Homeland 1

7 September 1992, Bhisho, Eastern Cape

African National Congress supporters flee back towards the South African side of the border with Ciskei after 29 marchers were killed and dozens more wounded by Ciskeian soldiers. The ANC supporters broke through razor-wire barricades erected at the border between South Africa and Ciskei. It was a reckless attempt to force the Ciskeian military leader, Oupa Gqozo, to allow free political activity in the bantustan. The crowd went through the barricades and they were met by a hail of bullets.

Ciskei Defence Force soldiers opened fire on a mass march of approximately 80,000 people, marking the Bhisho Massacre as a key flashpoint in South Africa’s transition period and registering a moment of profound constitutional rupture: the violent suppression of peaceful political assembly through lethal state force. In the post-apartheid constitutional order, such actions stand in direct opposition to foundational principles later affirmed by the Constitutional Court, including the rights to life and dignity, the protection of democratic participation, and the state’s duty to protect individuals from harm.