Qaqambile Matanzima (15 December 1949 – 5 August 2013) was a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

politician and tribal leader. Matanzima had served as a colonel in the former Transkei Defence Force (TDF), the military force the Republic of Transkei, a de facto independent

Bantustan A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (now N ...

which existed from 1976 to 1994. After

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ban ...

was reincorporated into South Africa, Matanzima joined the

South African National Defence Force The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) comprises the Military, armed forces of South Africa. The commander of the SANDF is appointed by the President of South Africa from one of the Military branch, armed services. They are in turn a ...

(SANDF), leaving the military as a colonel in 1996. He was nicknamed "Big Q."

Biography

Born on 15 December 1949, Matanzima was one of the four sons of

George Matanzima Chief George Mzimvubu Mathanzima (26 December 1918 in Qamata – 10 November 2000) was a leader of the Transkei bantustan in South Africa, a young brother of Kaiser Matanzima and a nephew of Nelson Mandela. He and his brother, Kaiser co-founded ...

(1918-2000). His father would later become the

Prime Minister of Transkei This article lists the leaders of the TBVC states, the four Bantustans which were declared nominally independent by the government of the Republic of South Africa during the period of apartheid, which lasted from 1948 to 1994. Their independenc ...

and the leader of the now defunct

Transkei National Independence Party The Transkei National Independence Party (TNIP) was a political party in the nominally independent South African homeland of Transkei. It was founded by the Matanzima brothers, Kaiser and George. The party advocated cooperation with the South Afr ...

Career

Qaqambile Matanzima began his career as a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

at the Mncuncuzo Junior Secondary in

Cofimvaba Cofimvaba is a town in Chris Hani District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The village is 79 km east of Queenstown on the route to Butterworth, in Thembuland. Probably named after the nearby stream which, after r ...

. He then joined the

Transkei Defence Force The Transkei Defence Force (TDF) was established during March 1981, from the 141 Battalion of the South African Defence Force (SADF). It was the defence force of the Republic of Transkei, a nominally independent bantustan during the Apartheid er ...

(TDF) when he was 36 years old in 1975, shortly before

was declared independent by South Africa. He achieved the rank of colonel in the TDF. In 1986 and 1987, Transki Prime Minister

and several other Transkei politicians were implicated in a scandal over the

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

of funding originally intended for a housing project. Under pressure from South Africa to resolve the crisis, the Transkei Defence Force served papers on 3 September 1987, ordering Prime Minister George Mathanzima and six Transkei cabinet minister to reign from office. Prime Minister Mathanzima and the six ministers resigned from office on 2 October 1987, completing the military coup. Qaqambile Matanzima, a colonel within the TDF at the time, sided with the military during the takeover. Qaqambile Matanzima was among the senior members of the Transkei military who planned the removal of his father from office. He did not alert his father or his father's political allies of the military's plans. In 2013, following Qaqambile Matanzima's death, the President of the

United Democratic Movement The United Democratic Movement (UDM) is a centre-left, social-democratic, South African political party, formed by a prominent former National Party leader, Roelf Meyer (who has since resigned from the UDM), a former African National Congress ...

Bantu Holomisa Bantubonke Harrington Holomisa (born 25 July 1955) is a South African Member of Parliament and President of the United Democratic Movement. Holomisa was born in Mqanduli, Cape Province. He joined the Transkei Defence Force in 1976 and had beco ...

, a former Transkei Defence Force officer who led the 1987

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...

s, recalled Qaqambile Matanzima's support for the 1987 ouster of the Prime Minister, noting that Matanzima had to choose between his family and the military. Holomisa told reporters, "He was part of the senior military officers who planned a coup to remove his own father, George Matanzima, who was prime minister at the time...He showed great loyalty to the military. He did not even tip-off his father. He was part of those who wanted to uproot fraud and corruption and ensure clean governance in the Transkei government. This is great loss." Matanzima's father, former Prime Minister George Matanzima, fled into exile in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

before returning to South Africa, where he served three years in prison before being pardoned. The Transkei Defence Force was dissolved in 1994 when Transkei was reincorporated into South Africa. Qaqambile Matanzima achieved the rank of colonel in the

(SANDF) before leaving the military in 1996. Matanzima became the leader of the Mtshanyane Traditional Council, as well as a senior traditional leader, in 2000. He was also a member of the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders from 2003 until his death in 2013. On 5 August 2013 Matanzima, who was en route to a meeting in

Bhisho Bhisho (formerly Bisho) is the capital of the Eastern Cape province in South Africa. The Office of the Premier, Provincial Legislature and many other government departments are headquartered in the town. The town, three kilometres from Qonce and ...

, picked up a man pretending to be a

hitchhiker Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads have ...

Stutterheim Stutterheim is a town with a population of 46,730 in South Africa, situated in the Border region of the Eastern Cape province. It is named after Richard Von Stutterheim. History The area's earliest human population were Bushmen. Khoikhoi groups r ...

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

. Matanzuma was stabbed by the man during an attempted carjacking and robbery, which took place on the N8 road approximately 10 km from Stutterheim. Qaqambile Matanzima was taken to hospital, where he died of his injuries the same day. He was survived by his wife, Nozolile, and five children. He was buried at the Mtshanyane Great Place in Cofimvaba on 11 August 2013. Qaqambile Matanzima was former Transkei Prime Minister George Matanzima's last surviving son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matanzima, Qaqambile 1949 births 2013 deaths Transkei South African military personnel South African politicians People murdered in South Africa South African murder victims People from the Eastern Cape