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 Ciskei (, or ) was a Bantustan for the Xhosa people-located in the southeast of South Africa. It covered an area of , almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province, and possessed a small coastline along the shore of the Indian O ...

, a Bantustan for the Xhosa people—and operated as a nominally independent parliamentary democracy. Its capital was Umtata (renamed Mthatha in 2004). Transkei represented a significant precedent and historic turning point in South Africa's policy of apartheid and "separate development"; it was the first of four territories to be declared independent of South Africa. Throughout its existence, it remained an internationally unrecognised, diplomatically isolated, politically unstable '' de facto'' one-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 the

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 ...

province.

History

Establishment

The South African government set up the area as one of the two ''homelands'' for Xhosa-speaking people in Cape Province, the other being

; it was given nominal autonomy by Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd in 1963. Although the first election was contested and won by the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, whose founder Chief

Victor Poto The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

was opposed to the notion of Bantustan independence, the government was formed by the

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 ...

. Of the 109 members in the regional parliament, 45 were elected and 64 were held by

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

chiefs. The entity became a nominally independent state in 1976 with its capital at Umtata (now Mthatha), although it was recognised only by South Africa and later by the other nominally independent republics within the TBVC-system. Chief Kaiser Daliwonga Matanzima was Transkei's Prime Minister until 1979, when he assumed the office of President, a position he held until 1986.

International reaction

South African prime minister

B. J. Vorster Balthazar Johannes "B. J." Vorster (; also known as John Vorster; 13 December 1915 – 10 September 1983) was a South African apartheid politician who served as the prime minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and the fourth state presid ...

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." A press release by the African National Congress at the time rejected the Transkei's independence and condemned it as "designed to consolidate the inhuman policies of apartheid". During its thirty-first session, in resolution A/RES/31/6 A, the General Assembly of the United Nations referred to Transkei's "sham independence" as "invalid," re-iterated its labeling of South Africa as a "racist régime," and called upon "all vernments to deny any form of recognition to the so-called independent Transkei." An article published in '' Time Magazine'' opined that though Transkei declared independence theoretically as a "free Black state", Matanzima ruled as the dictator of a one-party state. He banned local opposition parties and bought farmlands for himself and his family offered by the South African government at subsidised prices. Matanzima published ''Independence 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 the African National Congress would not be successful. The United Nations Security Council supported moves not to recognise Transkei, and in Resolution 402 (1976) condemned moves by South Africa to pressure

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

to recognise Transkei by closing its borders with the country.

Troubled existence

Throughout its existence, Transkei's economy remained dependent on that of its larger neighbour, with the local population being recruited as workers into South Africa's Rand mines. Because of a territorial dispute, Matanzima announced on 10 April 1978 that Transkei would break all diplomatic ties with South Africa, including a unilateral withdrawal from the non-aggression pact between the two governments, and ordered that all South African Defence Force members seconded to the Transkei 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 formed ''

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...

'', Sabata Dalindyebo, king of the Thembu people and vocal opponent of apartheid, for violating the dignity and injuring the reputation of the president. Dalindyebo went into exile in Zambia, a move that marked the end of official opposition politics in Transkei, and in the 1981 election, the ruling ''Transkei National Independence Party'' was re-elected, gaining 100% of all open seats. On 20 February 1986, faced with South African evidence of corruption, Matanzima was forced to retire as president. He was succeeded by his brother George. Kaiser Matanzima was still described as Transkei's effective leader for a time, but soon the two fell out and Kaiser was temporarily detained in the Transkei gaols in 1987; upon release, he was restricted to

Qamata Qamata is the most prominent God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford Univer ...

. In 1987, Transkei, a larger, wealthier and more populous entity, which had long sought the annexation of Ciskei, and had undertaken a series of military raids on Ciskei. 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. The South African government intervened to warn the Transkei government off. General Bantu Holomisa of the Transkei Defence Force forced the resignation and

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

of Prime Minister George Matanzima in October 1987 and then overthrew Matanzima's successor, Prime Minister Stella Sigcau in a bloodless coup d'état in December 1987. Holomisa became the Head of State, 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 with ''TDF'' soldiers. It was later found that those deemed responsible for the foiled coup had only suffered minor injuries, but were subsequently executed without trial.

Dissolution

The Transkei government was a participant in the CODESA negotiations for a new South Africa. The territory was reincorporated into South Africa on 27 April 1994, and the area became part of the

province. The Transkei Penal Code, 1983 still applies between the

Kei River The Great Kei River is a river in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Black Kei River and White Kei River, northeast of Cathcart. It flows for and ends in the Great Kei Estuary at the Indian Ocean wi ...

and the border with

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

, and persons who are charged with crimes in that area are prosecuted under the code.

Government and politics

Nominally, the Republic of Transkei was a parliamentary democracy which allowed for a multi-party system. During its existence, six parties registered to compete in elections at different points of its history. Until the military coup of 1987, the ''TNIP'' 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. Other parties that existed never did gain 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. 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.

Citizenship

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 both ''

jus sanguinis ( , , ; 'right of blood') is a principle of nationality law by which citizenship is determined or acquired by the nationality or ethnicity of one or both parents. Children at birth may be citizens of a particular state if either or both of t ...

'' and ''

jus soli ''Jus soli'' ( , , ; meaning "right of soil"), commonly referred to as birthright citizenship, is the right of anyone born in the territory of a state to nationality or citizenship. ''Jus soli'' was part of the English common law, in contras ...

''. Citizenship by descent was given along the

paternal line Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

, 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. 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.

Flag

The flag of Transkei is a triband. The colours are (from the top down) ochre red, white, and green.

Geography and demographics

The Transkei consisted of three disconnected sections with a total area covering . The large main section was bordered by the Umtamvuna River in the north and the

Great Kei River The Great Kei River is a river in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Black Kei River and White Kei River, northeast of Cathcart. It flows for and ends in the Great Kei Estuary at the Indian Ocean wi ...

in the south. The Indian Ocean and the Drakensberg mountain range, including parts of the landlocked kingdom of

, 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 the Orange River adjoining south-western Lesotho, and the other in the

uMzimkhulu Umzimkhulu is a town in Harry Gwala District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The town lies 243 km north-east of Mthatha and 18 km south-west of Ixopo. It developed from a trading-post and was laid out in 188 ...

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. The territorial dispute with South 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 the

border). South Africa put East Griqualand under the jurisdiction of the Cape Province instead of Transkei, thus making it an

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of the Cape Province. The majority of the population was Xhosa-speaking, and according to the ''Constitution of the Republic of Transkei,'' Xhosa was the sole official language, but laws had to be translated into

Sotho Sotho may refer to: *Sotho people (or ''Basotho''), an African ethnic group principally resident in South Africa, Lesotho and southern Botswana * Sotho language (''Sesotho'' or ''Southern Sotho''), a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa, an off ...

and English in order for them to come into effect, and Afrikaans was permissible in court proceedings and for other administrative purposes. In addition, many thousands of northern Transkei residents spoke a small hybrid Nguni–

language, called Phuthi. Conflicting data exist about the number of inhabitants. According to the ''South African Encyclopaedia,'' the total population of the Transkei increased from 2,487,000 to 3,005,000 between 1960 and 1970. 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%.

Security forces

The ''Transkei 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. By 1993, the number of troops had risen to 4,000. Initial training was provided by the South African Defence Force, and despite its diplomatic isolation, the government of Transkei received advice from and collaborated with Israeli counterinsurgency experts. 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. During its last days in 1994, the '' Transkei Police'' had 4,993 police officers, operating from 61 police stations throughout the territory. With the dissolution of Transkei in 1994, the ''TDF'' and the ''Transkei Police'' were incorporated into the South African National Defence Force and the South African Police Service, respectively.

Notable persons

* Donald Woods, journalist and

anti-apartheid activist The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid, apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-White population who were persecuted by ...

was born in Transkei *

D. G. M. Wood-Gush Professor David Grainger Marcus Wood-Gush FRSE (20 November 1922 – 1 December 1992) was a South African-born animal geneticist and ethologist based for most of his professional life in Edinburgh. He was an expert on animal behaviour and acade ...

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

expert on

animal behaviour Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objectiv ...

and father of "Free-range" farming born and raised in Transkei *

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

, former president of the ANC and

President of South Africa The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African Nationa ...

1994–1999 *

Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC) ...

, Co-Deputy President of South Africa 1994–1996, Deputy President of South Africa 1996–1999, President of South Africa 1999–2008 * Govan Archibald Mvuyelwa Mbeki, former South African politician and leader of the ANC and

SACP The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by the governing Na ...

Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (18 May 1912 – 5 May 2003) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC Deputy President (1991–1994), h ...

, former South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the ANC * Ashby Solomzi Peter Mda, former political activist and member of

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Military * Rapid Deployment Force (Malaysia), an armed forces unit * Patriot Advanced Capability, of the MIM-104 Patriot missile * Civil Defense Patrols (''Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil''), Guatemalan militia and paramili ...

* Clarence Mlami Makwetu, former political activist and member of PAC *

Vuyisile Mini Vuyisile Mini (8 April 1920 – 6 November 1964) was a unionist, Umkhonto we Sizwe activist, singer and one of the first African National Congress members to be executed by apartheid South Africa. Early life Mini was born in 1920 in Tsomo i ...

, former anti-apartheid activist and member of the ANC *

Robert Resha Robert Resha (1920-1974) was a South African journalist and political dissident. He served in the African National Congress as a member of the Youth League and the National Executive Committee. Early life Robert Resha was born in Bolotwe in ...

, former anti-apartheid activist and member of the ANC *

Alfred Bitini Xuma Alfred Bathini Xuma, OLG, commonly referred to by his initials as AB Xuma (8 March 1893 – 27 January 1962), was the first black South African to become a medical doctor, as well as a leader, activist and president-general of the African Nation ...

, former ANC president 1940–1949 * Oscar Mafakafaka Mpetha, former anti-apartheid activist, unionist and member of the ANC * Vusumzi L. Make, former political activist and member of PAC * John Nyathi "Poks" Pokela former political activist and member of PAC *

Mapetla Mohapi Mapetla Mohapi was a member of the Black Consciousness Movement, who died in detention during Apartheid in 1976. Early life and education Mohapi was born in the rural village of Jozanashoek in Sterkspruit (former Transkei) on 2 September 1947. ...

, member of the Black Consciousness Movement *Chief

Kaiser Daliwonga Matanzima King Kaiser Daliwonga Mathanzima, misspelled Matanzima (15 June 1915 – 15 June 2003), was the long-term leader of Transkei. In 1950, when South Africa was offered to establish the Bantu Authorities Act, Matanzima convinced the Bunga to accep ...

, former Transkei's first and longest-serving president until 1986 *Chief George Mzivubu Mathanzima, former Transkei's Prime Minister * Bantu Holomisa, former Chief of Staff of the Transkei Defense Force 1985–1987, last Transkei's Head of State 1987–1994, South African Member of Parliament, 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 ...

Oliver Tambo Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo (27 October 191724 April 1993) was a South African anti-apartheid politician and revolutionary who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991. Biography Higher education Oliv ...

, former president of the ANC 1967–1991 * Chris Hani, former South African Communist Party General Secretary. * Botha Sigcau, former Transkei's President * Stella Sigcau, former Transkei Prime Minister and minister of public enterprises. * Sabelo Phama (Victor Gqwetha), former Azanian People's Liberation Army Commander and Pan Africanist Congress of Azania Member