Republic of Transkei iRiphabliki yeTranskei | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976–1994 | |||||||||
| Motto: Imbumba yamaNyama Xhosa:Unity is Strength | |||||||||
| Anthem: Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika[2] Xhosa:God Bless Africa | |||||||||
 Location of Transkei (red) within South Africa (yellow). | |||||||||
| Status | Bantustan (de facto; independence not internationally recognised) | ||||||||
| Capital | Umtata | ||||||||
| Common languages | Xhosa (official) –Sesotho andEnglish translations required for laws to come into effect –Afrikaans allowed in administration and judiciary¹ | ||||||||
| Leader | |||||||||
• 1976–1986 | Chief Kaiser Daliwonga Matanzima (Nominal parliamentary democracy, effectiveone-party rule) | ||||||||
• 1987–1994 | Bantu Holomisa (Military rule) | ||||||||
| Legislature | Parliament | ||||||||
• Parliament | President plus National Assembly (Immune tojudicial review)² | ||||||||
• National Assembly | ParamountChiefs 70 District Chiefs 75 electedMPs³ | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Self-government | 30 May 1963 | ||||||||
• Nominal independence | 26 October 1976 | ||||||||
• Break of diplomatic ties | 1978 | ||||||||
| 1987 | |||||||||
• Foiled coup d'état | 1990 | ||||||||
• Dissolution | 27 April 1994 | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| 1980[3] | 43,798 km2 (16,911 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1980[3] | 2,323,650 | ||||||||
| Currency | South African rand | ||||||||
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1.Constitution of the Republic of Transkei 1976, Chapter 3, 16/Chapter 5, 41 2.Constitution of the Republic of Transkei, Chapter 5, 24(4):"No court of law shall be competent to inquire into or to pronounce upon the validity of any Act." 3. 28 electoral divisions; number of MPs per division in proportion to number of registered voters per division; at least one MP each | |||||||||
Transkei (/trænˈskeɪ,trɑːn-,-ˈskaɪ/tran-SKAY,TRAHN-, -SKY, meaningthe area beyond[the river] Kei), officially theRepublic of Transkei (Xhosa:iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was anunrecognised state in the southeastern region ofSouth Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along withCiskei, aBantustan for theXhosa people, and operated as a nominally independentparliamentary democracy. Its capital wasUmtata (renamed Mthatha in 2004).[4]
Transkei represented a significant precedent and historic turning point in South Africa's policy ofapartheid and "separate development"; it was the first of four territories to be declaredindependent of South Africa. Throughout its existence, it remained an internationally unrecognised, diplomatically isolated, politically unstablede factoone-party state, which at one point broke relations with South Africa, the only country that acknowledged it as a legal entity. In 1994, it was reintegrated into its larger neighbour and became part of theEastern Cape province.
The South African government set up the area as one of the twohomelands forXhosa-speaking people inCape Province, the other beingCiskei; it was given nominal autonomy by Prime MinisterHendrik Verwoerd in 1963. Although the first election was contested and won by theDemocratic Party, whose founder ChiefVictor Poto was opposed to the notion of Bantustan independence,[5] the government was formed by theTranskei National Independence Party. Of the 109 members in the regional parliament, 45 were elected and 64 were held byex officio chiefs.[6]
The entity became a nominally independent state in 1976 with its capital at Umtata (nowMthatha), although it was recognised only by South Africa and later by the other nominally independent republics within theTBVC-system.Chief Kaiser Daliwonga Matanzima was Transkei'sPrime Minister until 1979, when he assumed the office ofPresident, a position he held until 1986.
South Africanprime ministerB. J. Vorster justified the declaration of Transkei as an independent republic by referring to "the right of every people to have full control over its own affairs" and wished "Transkei and its leaders God's richest blessings on the road ahead."[7]
My heritage commands me in the name of [Xhosa] nationhood to sacrifice the best of my abilities to the advancement of my own nation in its own country [...].
The General Assembly rejects the declaration of "independence" of the Transkei and declares it invalid.
A press release by theAfrican National Congress at the time rejected the Transkei's independence and condemned it as "designed to consolidate the inhuman policies ofapartheid".[10] During its thirty-first session, in resolution A/RES/31/6 A, theGeneral Assembly of the United Nations referred to Transkei's "sham independence" as "invalid," re-iterated its labelling of South Africa as a "racist régime," and called upon "all [g]overnments to deny any form of recognition to the so-called independent Transkei."[9] An article published inTime Magazine opined that, though Transkei declared independence theoretically as a "free black state", Matanzima ruled as the dictator of aone-party state. He banned local opposition parties and bought, for himself and his family, farmlands offered by the South African government at subsidised prices.[11]
Matanzima publishedIndependence my Way in 1976, a book in which he argued that true liberation could only be gained through a confederation of black states; he described Transkei as a positive precedent and maintained that the liberation struggle chosen by theAfrican National Congress would not be successful.[12]
TheUnited Nations Security Council supported moves not to recognise Transkei, and, inResolution 402 (1976), condemned moves by South Africa to pressureLesotho to recognise Transkei by closing its borders with the country.
Throughout its existence, Transkei's economy remained dependent onthat of its larger neighbour, with the local population being recruited as workers into South Africa'sRand mines.[13]
Because of a territorial dispute,[14] Matanzima announced on 10 April 1978 that Transkei would break all diplomatic ties with South Africa,[15] including a unilateral withdrawal from thenon-aggression pact between the two governments, and ordered that allSouth African Defence Force members seconded to theTranskei Defence Force should leave. This created the unique situation of a country refusing to deal with the only internationally recognised nation it was recognised by. Matanzima soon backed down in the face of Transkei's dependence on South African economic aid.
During his rule, Matanzima arrested state officials and journalists at will; in late 1979, he detained the head of the newly formedDemocratic Progressive Party,Sabata Dalindyebo, king of theThembu people and vocal opponent of apartheid, for violating the dignity and injuring the reputation of the president.[16] Dalindyebo went into exile inZambia, a move that marked the end ofofficial opposition politics in Transkei,[5] and in the 1981 election, the rulingTranskei National Independence Party was re-elected, gaining 100% of all open seats.[17]
On 20 February 1986, faced with South African evidence of corruption, Matanzima was forced to retire as president. He was succeeded by his brotherGeorge. Kaiser Matanzima was still described as Transkei's effective leader for a time,[18] but soon the two fell out and Kaiser was temporarily detained in the Transkei gaols in 1987; upon release, he was restricted toQamata.
In 1987, Transkei, a larger, wealthier and more populous entity, had long sought the annexation of Ciskei, and had undertaken a series of military raids on Ciskei.[19][20] This included an attack on leader Lennox Sebe's compound, with the apparent goal of taking him hostage, in order to force a merger of the two Bantustans.[21] The South African government intervened to warn the Transkei government off.[19]
GeneralBantu Holomisa of theTranskei Defence Force forced the resignation andexile of Prime MinisterGeorge Matanzima in October 1987[22][23] and then overthrew Matanzima's successor,Prime MinisterStella Sigcau ina bloodless coup d'état[24] in December 1987. Holomisa became the Head of State,[25] and the Transkei was from that point onwards effectively in (often uneasy) alliance with the African National Congress and provided a relatively safe area for the ANC's activities. In 1990, Holomisa himself evaded a failed attempt to be ousted from his post, and when asked about the fate of his opponents, he claimed that they had died in the ensuing battles withTDF soldiers.[26] It was later found that those deemed responsible for the foiled coup had only suffered minor injuries, but were subsequently executed without trial.[27]
The Transkei government was a participant in theCODESA negotiations for a new South Africa. The territory was reincorporated into South Africa on 27 April 1994, and the area became part of theEastern Cape province.
The Transkei Penal Code, 1983 still applies between theKei River and the border withKwaZulu-Natal, and persons who are charged with crimes in that area are prosecuted under the code.[28]
| Party | Years |
|---|---|
| Democratic Party (DP) | 1976–1979 |
| Transkei National Independence Party (TNIP) | 1976–1987 |
| New Democratic Party (NDP) | 1976–1979 |
| Transkei People's Freedom Party (TPFP) | 1976–1979 |
| Transkei National Progressive Party (TNPP) | 1978–1979 |
| Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) | 1979–1980 |
Nominally, the Republic of Transkei was aparliamentary democracy that allowed for amulti-party system. During its existence, six parties registered to compete in elections at different points of its history.[5] Until the military coup of 1987, the Transkei National Independence Party remained the ruling party, while the Transkei People's Freedom Party constituted the official opposition. Because its founder, Cromwell Diko, was a former member of the ruling party, and due to its continued support of President Matanzima's policies, there is a widely held belief that it was actually initiated by Matanzima himself to give the impression of free elections when in fact there were none.[5] Other parties that existed never gained any representation in parliament.
According to the Constitution of Transkei, parliament consisted of the president in joint session with the National Assembly and its laws and legislative decisions were immune to judicial review.[29] Seventy-five of its members were elected by popular vote from the various districts Transkei's territory was divided into. The remaining members were unelected Paramount Chiefs and ex officio chiefs whose number per district was enshrined in the constitution.[30]
With the establishment of the republic, the citizenry consisted of all those who had been holding the citizenship of the former territory of Transkei. Individuals were given no choice in this matter as the Transkeian constitution was a legally binding act; for the future, it provided citizenship regulations based on bothjus sanguinis andjus soli. Citizenship by descent was given along thepaternal line, regardless of a person's place of birth; in addition, any individual born within the republic's territory was eligible for citizenship, excluding those whose father held diplomatic immunity or was deemed an illegal immigrant and whose mother was a non-citizen.[31] Dual citizenship at birth was not permitted, and renunciation of one's citizenship was legally possible, but rendered the individual stateless in most cases. In effect, the regulations thus created an almost homogeneous population of Xhosa ethnicity, though exceptions existed.
The flag of Transkei is atriband. The colours are (from the top down)ochre red,white, andgreen.[32]
The Transkei consisted of three disconnected sections with a total area covering 45,000 km2 (17,000 sq mi).[33] The large main section was bordered by the Umtamvuna River in the north and theGreat Kei River in the south. TheIndian Ocean and theDrakensberg mountain range, including parts of the landlocked kingdom ofLesotho, served as the eastern and western frontiers. A further two small sections occurred as landlocked isolates within South Africa. One of these was in the north-west, along theOrange River adjoining south-western Lesotho, and the other in theuMzimkhulu area to the east, each reflecting colonially designated tribal areas where Xhosa speaking peoples predominated. A large portion of the area was mountainous and not suitable for agriculture.[34]
The territorial dispute withSouth Africa that led to the break in relations was a patch of territory called East Griqualand (which was situated between the main and eastern segments of Transkei with its northern limit at theLesotho border). South Africa putEast Griqualand under the jurisdiction of the Cape Province instead of Transkei, thus making it anexclave of theCape Province.[35]
The majority of the population wasXhosa-speaking, and according to theConstitution of the Republic of Transkei, Xhosa was the sole official language, but laws had to be translated intoSotho and English in order for them to come into effect, andAfrikaans was permissible in court proceedings and for other administrative purposes.[36] In addition, many thousands of northern Transkei residents spoke a small hybridNguni–Sotho language, calledPhuthi.[a]
Conflicting data exist about the number of inhabitants. According to theSouth African Encyclopaedia, the total population of the Transkei increased from 2,487,000 to 3,005,000 between 1960 and 1970.[37] An estimate of 1982 puts the number at about 2.3 million, with approximately 400,000 citizens residing permanently outside the territory's borders. Fewer than 10,000 individuals were of European descent, and the urbanisation-rate for the entire population was around 5%.[33]
TheTranskei Defence Force (TDF) was formed in October 1976 and numbered about 2,000, including one infantry battalion and an air wing with two light transporters and two helicopters.[38] By 1993, the number of troops had risen to 4,000.[39] Initial training was provided by theSouth African Defence Force,[40] and despite its diplomatic isolation, the government of Transkei received advice from and collaborated with Israeli counterinsurgency experts.[41]Armscor/Krygkor was its main supplier of weaponry.
After breaking all diplomatic ties with South Africa, President Matanzima announced construction-plans for an international airport by an unnamed French consortium in order for "arms and troops from other countries" to be brought into Transkei without touching South African soil, but did not elaborate on where those resources would originate.[42]
During its last days in 1994, theTranskei Police had 4,993 police officers, operating from 61 police stations throughout the territory.[43]
With the dissolution of Transkei in 1994, theTDF and theTranskei Police were incorporated into theSouth African National Defence Force and theSouth African Police Service, respectively.
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![Coat of arms[1] of Transkei](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aCoat_of_arms_of_Transkei_2.svg)
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