QwaQwa

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Flag of QwaQwas
Location of QwaQwas in South Africa

QwaQwa (pronunciation: ˈǃwɑǃwɑ ), previously Witzieshoek area, KwaKwa, Basotho ba Borwa and Basotho Qwaqwa , was a homeland in the east of the former South African province of Orange Free State . The township Phuthaditjhaba served as the administrative seat of the homeland .

Surname

The name QwaQwa comes from the San language and means whiter than white . He refers to the surrounding sandstone mountains of the Drakensberg .

geography

QwaQwa was in the Drakensberg, a little east of the northernmost point of Lesotho . It covered an area of ​​655 km², making it the smallest homeland. In the southwest it bordered Lesotho, in the southeast with the then province of Natal . The site is about 1,650 to 3,050 meters above sea level. The Elands River rises in the mountains of the former QwaQwa.

Apart from the main town there were no larger towns. Outside of QwaQwa, around 1,725,000 Basotho lived in South Africa in 1989.

history

Originally two Basotho tribes lived in the area, the Bakoena and the Batlokoa .

Development under European influence

The character as an indigenous reserve emerged after 1868 when the neighboring Basutoland became a British crown colony with the approval of Moshoeshoe I. Due to the low population density, there were only school facilities of the Dutch Reformed Mission ( Nederduitse Gereformeerde Sending ), which was active here after 1867. The Volksraad , the parliament of the Oranje-Vrijstaat Republiek , has provided financial support for the mission's school work in this area since 1878.

As a result of the Native Affairs Act No. 23 out of 1920, local councils were formed in some native reservations . The Witzieshoek board of management was functionally equivalent to these local councils.

Structural change in the agricultural society of Witzieshoek

In the 1940s the Witzieshoek hill country was declared a drinking water catchment area. To ensure long-term water quality, the indigenous population was encouraged to change their livelihoods, from livestock farming to taking up work in remote mines. These offers were accepted by a large number of the people living there. The advancing soil erosion as a result of intensive land use had been attempted with measures within the Betterment programs.

Between 1950 and 1951 riots occurred among the indigenous population in the Witzieshoek area . The triggering factors were further coercive measures to reduce the number of animals kept by government agencies. Since the second half of the 1940s , attempts had been made to slaughter large numbers of cattle from the herd of the indigenous population. These orders were initially ignored because they threatened the livelihood of the population who remained there. The increasing administrative pressure generated counter-reactions that resulted in an uprising .

According to statements made by the Minister for Bantu Administration and Development at a session of Parliament on February 27, 1968, several indigenous self-government bodies have been set up by his ministry, including two Tribal Authorities with the powers of Regional Authorities .

Territorial Authority

In 1969 the area that had previously belonged to the Orange Free State was declared a Bantustan (later Homeland ) KwaKwa by the South African government . In the same year the name was changed to Basotho ba Borwa (German: "South Basotho"), and in 1972 to Basotho QwaQwa . It was the only homeland intended for Basotho . Chief Councilor (German roughly: "Supreme Councilor") was Wessels Môta.

A Legislative Assembly ( Basotho-Qwaqwa Legislative Assembly ) was established in 1971 on the basis of Proclamation 225 of October 1st. It replaced the Basotho Ba Borwa Territorial Authority , which had previously acted administratively and was established in Witzieshoek in 1969 .

Self-governing status

With the Proclamation 112 of October 25, 1974, self-government was transferred to Homeland on November 1, 1974. It was named QwaQwa. The legislative assembly had 20 members. As a result, QwaQwa received financial support from South African government agencies.

In February 1975, Tsiame Kenneth Mopeli, who came from a family of chiefs, became Chief Minister (about: "Supreme Minister"). He belonged to the Dikwankwetla party and led QwaQwa until 1994. On December 3, 1987, the township of Botshabelo , which is around 200 kilometers south of Bloemfontein , became part of QwaQwas, so that its population almost doubled.

Reintegration

On April 27, 1994, QwaQwa was reunited with South Africa, along with the nine other homelands. In the national elections, the Dikwankwetla party received 0.1 percent of the vote. Today the area is part of the municipality of Maluti-a-Phofung in the Free State Province .

Demographics

More than 180,000 Basotho lived in QwaQwa, around 288,000 after the annexation of Botshabelo.

economy

Most of the residents practiced subsistence farming . The extraction of building materials, brickworks and the furniture industry played a certain economic role. Many residents had income from migrant labor in other parts of South Africa.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Muriel Horrell: The African Homelands of South Africa . SAIRR , Johannesburg 1973. pp. 4, 33, 36
  2. ^ Edward Roux: Land and Agriculture in the Native Reserves . In: Ellen Hellmann, Leah Abrahams (Ed.): Handbook on Race Relations in South Africa . Cape Town, London, New York, Oxford University Press, 1949. pp. 172, 181
  3. ^ Edgar PAW Cook: Non-European Education . In: Ellen Hellmann, Leah Abrahams (Ed.): Handbook on Race Relations in South Africa . Cape Town, London, New York, Oxford University Press, 1949. p. 353
  4. ^ Edgar H. Brookes: Government and Administration . In: Ellen Hellmann, Leah Abrahams (Ed.): Handbook on Race Relations in South Africa . Cape Town, London, New York, Oxford University Press, 1949. p. 36
  5. ^ Resistance and Banishment in Witzieshoek . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)
  6. ^ Union of South Africa. Commission of Inquiry into the Disturbances in the Witzieshoek Native Reserve: Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Disturbances in the Witzieshoek Native Reserve (Verslag van die Kommissie van Ondersoek na Onluste in die Witzieshoek Naturellereservaat) . 1951
  7. ^ Quintin Whyte , A. Eyles: Summary of the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Disturbance in the Witzieshoek Native Reserve . SAIRR , 1951
  8. ^ SAIRR : A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1968 . Johannesburg 1969, p. 145
  9. ↑ Horrell: Homelands , 1973, p. 61
  10. ^ SAIRR: Survey of Race Relations 1971 . 1972, p. 29
  11. ^ SAIRR: Survey of Race Relations 1969 . 1970, p. 128
  12. ^ SAIRR: Survey of Race Relations 1974 . 1975, p. 204
  13. ↑ Sheila Keeble (Ed.) SPP Kutumela, A. Booley: The Black Who's Who of Southern Africa Toda y. African Business Publ., Johannesburg 1979, 1st edition, p. 203
  14. ^ South African History Online : Chronicle of December 3, 1987 . at www.sahistory.org.za, accessed February 9, 2011
  15. ↑ Entry on britannica.com (English), accessed on March 5, 2010

Further work

  • Casper Hendrik Badenhorst: Witzieshoek: 'n projek vir state en kerk . Stellenbosch 1950 (Master thesis University of Stellenbosch )
  • GL Buys: The categetiese onderrig van die Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk in Africa, Oranje-Vrystaat, with special Verwysing na die gemeente van Witsieshoek . Stellenbosch 1973 (Master thesis University of Stellenbosch )
  • Hermanus Jacobus Kok: Witzieshoek: ontwikkelingsmoontlikhede van 'n Bantoereservaat . Pretoria 1965 (Master thesis University of Pretoria )
  • Isaiah Othniel Henry Mosebetsi Mapena: The Witzieshoek Native Reserve: description of the administration . Pretoria 1970 (Master thesis University of South Africa )