Civil servants went on strike. Protesters loyal to the African National Congress-favored to win the national elections in a landslide-swarmed the streets of the capital. Mangope’s police fired some tear gas., then joined the protest; the president reportedly escaped in a helicopter as night fell and the crowds turned to looting. That was too much for right-wing whites, who have demanded their own homeland. Thousands of them answered an appeal from Mangope and drove into the territory to prop him up. In a brief fire fight. homeland security forces killed three-including two who were executed in front of journalists as they lay wounded and pleading for help. Dozens of blacks died in the unrest. The confrontation prompted President F. W. de Klerk to take direct control. using South African troops. It also persuaded both Mangope and one coalition of white rightists to agree to participate in the election. That left Zulu chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi as the only major South African politician not on the ballot. But the triumph of violence over negotiation was hardly a hopeful campaign lesson.
