Pondoland EmaMpondweni | |
|---|---|
Natural region | |
 Landscape in Mpondoland | |
 Old map of the Eastern Cape, showing Mpondoland (highlighted) | |
| Country | South Africa |
Pondoland orMpondoland (Mpondo:EmaMpondweni), is anatural region on theSouth African shores of theIndian Ocean. It is located in the coastal belt of theEastern Cape province.[1] Its territory is the former Mpondo Kingdom of the Mpondo people.
Mpondoland stretches between theMthatha River, whosemouth is its southernmost point, and theMtamvuna River in the north along a coastal strip that is not more than 50 km wide.[2] TheMzimvubu River divides Mpondoland into an eastern and a western region.
It is amountainous area whose mainvegetation consists inthornveld, grassland, as well assubtropical evergreen forests in the humidcoastal valleys.
| Mpondo sub-group | |
|---|---|
| Person | umMpondo |
| People | amaMpondo |
| Language | isiMpondo |
| Country | emaMpondweni |
TheKhoikhoi andSan people had inhabited the region since ancient times in scattered nomadic groups. About 500 AD the Xhosa speaking Ngunis settled in the area, for the mountain grasslands were a good resource for cattle-rearing. Geographically Mpondoland was a remote area, not strongly affected by the events in the rest of Southern Africa. During the centuries of European navigation on theIndian Ocean,Portuguese ships, as well as ships from other colonial empires (such as theGrosvenor) ran aground at different spots of the coast of Mpondoland. Some of the castaways stayed in Mpondoland and were later absorbed into Mpondo communities. The Mpondo clan of abeLungu traces its ancestry to a castaway English girl namedBessie who married the son of Mpondo Chief Mathayi of the amaTshomane.[3]
In 1820, Mpondo KingFaku granted permission to theWesleyans to establish amission within his territory. A few decades later someGerman settlers came to Mpondoland and by 1885 German lieutenantEmil Nagel tried to establish aGerman colony, an effort that was unsuccessful. In 1886 theBritish annexedXesibeland, traditionally part of the Mpondo Kingdom, and armed Mpondo people resisted the move by invading the territory, burningkraals and causing disorder.[4] The segregation of Xesibeland was a first step prior to its annexation to theCape Colony at the end of the same year.[5] Finally Mpondoland as well became a British protectorate and in 1894 the amaMpondo were forced to accept the annexation of their own region to theCape Colony.[6]
The implementation ofApartheid legislation in the form of the1951 Bantu Authorities Act led to thePondo Revolt in 1960. After the quelling of the revolt, Mpondoland was made part of theTranskei homeland in 1963, which in turn became a nominally-independentbantustan in 1976. Finally the region, along with the other areas that were part of Transkei, was reincorporated into South Africa in 1994.[7]
In recent times (circa 2010) the name of this traditional region of the Mpondo people has been revived for theMaputaland-Pondoland-Albany Hotspotbiodiversity hotspot, theMaputaland-Pondoland bushland and thickets, one of theecoregions of South Africa, and for thePondoland Centre of Plant Endemism.[8] It is also found in scientific works, as well as in the naming of species, such as thePondoland palm (Jubaeopsis afra), the Pondoland ghost bush (Raspalia trigyna), the Pondoland conebush (Leucadendron pondoense), thePondoland widow (Dira oxylus) and thePondoland cannibal snail (Natalina beyrichi).[9]