Transkei

Republic of Transkei
iRiphabliki yeTranskei
1976–1994
Coat of arms[1] of Transkei
Coat of arms[1]
Motto: iMbumba yaManyama
Xhosa: Unity is Strength
Anthem: Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika[2]
Xhosa: God Bless Africa
Location of Transkei (red) within South Africa (yellow).
Location of Transkei (red) within South Africa (yellow).
StatusBantustan
(de facto; independence not internationally recognised)
CapitalUmtata
Common languagesXhosa (official)
Sesotho and English translations required for laws to come into effect
Afrikaans allowed in administration and judiciary¹
Leader 
• 1976–1986
Chief Kaiser Daliwonga Matanzima
(Nominal parliamentary democracy, effective one-party rule)
• 1987–1994
Bantu Holomisa
(Military rule)
LegislatureParliament
• Parliament
President plus National Assembly
(Immune to judicial review
• National Assembly
Paramount Chiefs
70 District Chiefs
75 elected MPs³
History 
• Self-government
30 May 1963
• Nominal independence
26 October 1976
• Break of diplomatic ties
1978
1987
• Foiled coup d'état
1990
• Dissolution
27 April 1994
Area
1980[3]43,798 km2 (16,911 sq mi)
Population
• 1980[3]
2,323,650
CurrencySouth African rand
Preceded by
Succeeded by
South Africa
South Africa
1. Constitution of the Republic of Transkei 1976, Chapter 3, 16/Chapter 5, 41
2. Constitution of the Republic of Transkei, Chapter 5, 24(4): "No court of law shall be competent to inquire into or to pronounce upon the validity of any Act."
3. 28 electoral divisions; number of MPs per division in proportion to number of registered voters per division; at least one MP each

Transkei (/trænˈsk, trɑːn-, -ˈsk/ tran-SKAY, TRAHN-, -⁠SKY, meaning the area beyond [the river] Kei), officially the Republic of Transkei (Xhosa: iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Bantustan for the Xhosa people, and operated as a nominally independent parliamentary democracy. Its capital was Umtata (renamed Mthatha in 2004).[4]

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 province.

  1. ^ Republic of Transkei Constitution Act, 1976.
  2. ^ "Ciskei – nationalanthems.info".
  3. ^ Sally Frankental; Owen Sichone (1 January 2005). South Africa's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook. ABC-CLIO. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-57607-674-3. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  4. ^ Constitution of the Republic of Transkei, Chapter 1, 1(2) (PDF), archived (PDF) from the original on 21 July 2010, retrieved 11 July 2009