Special Report Transcript Episode 22, Section 3, Time 12:29

There’s a story that sums up the reign of the self declared president for life of Venda, the late Patrick Mphephu. When he asked why he wanted his homeland to be independent he said ‘Mangope did it, Kaiser Daliwonga Matanzima did it, why can’t I do it?’ A funny tale about a man with a standard two education who had a simple answer to all opposition: crush it. This week’s Truth Commission hearing in Thohoyandou proved just how well he did it. Human rights abuses in the Bantustans were carried out mainly by its police and army. Tales of severe torture to deaths in detention spanned more than a decade from the late seventies to the early nineties. Jann Turner and Gail Reagon explore why residents called the Venda Bantustan a place of horror.

Notes: Max du Preez