KaNgwane

KaNgwane
1984–1994
Flag of KaNgwane
Flag
Coat of arms of KaNgwane
Coat of arms
Location of KaNgwane (red) within South Africa (yellow).
Location of KaNgwane (red) within South Africa (yellow).
StatusBantustan
CapitalLouieville (de jure)
Schoemansdal (de facto)
Common languagesSwazi
English
Afrikaans
History 
• Self-government
31 August 1984
• Re-integrated into South Africa
27 April 1994
Area
1980[1]3,000 km2 (1,200 sq mi)
Population
• 1980[1]
161,160
• 1991[2]
779,240
CurrencySouth African rand
Preceded by
Succeeded by
South Africa
South Africa

KaNgwane (Swazi: [kaˈŋɡwanɛ]) was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government to be a semi-independent homeland for the Swazi people. It was called the "Swazi Territorial Authority" from 1976 to 1977. In September 1977 it was renamed KaNgwane and received a legislative assembly. After a temporary suspension of its homeland status during 1982, the legislative assembly was restored in December 1982. KaNgwane was granted nominal self-rule in August 1984. Its capital was at Louieville. It was the least populous of the ten homelands, with an estimated 183,000 inhabitants. Unlike the other homelands in South Africa, KaNgwane did not adopt a distinctive flag of its own[3] but flew the national flag of South Africa.[4]

An attempt to transfer parts of the homeland, along with parts of the Zulu homeland KwaZulu, to the neighbouring country of Swaziland in 1982 was never realized.[5][6] This would have given land-locked Swaziland access to the sea. The deal was negotiated by the governments, but was met by popular opposition in the territory meant to be transferred.[7] The homeland's territory had been claimed by King Sobhuza of Swaziland as part of the Swazi monarchs' traditional realm, and the South African government hoped to use the homeland as a buffer zone against guerrilla infiltration from Mozambique. South Africa responded to the failure of the transfer by temporarily suspending the autonomy of KaNgwane, then restoring it in December 1982 and granting it nominal self-rule in 1984.[8][9]

KaNgwane ceased to exist on 27 April 1994 when the Interim Constitution dissolved the homelands and created new provinces. Its territory became part of the province of Mpumalanga.

  1. ^ Sally Frankental; Owen Sichone (2005-01-01). South Africa's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook. ABC-CLIO. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-57607-674-3. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference RSAdist was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Ally, Shireen (2017). "Material Remains: Artifice versus Artefact(s) in the Archive of Bantustan Rule". In Jensen, Steffen; Zenker, Olaf (eds.). South African Homelands as Frontiers: Apartheid's Loose Ends in the Postcolonial Era. Oxon: Routledge. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-317-21209-6.
  4. ^ "KaNgwane (South African homeland)".
  5. ^ Senftleben, Wolfgang (1984). "Swaziland's Proposed Land Deal with South AfricaThe Case of Ingwavuma and Kangwane". Verfassung und Recht in Übersee / Law and Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 17 (4): 493–501. JSTOR 43109383.
  6. ^ Griffiths, Ieuan Ll; Funnell, D. C. (1991). "The Abortive Swazi Land Deal". African Affairs. 90 (358): 51–64. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a098406. JSTOR 722639.
  7. ^ https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/blacksash/pdfs/cnf19830311.026.001.000b.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  8. ^ Dennis Austin. South Africa, 1984. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. 1985. p. 54.
  9. ^ Leroy Vail. The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa. California: University of California Press. 1989. pp. 310-316.