KaNgwane
KaNgwane | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–1994 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms
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 Location of KaNgwane (red) within South Africa (yellow). | |||||||||
| Status | Bantustan | ||||||||
| Capital |
KaNyamazane (Louieville) Schoemansdal (de facto) | ||||||||
| Common languages |
Swazi English Afrikaans | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Self-government | 1981 | ||||||||
• Re-integrated into South Africa | 27 April 1994 | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| 1980[1] | 3,000 km2 (1,200 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1980[1] | 161160 | ||||||||
• 1991[2] | 779240 | ||||||||
| Currency | South African rand | ||||||||
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KaNgwane was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government to be a semi-independent homeland for the Swazi people.Grand Apartheid in Formation: A Brief History of KaNgwane The Swazi Territorial Authority was established at Tonga in the Nkomazi Region on 23 April 1976 by the then Deputy Minister of Bantu Affairs, Development and Education, Dr F. Hartzenberg (who read the speech on behalf of the then Member of Parliament and Minister of Bantu Affairs, Mr M.C. Botha). It was established, Pretoria claimed, to cater for the interests of the Swazis within the borders of the Republic of South Africa.
The first leader of the Swazi Territorial Authority administration was Chief J.M. Dhlamini of the Embhuleni Royal Kraal in Badplaas (to whom I later, in 1981, served as private secretary).
The establishment of the Authority was preceded by disruptive events. In 1975, the forced removals of the people from Kromkrans, Doringkop and elsewhere, in the so-called black spots in white areas, to settlements like Kromdraai (Ekulindeni) started. In 1976, the majority of the people from Kromkrans were settled on the farm Eerstehoek, my birth place. They were dumped on our fields and grazing land. The plans for the establishment of the Swazi ‘homeland’ continued, and in October 1977, the Swazi Territorial Authority elected the late Dr E.J. Mabuza to become the Chief Executive Councillor of the ‘homeland’. The ‘homeland’ from there was named KaNgwane (a name, it should be added, that the authorities in Swaziland did not have a problem with).
Contrasts: KaNgwane and the Inyandza National Movement
The Inyandza National Movement was the governing party of the then KaNgwane ‘homeland’ government. It was founded in October 1978 at Lochiel, a village with no more than a filling station a few kilometers from the Oshoek border post. It became a critical driving force of politics. It was through the Inyandza National Movement that KaNgwane contrasted with other ‘homelands’ and refused independence. Inyandza was formed instead to politicise and mobilise the masses of our people in furtherance of the aims and objectives of the liberation movement: on the one hand, through its relationships with the ANC in exile; and, on the other, through its socio-economic development programme, through which it sought to uplift the standard of living of the ‘citizens’ of that ‘homeland’. After the late Dr Enos J. Mabuza assumed office of Chief Executive Councillor of the ‘homeland’, negotiations to be granted the second phase of the ‘homeland’s’ development, i.e. self-governing status, began. The leadership of KaNgwane had already repeatedly indicated that the people of KaNgwane were against so-called independence. The apartheid government of South Africa was however reluctant to grant the self-governing status to KaNgwane. They wanted to do so on condition that KaNgwane thereafter opt for Pretoria’s offer of independence. The leadership of KaNgwane refused to accept such a condition, and request after request for self-governing status received no positive responses from Pretoria. Pretoria sought to punish KaNgwane for its refusal to co-operate with plans to make ‘homelands’ independent, and KaNgwane began to experience extreme under-funding. But the Inyandza National Movement had politicised the people. Weekly prayer meetings and rallies were organised. The leadership of the Inyandza National Movement intensified the call for the unbanning of the ANC and other political organisations. We rejected Pretoria’s independence completely. The people were mobilised so that when Pretoria refused to grant self-governing status to KaNgwane, they stood up and defended their rights. They did not stand up because they believed in the ‘homelands’. They never desired to opt for independence but to fight until South Africa became free from the shackles of apartheid. That is why the capital of KaNgwane in Louieville was just a temporary structure. We did not see any point in building massive and magnificent structures. After some time without responding at all to the intensified mobilisation, the government of South Africa found another way to force independence on KaNgwane: it announced the incorporation of KaNgwane territory and Ingwavuma region of the then ‘homeland’ of KwaZulu into the Kingdom of Swaziland, the so-called land deal between the government of the Republic of South Africa and the Kingdom of Swaziland It was called the "Swazi Territory" before it was granted nominal self-rule in 1981. Its capital was at Louieville (formerly Kanyamazane). It was the least populous of the ten homelands, with an estimated 183,000 inhabitants.
An attempt to transfer parts of the homeland, along with parts of the Zulu homeland KwaZulu, to the neighbouring country of Swaziland in 1982 failed following protests. The homeland's territory had been claimed by King Sobhuza of Swaziland as part of the Swazi monarchs' traditional realm, and the South African government hoped to use the homeland as a buffer zone against guerrilla infiltration from Mozambique. This would have given land-locked Swaziland access to the sea. South Africa responded to the failure of the transfer by temporarily suspending the autonomy of KaNgwane, then restoring it in 1984. [3][4]
Unlike the other homelands in South Africa, KaNgwane did not adopt a distinctive flag of its own but flew the national flag of South Africa.
KaNgwane ceased to exist on 27 April 1994 when the Interim Constitution dissolved the homelands and created new provinces. Its territory became part of the province of Mpumalanga.
Districts in 1991
Districts of the province and population at the 1991 census.[2]
- Eerstehoek: 192,115
- Nkomazi: 276,965
- Nsikazi: 310,160
See also
References
- 1 2 Sally Frankental; Owen Sichone (2005-01-01). South Africa's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook. ABC-CLIO. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-57607-674-3. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- 1 2 "Census > 1991 > RSA > Variable Description > Person file > District code". Statistics South Africa - Nesstar WebView. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- ↑ Dennis Austin. South Africa, 1984. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. 1985. p. 54.
- ↑ Leroy Vail. The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa. California: University of California Press. 1989. pp. 310-316.
Bibliography
- „Informa” April 1981 vol XXVIII No 3 (The Department of Foreign Affairs and Information of RSA, newspaper)
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