Lebowa

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Flag of Lebova
Lebowa's location in South Africa

Lebowa was a homeland in northeastern South Africa . It consisted of eight areas. Lebowa was intended for the Pedi . The capital was first Seshego , then Lebowakgomo .

The word Lebowa comes from North Sotho and means north .

geography

Lebowa consisted of two large and six small, non-contiguous areas that were in the northeast of what was then the Transvaal Province . The total area was 21,833 km². In 1992, 2,924,584 people lived there.

  • The largest area was south of what was then Pietersburg, now Polokwane . The newly built capital Lebowakgomo was located there. This area was characterized by the river Lepelle and the Strydpoortberge and the northernmost foothills of the Drakensberg . The area bordered KwaNdebele to the south and Gazankulu to the northeast .
  • The second large area was northwest of it. In addition to Seshego near Pietersburg, there was the former township Mahwelereng near the former Potgietersrus (today Mokopane). The highest mountain in the area is Blouberg, 2,051 meters above sea level . The rest of the country was around 1,000 to 1,500 meters high. The area bordered no other homelands.
  • A small area was west of Soekmekaar . The sand flowed through the area.
  • To the east of Soutmekaar was a fourth area, which bordered on the north with Venda and on the east with Gazankulu.
  • To the east of it was an area in which the city of Gakgapane lay and which bordered Gazankulu to the north, east and south.
  • To the southeast was a small area with the town of Namakgale , which bordered Gazankulu to the north. Nearby was Phalaborwa , the gateway to the Kruger National Park .
  • To the south and east of the first-mentioned area was an area with the village of Shatale, which bordered Gazankulu to the east.
  • Immediately south of it was another area. The two areas touched at one point.

history

Territorial Authority

Lebowa was created in August 1969 and given a territorial authority. Mokgama Maurice Matlala, who later belonged to the Lebowa National Party , founded in 1973 , was the first Chief Councilor of the Lebowa Territorial Authority (German: "Council Chairman of the Lebowa Territorial Authority "). From 1973 until his death in 1987 Cedric Phatudi ruled the homeland with the Lebowa People's Party, which he influenced . He was followed in office by the previous Minister of Economics and Planning, Mogoboya Noko Ramodike , who was elected to this position on October 21, 1987 by the Lebowa Legislative Assembly .

Self-governing status

At the end of September 1972, the South African Minister of Bantu Administration and Development submitted a draft plan to the authorities to consolidate some homelands (Lebowa, Venda, Gazankulu, Swazi). To this end, public meetings were held in the affected areas in November. Existing parties and political groups were given the opportunity to comment. After revising the concepts, the Ministry published the final plan in April 1973. In essence, it was about the respective territorial delimitation of the future homelands. The previous Lebowa reserve was reduced from 15 to 5 separate areas.

On October 2, 1972, the homeland was granted extensive self-government within the Republic of South Africa on the basis of Proclamations 224, 225, 226 of September 29. The first elections in Lebowa took place in April 1973. Matlala was Chief Minister (German roughly: "Supreme Minister"). The seat of government was Seshego until Lebowakgomo was completed as the new capital in the 1980s. On May 8, 1973, Cedric Namedi Phatudi of the Lebowa People's Party (LPP) Chief Minister and remained there until his death on October 7, 1987. Temporary Administrator for three weeks was ZT Seleki (LPP), the function of Mogoboya Noko Ramodike (LPP) handed over. Ramodike held the title of Prime Minister from 1989.

Reintegration

On April 27, 1994 Lebowa was reunited with South Africa along with the nine other homelands. Today Lebowa is part of the Limpopo provinces and - the last two areas listed above - Mpumalanga .

Demographics

Around 1.8 million North Sotho- speaking members of the Pedi ethnic group (also: North Sotho) lived in Lebowa . Another 1.1 million pedi lived outside the homeland in 1989. Numerous Ndebele , Batswana and Shangana-Tsonga also lived in Lebowa .

economy

In the two large areas, asbestos , nickel ore , precious stones and some gold were extracted by mining. The agricultural economy produced mainly tropical fruits . A large part of the then gross national product was achieved outside Lebowa by migrant workers .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Website of the South African Police ( Memento of August 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on November 27, 2015.
  2. ^ SAIRR: Race Relations Survey 1987/88 . Johannesburg 1988, p. 928
  3. ↑ Muriel Horrell: The African Homelands of South Africa . Johannesburg 1973. pp. 28-29.
  4. ↑ Muriel Horrell: The African Homelands of South Africa . Johannesburg 1973. pp. 59-60.
  5. ↑ Ben Cahoon: Former Black Homelands (Bantustans). Lebowa . at www.worldstatesmen.org, accessed March 22, 2010.