Bisho massacre

The Bisho massacre occurred on 7 September 1992 in Bisho, in the nominally independent homeland of Ciskei in South Africa. Twenty-eight African National Congress supporters and one soldier were shot dead by the Ciskei Defence Force during a protest march when they attempted to enter Bisho (now renamed to Bhisho) to demand the reincorporation of Ciskei into South Africa during the final years of apartheid.

Bisho (now spelled Bhisho) was the capital of the Ciskei, a nominally independent homeland (bantustan) for the Xhosa people in South Africa. The system of racially segregated homelands had been a core of apartheid, but between 1990 and 1994, negotiations were taking place between the government of South Africa and the African National Congress (ANC) to end the apartheid system.

With multi-racial democratic elections as the likely outcome of the negotiations, the ANC wished to organise and mobilise its supporters in the Ciskei, particularly as it lay in the Eastern Cape area, a traditional stronghold for ANC supporters. However, its military leader Brigadier Oupa Gqozo resisted this and prevented the ANC from organising.

On 3 September, the ANC sent a memorandum to President F. W. de Klerk demanding that he replace Gqozo with an interim administration which would permit free democratic activity in Ciskei, but De Klerk refused, on the grounds that the Ciskei did not fall under South Africa's jurisdiction. At the time, negotiations had broken down, with the ANC withdrawing following the Boipatong massacre and accusing de Klerk's government of fomenting the violence.

As a result, the ANC began a campaign of "mass action", organising a protest march to occupy Bisho and force Gqozo's resignation. Gqozo sought a court interdict to prevent the march, and the magistrate ruled that it could take place at the homeland's independence stadium, outside Bisho, but could not enter the capital. The ANC refused to recognise the jurisdiction of the Ciskei court.

On 7 September, about 80,000 protesters gathered outside Bisho, signalling the wide opposition to Gqozo's rule. The meeting was led by senior ANC leaders including South African Communist Party Secretary General Chris Hani, Cyril Ramaphosa, Steve Tshwete and Ronnie Kasrils.

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