by Oupa Segalwe
Published by NB Publishers
As the leader of the most ‘successful’ ethnic homeland of the apartheid era, Bophuthatswana, Lucas Mangope was a controversial figure. His legacy still divides opinion to this day. A complex and polarising figure, some consider him a tin pot dictator whose rule was part of an immoral system riddled with corruption and repression, while others laud the infrastructural development and public services his administration delivered.
Journalist Oupa Segalwe incisively examines the life of this politician, whose rise and fall coincided with the collapse of apartheid and that of the ill-advised homelands project. Segalwe compellingly traces how complex currents of self-enrichment, duty to his people, and serving the interests of all those he was indebted to played out. A balanced account of the life and times of the enigmatic Mangope, this book sheds light on the experiences of ordinary people in an often overlooked but influential region of South Africa during the homelands era.
Oupa Segalwe served as spokesperson for the Public Protector for 13 years. He is a seasoned communications specialist with journalism training. The writing this book was a decade-long project. He hails from the rural village where Mangope was chief, long before becoming president of Bophuthatswana.
