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7 - Putting Bop on the Map

Sun City and the Nonrecognition of Bophuthatswana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2021

Josiah Brownell
Affiliation:
Pratt Institute, New York
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Summary

This chapter looks at Sun City, the massive resort and casino that opened up in Bophuthatswana in 1979. Just a 2-hour drive from Johannesburg, Sun City was a massive entertainment complex that served as the most visible symbol of the Bophuthatswanan state. Part of Sun City’s appeal was that it flouted many of the laws in the Republic, most notably apartheid’s racial segregation and prohibitions on miscegenation, as well as South Africa’s proscriptions against gambling. Sun City was an important flashpoint in the battle over Bophuthatswana’s contested sovereignty, especially because it attracted marquee sports and entertainment figures who were willing to break the anti-apartheid cultural boycott. The contours of these battles were often counterintuitive and surprising. Frank Sinatra’s opening of the Superbowl venue in 1981 began the short golden age of Sun City that would last until the release by Artists United Against Apartheid (AUAA) of the “Sun City” in 1985. Thereafter, the cultural boycott applied equally to Bophuthatswana as it did to South Africa proper.

Type
Chapter
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Struggles for Self-Determination
The Denial of Reactionary Statehood in Africa
, pp. 259 - 283
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Putting Bop on the Map
  • Josiah Brownell, Pratt Institute, New York
  • Book: Struggles for Self-Determination
  • Online publication: 25 November 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108966825.008
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  • Putting Bop on the Map
  • Josiah Brownell, Pratt Institute, New York
  • Book: Struggles for Self-Determination
  • Online publication: 25 November 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108966825.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Putting Bop on the Map
  • Josiah Brownell, Pratt Institute, New York
  • Book: Struggles for Self-Determination
  • Online publication: 25 November 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108966825.008
Available formats
×