Parliamentary elections were held in

Bophuthatswana Bophuthatswana (, meaning "gathering of the Tswana people"), officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana ( tn, Riphaboliki ya Bophuthatswana; af, Republiek van Bophuthatswana), was a Bantustan (also known as "Homeland"; an area set aside for mem ...

on 4 October 1972.Elections in South Africa's Apartheid-Era Homelands "Bantustans"
African Elections Database The

Bophuthatswana National Party Bophuthatswana (, meaning "gathering of the Tswana people"), officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana ( tn, Riphaboliki ya Bophuthatswana; af, Republiek van Bophuthatswana), was a Bantustan (also known as "Homeland"; an area set aside for mem ...

led by

Lucas Mangope Kgosi Lucas Manyane Mangope (27 December 1923 – 18 January 2018) was the leader of the Bantustan (homeland) of Bophuthatswana. The territory he ruled over was distributed between the Orange Free State – what is now Free State – and North W ...

won 20 of the 24 elected seats in the Legislative Assembly.

Electoral system

Voters registered themselves by having their reference book stamped, at which time they also chose which polling station they wanted to vote at, as well as which constituency that they wanted to vote in.Jeffrey Butler, Robert I. Rotberg & John Adams (1977
The Black Homelands of South Africa: The Political and Economic Development of Bophuthatswana and KwaZulu
University of California Press p51 However, as the reference books were used by the Apartheid authorities in South Africa, the Chief Electoral Officer issued a statement that

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Bophuthatswana, the former ba ...

living illegally in

Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...

would not be transferred to Bophuthatswana if they registered. The 24 elected seats in the Assembly were elected in 12 two-member constituencies, whilst a further 48 members were appointed.

Campaign

Two parties were formed prior to the elections; Tidimane Pilane established the

Seoposengwe Party The Seoposengwe Party was a political party in Namibia, representing the Tswana minority in rural eastern Namibia. The party emerged from the ''Tswana Alliance'', a group participating at the Turnhalle Constitutional Conference in Windhoek between ...

in July 1972, whilst Mangope founded the Bophuthatswana National Party (BNP) in August. The Seoposengwe Party's manifesto accepted the concept of separate development, although "only for the implied promises of handing us both our homeland Forefathers' land and particularly for the promise of granting Bophuthatswana its ultimate Sovereign Independence." It opposed the Tswana University proposed by Mangope and called for a focus on adult literacy and free and compulsory education. The party also called for control over mining in the territory, as well as a wholly elected Assembly. The BNP manifesto proposed only allowing citizens to qualify for trading rights in the territory and that the government should receive all taxes paid by mining companies. It also called for chiefs to be involved in the territory's politics (according to the constitution, only chiefs could become government ministers), noting "We have been severely criticized for the large number of designated members n the assembly but we believe we must lead our people from what they know to what they do not know—for the concept of a general election is unknown in our traditional administration."Butler et al., p93 Only eight of the 12 constituencies were contested. A total of 39 candidates ran for the 16 contested seats, of whom 17 lost their deposits.

Results

Urban areas saw a low turnout (just 15% in Pretoria compared to 45% in rural areas) a factor which favoured the Bophuthatswana National Party.Butler et al., p52

References

{{Bantustan elections

Elections in Bophuthatswana October 1972 events in Africa