ABSTRACT
Dr Tjaart van der Walt, who had been South Africa’s ‘ambassador’ to Bophuthatswana, was appointed as Administrator. There was a strong demand from political and civil society structures that the author was appointed as Joint Administrator to co-manage Bophuthatswana with Dr van der Walt. This led to the establishment of the Office of Joint Administrators (OJA), whereby Dr van der Walt and the author co-managed Bophuthatswana until the first democratic elections of 27 April 1994. The role of JAs was to develop and implement a turnaround strategy. The first few weeks in office were characterised by crisis management to deal with the violence and disorder of 10-11 March 1994, which saw widespread unrest in Bophuthatswana. The invasion of Mafikeng by the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) resulted in 40 people being killed. An explosive situation to manage little room for decision-making processes were too democratic. The chapter concluded that South Africa presented its citizens and residents with enormous challenges.
