SOUTH AFRICA | Apartheid's Fake States?

[@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.

[@alef7236]

@@lemondisaster1476 Bophuthatswana was to some extent run as a capitalist conservative homeland, there were virtually no Communists in the homeland except for members of the communist party and ANC who infiltrated and tried to overthrow the Bop government marked by the series of coups pre 94.

[@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

[@Vit-w3k]

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!

[@gerthanekom8910]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@petero7937]

@@JamesKerLindsay All had rights in their respective countries. Just like I cannot go to Zimbabwe and have the same rights as a Zimbabwean

[@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.

[@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. :-)

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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!

[@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.

[@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.😊😊❤❤

[@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 (maize), 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 indigenous people in these areas must get land from their Chief & Royal famlilies, such peoples were into having lots of children & subsistance farming, each on their own patch...the populations multiplied too fast for the land to hold all the growing populations, then one drives 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.

[@Christdiedforoursins1Corinthia]

​@@ntatemohlomi2884it's true bantu tribes came south from the north.venda was not always venda .

[@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.

[@daggerdan12]

Good to have you back professor

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks so much. Sorry for the absence!

[@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! ❤️

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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%

[@gokhanakay8446]

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

[@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

[@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

[@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.

[@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.

[@CWinther95]

good to see you back!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

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

[@janineduplessis6043]

After only 30 years under black rule, SA is now a failed state. So sad for the lovely people who live here. 😥

[@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.

[@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.

[@rpgbb]

Welcome back! 💪🏼

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you so much! :-)

[@erictevoedjre3966]

Thank you for this great video!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

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

[@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.

[@peterkops6431]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@richardsimms251]

Great video. Thank you

[@Zacky12345]

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

[@TheVanpablo79]

All new news to me. Thanks for making the video

[@JamesKerLindsay]

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

[@bethelmadida9513]

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

[@poeticider]

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

[@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

[@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

[@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.

[@mkvenner2]

The leadership rejected reincorporation, the general population were in favor of reincorporation. Most of the bantustans were functionally one party states.

[@nathanngumi8467]

Very informative!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

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

[@jamesmitch9792]

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

[@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

[@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.

[@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…

[@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.

[@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.

[@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?

[@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 😅

[@BellicoseNation]

Interesting subject. -From another angle, rejecting the self-rule for these stans was a form of paternal racism itself. (Two opposing actions can be racist at the same time) The assumption is that these Black-run areas would not want their own Autonomy, not be able to maintain a proper quality of life if left to their own rule. This international paternalism was also demonstrated when S.A. abolished apartheid and nuclear weapons were surrendered. Ukraine was a similar case when their Nukes were surrendered. George Bush Sr. Thought Ukraine was too unstable and divided to be a successful nation and the Idea of Nukes at their fingertips was unacceptable.

[@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.

[@doreenmusson4891]

The indigenous in SA has remained the descendants of the Khoisan. And Afrikaans is the only language born in this country. This is an uncomfortable historical fact for the current government but remains the only truth.

[@kimjongun6746]

Welcome back 🎉

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you! :-)

[@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

[@nomazizizembe8662]

Watching from cape Town town township where I stay all my life sa is still secregated your status will determine where you stay if you rich you stay in town if you poor you stay in township or village I'm xhosa

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you for the message. I am so sorry to hear that things are still that way. There have been a lot of comments saying that life has not turned out as people hoped and expected.

[@zakariyashakir4091]

Hi James where do you live now?

[@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.

[@gurufabbes1]

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

[@SdbiblestudyChurch]

South Africa has cut off diplomatic relations with Israel. Why? I don't know why. Please explain your knowledge why South Africa would cut off diplomatic relations with Israel in 2023?

[@Gtee5]

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

[@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.

[@RoboticDragon]

Always appreciate your super informative videos.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you so much! :-)

[@deonkotzee6641]

All the UN resolutions now seems so empty.

[@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.

[@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.

[@deonkotzee6641]

SA and Namibia would have been better-off if the country was split into fair proportions and everyone given opportunity to govern themself. Self determination was a key concept of the National Party policies. The official policy was not called apartheid but separate development. Today there are more racist legislation and policies than under the National Party. Now the numerical majority are oppressing all other racial groupings. Where is the international condemnation now? There were many whites remove from their land to make the homelands possible. The homelands should have been recognized by the international community and supported. If it was not for sanctions a lot more land could have been bought from whites and added to the homelands. Now everyone in South Africa are suffering from extreme poverty brought about by sanctions and the inept government of the ANC. We are witnessing the the daily destruction and collapse of the infrastructure build by the National Party. Soon there will be nothing left. Only one third of the rail infrastructure that the National Party build are still operational. 80% of the stations are destroyed. The National Party generated 50% of Africas power and we had the cheapest electricity in the word. Now we have rolling blackouts for up to 9 hours a day and the list goes on and on.

[@AapVanDieKaap]

It's funny how Afrikaners would do anything for a homeland but other people call it oppression 😂 I seems for some people looking after yourself is oppression.

[@kgothatsomoiloa1784]

​@@AapVanDieKaapNo one is blocking them from looking for a homeland in Europe. Their actual home btw, we don't want separatist tendencies in 2023.

[@nedor64]

Today South Africa has become a criminals paradise, economically and politically unstable and on the brink of total collapse. I am a South African my ancestors came here in the 16th century they developed this country to become the best in Africa. Unfortunately all their hard work and contribution they have made to develop this country over centuries is now seen as racist and remnants of apartheid. The country is in shatters, the government is a bunch of criminals the citizens have lost all hope if a good future.

[@edaleman2758]

In their own time your ancestors also committed a lot of crimes

[@nedor64]

​@@edaleman2758like the ANC is doing now?

[@edaleman2758]

@@nedor64 I don’t like the ANC but it doesn’t change history

[@nedor64]

​@@edaleman2758me to I don't like the ANC but we must face reality. Our ancestors wasn't without wrongdoing but what happen after 1994 is just as horrible.

[@ntatemohlomi2884]

Well researched, well presented detailed factual account, thank you. I'm in the former Republic of Venda. The idea that indigenous people were meant to govern themselves in their traditional lands was a deliberate farce. Here as elsewhere, the best, most fertile and mineral rich lands were expertly carved away from these homelands and left in the RSA in white hands. The good white republic allocated itself 87% of the best land generously leaving 13% to the remaining 80% black population. The homelands were some unconnected patchwork of little island parcels of land with very little hope of sustaining themselves. And that too was deliberate. These were reserves only for the supply of cheap labour to the white RSA as and when needed, tightly controlled through a system of passes or internal passports only black people were required to carry. This stipulated if and when you were allowed in white areas.

[@TheBliksempie]

Just keep in mind that the homelands that were allocated was just the start and they were to be enlarged as the states grew economically. Unfortunately the opposition to the concept was so fierce that the project never reached maturity. The University of the North was a great university with well respected lecturers like Prof Justice Tshungu and others.

[@daffidkane8350]

Sad that post Apartheid SA has failed to realize it potential and that most African leaders cannot get past being kleptocrats and incompetents. I live in a Black majority country where the majority of White and coloured people were pressured to leave after independence. Our politicians are corrupt, our bureaucrats are poorly educated, incompetent, and unprofessional. The education system stinks and the majority of the people are poorly educated, crude, aggressive, racist, and unable to move past colonialism. Crime and violence is rampant and colonial inequities are perpetuated by the new elites. A marxist intellectual once told me that all the lofty rhetoric and left wing ideology was a smokescreen to transfer power to, and sustain it in the hands of, a new Black elite! Yet the country has resources and the Black people latent potential were it not for the greed, arrogance, and selfishness of its leaders.

[@daffidkane8350]

@harrysnothead8939 Jamaica!

[@bernhardeigenhuis3522]

Yet another correction, the Boer and Afrikaners are not the same people - The Transvaal and Orange Freestate were Boer Republics.

[@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.

[@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?

[@SiyaMedia]

Not all native South Africans were made to be citizens of the bantustans, only those who've been forcibly and violently removed from areas randomly designated to be for whites. After all, any blossoming south african city/town couldn't get by without of its fix of cheap and rightless horde of African labour. If the author continues with this series he should do an episode of the countries who openly traded with the bantustans like Israel and Taiwan

[@youknow6968]

Welcome back 😊

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you so much!

[@oldgreybeard2507]

Drop everything - a new video

[@JamesKerLindsay]

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

[@EdMcF1]

It's rather disappointing that the late Queen Elizabeth of South Africa did not seek of her own motion to be removed as Head of State of South Africa following the policies of the National Party from 1948. Apartheid was enacted with her (notional) consent and in her name.

[@TheBliksempie]

1948 was 3 years after WW2 and I believe King George was the monarch at that time. Segregation during the 1940's upto the 1960's was an internationally accepted policy. In the late 1950's the Queen expelled South Africa from the Common Wealth of Nations due to its Apartheid policies and that is why South Africa became a Republic. The Queen never visited South Africa nor Rhodesia after she became queen.

[@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. :-)

[@howtoappearincompletely9739]

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

[@wyqtor]

The Apartheid regime got it all wrong. They should have created something similar to what the Free Cape movement is trying to create today: a white-majority Bantustan to preserve the way of life of the English and Boers, while ceding the rest to the ANC. South Africa was a pretty promising country under Apartheid (in spite of the obvious ethical issues concerning that regime), unfortunately not anymore. Mandela was probably a good leader, but the rest of his former colleagues in the ANC obviously aren't. They can't even keep the lights on 24 hours a day and the crime situation is appalling. A white homeland centered on Cape Town would have been a way for an economically sophisticated country of European heritage to still exist in southern Africa. Something like an African version of New Zealand.

[@jamesmitch9792]

we have plenty of white homelands here in American Appalachia and no one of them are New Zealand

[@wyqtor]

@@jamesmitch9792 Neither are they ANC-run South Africas, with appalling crime rates and daily blackouts. Black rule has turned out to be a disaster for the whole country. Not defending the racist policies of apartheid here, which I agree have no place in a civilized society, strictly commenting on the current economic and social outcomes.

[@jamesmitch9792]

@@wyqtor no instead they're backed by the most powerful country on Earth and they're still poor, with high drug usage, ramped corruption and high dependence on the federal gov. the ANC isn't in the US. also what does black rule have to do with the ANC, look at what white rule is doing to Appalachia. South Africa is not backed by the USA.

[@jamesmitch9792]

@@wyqtor also you don't deny that Appalachia is not New Zealand despite being under white rule?

[@losonsrenoster]

And if the bar is just pushed back by a mere one or two decades, America, Australia, Nieu Zealand, Canada and a few other states would be considered racist by the same standards, South Africa was 2 decades slower than the rest of the world, but South Africa has seriously different demographics, which retarded the process.

[@janjordal9451]

Is see a clear parallel to Ethiopia where the TPLF/EPDRF arbitrarily divided the country into so called ethic zones (states). From my point of view this was, and still is a strategy for divide and rule. It would be appreciated if you could give an historical background as well as an analysis of the current situation in Ethiopia. I enjoy your videos an find them very informative.

[@paulstephen3257]

The Bantustans are a fascinating case. Do you believe that the West Bank is essentially becoming a giant "Bantustan". Area C was supposed to be under temporary Israeli military administration , but it looks like the current government wants to annex large parts of area C which have Israeli settlements. This would essentially leave a chopped up WestBank that is fully reliant on Israel and whose citizens would not have equal rights when they entered Israeli territory.

[@EdMcF1]

This was the National Party that, having won power in 1948, then started an epic gerrymandering of sorts by removing the Cape Coloureds from the electoral roll. Starting as they meant to go on.

[@amoduks5598]

They should left us in Bophuthatswana,we had everything this government build nothing in the capital city of bop Mmabatho since taking over

[@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.

[@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.

[@johntaplin3126]

Strangely, nobody queries the continued existence of Lesotho, surrounded as it is by the Republic. The fact that it was a British protectorate seems to have left its independence untouched by the turmoil in its neighbour. It is little different in reality from the homelands of any other tribal group in SA. The rise of tribalism is probably more pronounced today than before 1994. The moves for independence in the Western Cape, barely commented on outside SA, is an example of how the status quo is continued to be challenged. The union of the various components of the country is, in fact, not a given as history shows, and there is every reason ti think it may not be sustainable - for good or evil.