Bophuthatswana (a state in South Africa that was independent from 1977 till 1994) issued this set on 30th January 1981 to celebrate the International Year of the Disabled.

Here is the set on unaddressed first day cover. In tidy, clean condition, and with a descriptive card included.

South Africa catalogue # 68 - 71.

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Bophuthatswana's significance is twofold: it was the first area to be declared an independent state whose territory constituted a scattered patchwork of individual enclaves, and during its last days of existence, events taking place within its borders led to the weakening and split of right-winged Afrikaner resistance towards democratizing South Africa.

Bophuthatswana had a surface area of approximately 40 000 km² and consisted of seven enclaves dispersed over the former South African provinces of Cape Province, Transvaal, and Orange Free State. The capital, Mmabatho, was situated in an area bordering Botswana. Following a local referendum on the issue, nearby Mafeking joined Bophuthatswana in 1980, three years after Bophuthatswana was awarded independence.

The homeland was set up to house Setswana-speaking peoples. In 1983, it had more than 1,430,000 inhabitants; in 1990, it had an estimated population of 2,352,296. Only 10% of Bophuthatswana's total land area was arable, and much of that was covered with scrub brush.

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