For more than 16 years, until it was dissolved, seven discontinuous, landlocked territories composed the South African republic of Bophuthatswana, a name meaning “that which binds (bophutha) the Tswana-speaking people.” Six of the geographic units were entirely within South Africa; the seventh bordered Botswana on the northwest. Bophuthatswana had an area of 17,000 square miles (44,000 square kilometers). Bophuthatswana was the home of the notorious Sun City sports and gambling complex. The land has the world's largest platinum mine. Other deposits include asbestos, chromium, gold, granite, calcite, diamonds, and vanadium. Most farmland was used for grazing beef and dairy cattle, though corn (maize), sorghum, and cowpeas were grown. Small-scale industries produced beverages, processed tobacco, textiles, leather goods, wood and plastic products, and machinery. (See also South Africa.) |