ANC got their way and SA has a centralised parliament, that allocates provincial budgets & powers. There is a move currently to a more Federal Provincial system of local government.

[@ntatemohlomi2884]

@gysgijsbers4202 you say it seems the RSA system gave rights to indigenous people in their own traditional areas? None of that. I am in the former Republic of Venda. Even here it was some expertly carved out piece of territory with all the fertile lands eg Levubu left in the RSA and white hands. That area was the traditional heart of "Venda." The whole country was nicely carved into unsustainable unconnected parcels of land resulting in white RSA retaining 87% of the total land mass. And that being all the fertile and mineral rich lands. Also black people roamed and migrated across the whole of the land as the need arose, be it famines, wars or natural population growth.

[@gysgijsbers4202]

@@ntatemohlomi2884 I have been to Venda: bananas, lichees, avocados, mielies, pawpaws (sub-tropical) it all grows very well there at Thoyhoyando, Lake Fundudzi, I have also been to Lebowa & KwaZulu, some of the MOST fertile lands, the difference is that people in these areas must get land from the Chief & Royal famlilies, the people were into having lots of children & subsistance farming, each in their own patch...the populations multiplied too fast for the land to hold all the growing populations, then you drive by a white farm in a taxi & feel you have been done in. Almost like in Israel, where the Israelis took arid land & made it into fertile farms...do you now say look at those beautiful productive farms, we want it back? The Western & Northern Cape have some of the driest semi-dessert arid lands, no wonder few bantu tribes lived there.

[@sabihraza5734]

Israel too - please draw parallels with the Israeli Apartheid.

[@nathanngumi8467]

Very informative!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you very much indeed. It’s a story that’s strangely forgotten now. But deserves to be remembered.

[@olofhansson6803]

Nice to have you back!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks so much. Really nice to be back. I’m hoping to be able to get back to a proper schedule now.

[@rogermoyer9054]

Would love to see the sources for the great maps you have used to illustrate this topic

[@JamesKerLindsay]

I should have put this in the description: www.themaparchive.com

[@bretedwards2899]

Often times the concept of "unintended consequences" proves to be significant in political affairs. Many people observed the political problems of S. Africa and Rhodesia (and much of Africa as well) as needing reforms and protested to ensure change occurred only in those two countries while ignoring the problems of the rest of the continent. The accountability of the new governments was not perceived as a important issue as the issue was only the elimination of the old governments, proving the dishonesty of the protesting movements. The protesters accomplished their goal, walked away from the situation in victory and moved onto the next political issue. The new governments unfortunately proved to be even worse than the old ones for the majority of the citizens involved and the suffering for those people increased. Changing any government means it could get better or worse, and when people refuse to see things in an honest manner and hold governments accountable the change usually ends up being negative. Having a political bias usually means a lack of honesty and when employed for selfish reasons many people suffer as the people in those two counties have experienced.

[@quantummotion]

Professor, thank you for this! The establishment of the Bantustands was something I did not really know about as my media exposure to the South African situation was more in the response Western countries had to the then SA government in the 1980s. I heard of the townships, but never if the Bantustands. It is this kind of longer form review of events that provides much more detail and context that is otherwise missed. Also Professor, if I could make a request, would there be any consideration of the events unfolding between Canada and India? You did wonderful coverage in a previous video in regards to the Khalistan movement. It still may be too early to discuss, but coverage of some of the complexities that Canada must deal with, and whatnot has done so far would be greatly appreciated (such as extradition, issuing of Interpol red notices (their success or failure in their establishment), and other details that might give the Canadian government pause, or be a source of frustration for the Indian government on the handling of extradition requests). I feel there's a lot of background in this subject that is not being discussed, but would be very helpful in providing context. Thank you again for all that you do!

[@WHKCCP]

Yes, an important segment the professor ignored was that it was actually Cecil John Rhodes of the superior race theory, who instituted segregation, (apartheid in Afrikaans), and then proceeded with his henchmen Milner and the Randlords to instigate a war so that they could cease the diamond and goldfields of the two Boer Republics. The Transkei, fake saint Rolilhalhas, homeland, was actually called British Kaffria under the British regime

[@nabilalhami1681]

Welcome back. One thing though, if you are not in the UK anymore, where have you moved? (I am guessing France or Greece, since you speak French and Greek).

[@BruceM8]

Welcome back. I would love to see you study and report on the various countries of west Africa that have had coups in the past couple years. I'm particularly interested in whether these juntas are improving government and defence and serving the people as best they can, or corruptly stealing what little wealth the countries have. There is just so little analytic reporting of this sort in the media. The juntas have many fans on KZbin, and some channels are putting out propaganda regarding them, but I don't find it very balanced or enlightening, and there seems little interest in engaging with people who disagree with their perspectives.

[@CWinther95]

good to see you back!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks so much Chris. So nice to be back. :-)

[@LarzGustafsson]

Very interesting. Thank you.

[@donnydonadio1185]

So much potential in South Africa. I hope it can be realized.

[@tylernaturalist6437]

Everyone else realizes it, unfortunately the corrupt and regressive ANC won’t be going anywhere. Hopefully the Western Cape can break away.

[@randomguy4116]

They're finished.

[@jw841]

South Africa is unfixable. The only thing Mandela and the ANC have done over the last 30 years is prove the architects of Apartheid to be 100% right. Its now just another African failed state and many people black and white are trying to leave.

[@leosonbentley2770]

@@randomguy4116 it’s not finished. No matter how hard you wish it would be.

[@randomguy4116]

@@leosonbentley2770 blacks have destroyed SA. Say it aint so

[@4better396]

The ANC did a horrible injustice on Bophutatswana. It escapes me how the world could not have foreseen that the actions of the ANC on Bophutatswana was prophetic of the ANC's actions on South Africa these past 30 years. Both apartheid and the ANC needed to be dismantled.

[@papapeethehunks]

Thank you for granting my long held request Professor James Ker Lindsay about this topic.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

I hope it was OK. This was such an interesting topic to explore. I really like doing these more historical cases from time to time.

[@papapeethehunks]

@@JamesKerLindsay well...the most interesting thing to know is that up to now there are actually black people from the former Bantustans that are nostalgic to their former "homelands." See British Pathe archives on the comments section. Atleast for Bohuthatswana this is true! There is still a quiet movement of Vhavenda forging for their own territory apart from South Africa. And they are part of the UNPO, the Unrepresented Nations & People's Organization. I hope you also make a video of UNPO in the future. Thanks so much! ❤️

[@gokhanakay8446]

Well, sometimes the international community has good 'morals' but most times not... Thanks for video, and welcome back Professor.

[@bethelmadida9513]

Bantu is not a language but a word that means people with variations in nguni and other languages

[@Hashkovo]

Another great video as usual. I imagine you will be covering the current events unfolding in NK?

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks. Yes, I hope to cover NK next week. It is a huge development in all sorts of ways.

[@bilic8094]

I think James should do more of the hot topics like Armenia and Azerbaijan and Russia and Ukraine let the people go at it in the comment section who cares that's what it's there for he doesn't have to answer back to everyone.

[@zakariyashakir4091]

Hi James where do you live now?

[@medievalpepper1832]

Hi Professor, thank you for the video. Could you please make one about recent developments in Armenia - Azerbaijan conflict? Some of the predictions you’ve made in your last video were correct. I’d like to get your (unbiased as usual) perspective on the current and future state of the south Caucasus region.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks. I plan to cover this next week.

[@fToo]

@@JamesKerLindsay that would be great - and please give a good intro - i though i vaguely understood the region, but i'm completely lost now as to who is fighting who

[@rpgbb]

Welcome back! 💪🏼

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you so much! :-)

[@joekickass06]

And we’re back!!!! ❤❤❤

[@kimjongun6746]

Welcome back 🎉

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you! :-)

[@howtoappearincompletely9739]

Wow, most of that was new to me. Fascinating is right!

[@EliasRoy]

Hi Professor, can you talk about the recent diplomatic crisis between Canada and India?

[@bilic8094]

He did a video a couple months back about the khalestan movement but not about trudeau and modi.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks. I looked at the Khalistan movement in India (and abroad) in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4nCd4apja2sj6ssi=mkaDxfCER8_7EI_C It is very telling that Sikh nationalism seems more pronounced in the diaspora than in India itself. This goes a long way to explaining sone of the context of what is happening now. There is a large and active Sikh community in Canada.

[@Max-nt5zs]

I remember when I first discovered the Bantustans while looking at an old world map in my room. I noticed these little dots all over South Africa and had to know more.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

They really were very strange entities.

[@glotzu]

Hello, thank you for the video. I would like to understand why two "bantustans" rejected reincorporation within South Africa in 1991. This sounds counterintuitive.

[@youknow6968]

Welcome back 😊

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you so much!

[@gurufabbes1]

excellent video. Never seen anything this in depth on apartheid in general. Never heard of the Republic of Transkei before this either.

[@oldgreybeard2507]

Drop everything - a new video

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Haha! And that is the correct response! :-)

[@DA-uv1fs]

Fascinating. Never learned anything this aspect of apartheid before. Did any countries recognize and of the Bantustans?

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks. Interestingly, they have been largely forgotten. We know about apartheid. But this aspect is largely unknown. No countries recognised them. As I noted, Lesotho was under a lot of pressure to do so, but resisted.

[@SiyaMedia]

Try Israel and Taiwan

[@lekis5975]

@@JamesKerLindsay Israel somewhat recognised the Bantustans, it had relations with Ciskei, Transkei and Bophutatswana. The latter was even allowed to fly their flag outside their Mission in Tel Avlv. But for UN intervention, Israel was willing to give the Bantustans full recognition

[@siphomogale779]

Thanks professor for my countries history Apartheid has ended and truly speaking Democracy has not brought changed hoped for but things like employment, education, science, military has collapsed only the rich survive her in RSA , many of our parents were working during apartheid, here in SA you could be killed for cellphone

[@adripekalski8148]

Well said @siphomogale! So sad that a cellphone is valued more than a human being - that I cannot understand.

[@fullmetaltheorist]

Hard times but we will make it through.

[@Lucas5632-]

The problem is not democracy but the way SA run their government. Democracy works well if implemented in the the correct manner. It all boils down to your president. I say no more.

[@oitsiaya468]

Apartheid still alive in S.A young man you need to stop being ignorant and understand that black people are not free black are still poor in S.A and I know some will that but you are Politicaly free Economically we own nothing 70% of the land in S.A is owned by the 10% while the whole 80% of people own nothing it's not easy to get a loan to for Capital to start our own business. After graduating you are required a 3to 5 years experience and majority of the private companies are owned by the 10%

[@PaulMathias1]

This excellent video triggered a very interesting conversation between a few work colleagues, including two South Africans. While the awful system of Apartheid had to be dismantled, what South Africa has now become would make Mr Mandela turn in his grave. The bright new dawn of the Rainbow Nation has turned to torrential rain. Now, that would be a great topic to cover.....corruption, government incompetence and policy paralysis of the ANC.

[@gideondejongh838]

Don't talk about that traitor here. He himself was the son of a chief and he did not care about his own people. He chased money like everyone else.

[@alexanderkowal5710]

@@gideondejongh838 you really think he cared about money? you think he spent his life fighting apartheid because he wanted to make money for himself?

[@KermitGTT]

@@alexanderkowal5710 That's the problem with people taking snippets from time to come to a conclusion. He did not spend his life to anything. He was an opportunist who knew exactly what you wanted to hear.

[@ricaard6959]

South Africa may not be rich, but it is a far better place to live in than in apartheid. All these people talking about how bad things are in SA, do you people actually live here? Please, if you don't like the country, just leave, we don't want racists here.

[@ivandinsmore6217]

It is highly unlikely that this extreme Leftist Professor would ever admit that anything was wrong in South Africa

[@Zacky12345]

Can you discuss the Indian caste system where people are trapped in poverty?

[@ostricalungimirante]

Very useful, thanks Prof!

[@jamesmitch9792]

South Africa: racism and poverty Latin America: "sounds familiar"

[@historyking9984]

Interesting. Never heard of this before

[@liat5443]

Does the right to self-determination extend to those who were forcefully removed from their territory? I think that's an interesting topic, especially in relation to the ethnic cleansing of Georgians from Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as it can be argued that their removal infringed on their right.

[@jovanlipovatz4503]

South Africa GDP per capita: 1994: 94% of global average 2022: 77% of global average

[@eyal935]

1994 : South Africa had little immigration, as compared to 2022

[@jamesmitch9792]

great to see you back professor. could you make a video on Iran and the nuclear bomb they're trying to get and the implications on the middle east?

[@VladTevez]

Welcome back!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks so much! Things have taken a little longer than expected. Our local telecoms operator has not been as quick as I had hoped with my internet line. ;-) (Fortunately, I got an upgrade on my mobile connection that might just work for a few weeks. But blimey my phone is overheating!)

[@VladTevez]

@@JamesKerLindsay If it’s “epic”, I’m not surprised…

[@tshepo_thato]

I grew up in Bophuthatswana and what happened in 1994 was a coup d’etat. In one of his many speeches Mangope said he chose the Bophuthatswana route was for two main reasons. 1. To shield his people from the very harsh laws of apartheid. 2. In his own words “to take as much as he can, for as long as he can from the apartheid government for the betterment of his people” because he knew apartheid wouldn’t last forever. One of the first things he did was to change the education system from the Bantu Education system to PEUP (similar to what Botswana has), and he built a university. There is not enough space to go through his achievements throughout the 80s until the 90s, but in summary he was a benevolent dictator. May his soul continue to rest in peace.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you so much for the comment. I really appreciate it. It is always great to have an alternative perspective from on the ground. I can see the argument for accepting the reality of the situation and making the most of it. But i think the main criticism is that he didn’t accept the reality of the end of apartheid. Having established his own fiefdom, he was reluctant to give it up - and called in Afrikaner nationalists to help him defend it.

[@tshepo_thato]

@@JamesKerLindsayI hear you prof, the other side is that he didn’t want to relinquish power because he had seen types of people the ANC & SACP were during the CODESA negotiations & tried to hold on to what he had already built. What he warned us about the ANC/SACP has come to pass. History has vindicated him. PS: Prof, one day can you please do an analysis of the CODESA negotiations and agreements.

[@poeticider]

The more I learn about 20th century South African history the more crazy it seems...!

[@cabdicano8698]

Are you covering the bantu-stans ??

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Perhaps watch the video?

[@Niksg9424]

Class is back in session let's gooooo

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Haha! I hadn’t thought of it like that. But a new academic year indeed begins. :-)

[@DieDagbreker]

Thank you for a great video. You highlighted an interesting point regarding the crime against humanity part. It sounds like the concept of segregation wasn't the problem, as such, as communities are allowed to self-determine their culture and also freedom of association, but how the policy was implemented. In a sense it was done in such a way that the -stans would not have been able to self-determine and they were made dependent of the SA super State?

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks so much. Exactly. They were not considered to be an expression of self-determination. Instead they were seen as an attempt to thwart self-determination and maintain minority white rule in South Africa, all the whole ensuring that the areas were effectively reliant on South Africa.

[@DieDagbreker]

@@JamesKerLindsay Interesting. Thank you very much.

[@fortunatengubeni6410]

I grew up in one Qwa qwa

[@JamesKerLindsay]

What was it like?

[@EdMcF1]

The actual curiosity of international relations was Walvis Bay, handed over to Namibia in 1994 after a curious history in the 'Scramble for Africa'.

[@TheBliksempie]

It was and still is part of South Africa.

[@creativemindplay]

Why not pronounce it "apar-tayt"?

[@Mohdn207]

waiting for you to post a new video one of the best channels if not the best channel very informative and exciting

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you so much. Apologies for the absence. But hopefully I’ll be able to post more regularly again now.

[@LarzGustafsson]

Those "states" were mickey mouse states.

[@glenipolus9731]

video on nagorno karabakh ethnic cleansing comming?

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Yes. I hope to cover this on Friday.

[@peace6325]

Afrikaner here. Yes, Apartheid was a wrong solution to a real problem. The sovereignty of cultures is still not honoured today. South Africa isn't doing very well on various fronts, but I believe we have some of the most good-hearted people in the world.

[@idraote]

Welcome back! On a side note, while those Bantustans were born out of apartheid, the UN and the West in general have a horrible, abysmal record in establishing borders in Africa. Essentially all of the conflicts that lacerate the continent to this day are due to the forced cohabitation of different peoples in the same state. The UN have this extremely silly tenet that states need to be left untouched at all costs and that peoples who have hated each other's guts for centuries simply need to grow up and learn to live in a Western-style democracy, with each ethnicity granted representation.

[@seneca983]

"The UN have this extremely silly tenet that states need to be left untouched at all costs" That's not silly at all. Starting to partition states would be opening a huge can of worms and lead to more chaos.

[@KonradvonHotzendorf]

2:46 We have 12 official languages 🇿🇦 They added sign language

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks. And good to know!

[@KonradvonHotzendorf]

@@JamesKerLindsay It was a cool gesture by the government Google is saying 11 on the first page so I am going to complain at them 😅

[@wazybundas5567]

First time watching your videos, I can't wait for your Palestine Israel video if you haven't made one as of yet

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks. And a very warm welcome. I plan to cover it this Friday.

[@OutlawLu]

Looking forward for this new Serbia Kosovo episode yet again lol

[@TheBliksempie]

What was very interesting at the time, was the economic measures taken to ensure the economic viability of the homelands. The Southern Sun hotel group built the most awesome hotels and casinos within the borders of the homelands, hotels like Sun City, Wildcoast Sun and many others. Major factories also had to relocate to border areas that were created, like Garankua where BMW, Volkswagen and Nissan moved to from the coastal cities of Port Elisabeth and East London. In those days, people were much less focused on politics and much more focused on getting along on a personal level, trying their utmost to build a life despite heavy sanctions, embargoes., boycots and international disinvestment. Sadly, the more pressure the international community put on the government and the people to unify, the more people got devided and today the country is less devided along racial lines but much more devided along economic lines. The reunification of the homelands meant that the economic gap between the "haves" and the "have nots" grew exponentially and extreme wealth and extreme poverty is at a all time high due to the constrains of centralised government that cannot efficiently manage and provide critical public infrastructure. Perhaps one day prosperity will return and the South African people will again aspire to make their country great.

[@SionTJobbins]

I was born in Zambia in 1968 to Welsh parents who having married in 1966 got a job teaching in Chingola for 3 years. They travelled widely in southern Africa including SA. So, southern Africas was always in the houshold growing up in Cardiff. My father was quite active with the Anti Apartheid movement in Cardiff but I remember he had some brochures of Bophutatswana, Ciskei, Transkei and Venda which, I'm guessing he must have picked up somewhere. They were fascinating documents which gave the impression of being real states. Of course, as a young Welsh boy I was trying to work out if they were like Wales - that is, a real nation with a politi and wanted to become fully independent. I remember my father explaining to me that they were puppet states by the Apartheid regime. I didn't realise until last year that there were also similar Bantustans in SWA/Namibia.

[@deonkotzee6641]

One of the other key policies of the National Party were self-determination. Hence the TBVC states. Really wish we had a place where we could govern ourselves and not be subject to other peoples inability to govern. The National Party was instrumental in dismantling apartheid. This was based on false promises and guarantees by Western Powers.

[@livesocishe5992]

That place is perhaps abroad. Maybe the Netherlands

[@corinnevanjaarsveldt6087]

Section 235 of the Constitution acknowledges the right of cultural groups to self-determination. Point.

[@tyronejoshua1613]

It's been a while

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks. Many apologies for the absence.

[@gerthanekom8910]

Yes and now the whole of South Africa is a failed state. Thank you world!

[@deonkotzee6641]

All the UN resolutions now seems so empty.

[@pwp8737]

How different the international reaction to the bantustans independence from that of Singapore. Malaysia kicked out the Chinese dominated Singapore from the federation to create a more ethnically Malay country and the world embraced it.

[@victorvonsteuben1728]

They didn't take away the citizenship of people currently living in Malaysia outside of Singapore.

[@crose7412]

12:19 Presumably this has been "generally accepted...allow parts of their territory to become independent" subsequent to the formation of the Confederate States of America?

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks, but I’m not sure I understand?

[@augustduplessis5862]

Well 30 years later, we can tell you: "told you so"

[@floridaman_85_58]

Nah not really...all the problems are remnants of your failed state. And yes apartheid South Africa is literally a "failed state".

[@esahm373]

0:14 I think you meant to say "white minority rule"!?

[@TheBliksempie]

Just a short note on Namibia. After WWI South Africa took over the administration of the German colony called German (Duitsche) West Africa and it was renamed to South West Africa as proclaimed by the League of Nations. South West Africa was never part of either the Union of South Africa, nor the Republic of South Africa but an administrative area with its own unelected but appointed administrator.

[@clementgavi7290]

Brilliant.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you!

[@clementgavi7290]

@@JamesKerLindsay You are welcome

[@subzeromidnight5388]

We just need ANC to get out and SA will be a great country

[@TebaloKokozela]

You lost me at: “Our history really starts with the arrival of the Europeans.”

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Sorry, but this is the only way to skirt over the long history before Europeans. I do it in most videos. It is my way of quickly saying that I understand these countries and regions have an amazingly rich history, but for the story I cover, the starting point begins with x event. In this case, the arrival of European settlers does mark the start of the story. It isn't to say that the region had no history beforehand. Quite the opposite. But it is to say that if we want to understand apartheid, then the starting point is the arrival of white European settlers. Please don't be outraged. Instead, perhaps try to understand what I am doing and why I must do it. Otherwise, all my videos would be incredibly long. I have to find a natural starting point for my specific story.

[@rosameltrozo5889]

South Africa has the typical history of when Europeans leave the government to the locals

[@jamesmitch9792]

See Bolivia, when the whites left the gov, Bolivia had the GDP per capita that of the Congo. now it more than 4X after they left. they did good, and whites are coping and seething.

[@jamesmitch9792]

Europeans still rule Latin America, they must be first world right.