Tswanaland was a

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 ...

in South West Africa (present-day

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

), in the far central eastern area of the territory around the village of

Aminuis Aminuis is a cluster of small settlements in the remote eastern part of the Omaheke Region of Namibia, located about 500 km east of Windhoek. It is the district capital of the Aminuis electoral constituency. Economy and Infrastructure Ami ...

. It was intended by the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

government to be a self-governing homeland for the Tswana people. Unlike all other homelands, it was never implemented that way. The

Ovaherero The Herero ( hz, Ovaherero) are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa. There were an estimated 250,000 Herero people in Namibia in 2013. They speak Otjiherero, a Bantu language. Though the Herero primarily reside in Namibia, t ...

were allowed to stay in the area, and the Tswana remained a minority. Tswanaland nevertheless got an ethnic Tswana,

Constance Kgosiemang Constance Letang Kgosiemang (5 April 1946 – 16 August 2012) was the paramount chief of the Tswana people in Namibia, a parliamentarian, and the leader of the Seoposengwe Party until its merger into the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA). K ...

, as political leader between 1980 and 1989. Tswanaland and all other homelands in South West Africa were abolished in May 1989 at the start of the transition to independence. Aroams Oos in Tswanaland, Namibia (2017)

Aroams Oos in Tswanaland, Namibia (2017)

References

History of Namibia Bantustans in South West Africa States and territories established in 1980 States and territories disestablished in 1989 Tswana people {{Namibia-geo-stub

See also

References