Ciskei ( , meaning on this side of [[Great Kei River|[the river] Kei]]), officially the Republic of Ciskei (), was a Bantustan for the Xhosa people, located in the southeast of South Africa. It covered an area of , almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province, and possessed a small coastline along the shore of the Indian Ocean.

Under South Africa's policy of apartheid, land was set aside for black peoples in self-governing territories. Ciskei was designated as one of two homelands, or "Bantustans", for Xhosa-speaking people.

Xhosa people were forcibly resettled in the Ciskei and Transkei, the other Xhosa homeland.

In contrast to the Transkei, which was largely contiguous and deeply rural, and governed by hereditary chiefs, the area that became the Ciskei had initially been made up of a patchwork of "reserves", interspersed with pockets of white-owned farms. In Ciskei, there were elected headmen and a relatively educated working-class populace, These differences have been posited as the reason for two separate homelands for the Xhosa people being developed, as well as the later nominal independence of Ciskei from South Africa, than Transkei.

After its creation, large numbers of blacks, in particular, "non-productive Bantus"—women with dependent children, the elderly, and the infirm—were expelled by the apartheid government from designated white areas in the Cape Province to Ciskei, and it was also treated as a reservoir of cheap black labour.

Ciskei had a succession of capitals during its existence. Originally, Zwelitsha served as the capital, with the view that Alice would become the long-term national capital. However, it was Bisho (now spelled Bhisho) that became the capital until Ciskei's reintegration into South Africa.

History

thumb|left|A Xhosa village in Ciskei

thumb|left|Map of Ciskei

By the time Sir John Cradock was appointed governor of the Cape Colony in 1811, the Zuurveld region had lapsed into disorder, and many white farmers had begun abandoning their farms. Early during 1812, on the instructions of the governor, Lieutenant-Colonel John Graham forced 20,000 Xhosa to cross the Fish River. Europeans gave the name Ciskei to the area to distinguish it from the Transkei, the area north of the Kei.

After the Union of South Africa formed in 1910, the "Bantu" rights of occupation remained unclear, and differed from colony to colony within South Africa. The Native Lands Act of 1913 demarcated the reserves in the Union, and made it illegal to sell or lease these lands to Europeans (except in the Cape Colony). This act effectively abolished the right of the Cape "Bantu" to buy land outside of the existing reserves. with the populations of the districts moving into the rest of Ciskei to retain their South African citizenship (which was subsequently lost when Ciskei became independent).—although Sebe later abandoned his anti-Fengu rhetoric.

In 1978, it became a single-party state under the rule of Sebe. In 1981, following an independence referendum in 1980, it became the fourth homeland to be declared independent by the South African government, and its residents lost their South African citizenship. However, there were no border controls between South Africa and Ciskei.

Black people who were found to be living without permits in white areas or farms in South Africa, often for generations, were forcibly relocated to Ciskei by apartheid authorities, generally from "black spots" in the neighbouring "white corridor", A 1983 study by Rhodes University found that 40% of the children in one camp suffered from wasting caused by malnutrition, and 10% suffered from kwashiorkor. Typhoid epidemics also broke out in the resettlement camps, which were often isolated, located far from urban areas, and lacked health facilities, sanitation, and schools.

In common with other Bantustans, its independence was not recognised by the international community. Sebe once claimed that the State of Israel had granted official recognition to Ciskei, but the Israeli Foreign Ministry denied this.

Ciskei–Transkei hostilities and Operation Katzen

In 1986 and 1987, Transkei, a larger, wealthier, and more populous entity, undertook a series of military raids on Ciskei, and attempted to seize control of Ciskei. One of these raids was an attack on leader Lennox Sebe's compound, with the apparent goal of taking him hostage, in order to force a merger of the two Bantustans. Transkei had previously granted sanctuary to Lennox Sebe's estranged brother, Charles, the former head of Ciskei's security forces, who had been imprisoned in Ciskei on charges of sedition, in addition to previously kidnapping Lennox Sebe's son. The South African government ostensibly intervened to warn the Transkei government off.

Coup d'état

In 1990, Brigadier Oupa Gqozo deposed Sebe and ruled as a dictator—despite an initial promise of a swift return to civilian rule. During 1991 and 1992, many of the legal foundations of apartheid in South Africa were removed, undermining the rationale for the homelands' continued existence. The African National Congress pressed strongly for them to be reincorporated into South Africa. This was opposed by Gqozo and the other homeland leaders.

Bisho massacre

On 7 September 1992, the Ciskei Defence Force fired into a crowd of ANC members (led by Ronnie Kasrils, Cyril Ramaphosa, and Chris Hani) who demanded the reincorporation of Ciskei into South Africa. 28 people were killed, and hundreds injured in the massacre outside the sports stadium in Bisho, the small capital of Ciskei.

Districts in 1991

Districts of the province, and their populations at the 1991 census.

  • Alice: 43,452
  • Whittlesea: 50,199
  • Keiskammahoek: 32,740
  • Mdantsane: 105,117
  • Middledrift: 37,979
  • Peddie: 52,245
  • Zwelitsha: 142,779
  • Mpofu: 13,056

Law enforcement and defence

  • Founded in 1981, the Ciskei Defence Force consisted of two battalions and an air wing.
  • Ciskei Police
  • Ciskei Police – Law Enforcement Division
  • Ciskei Prisons Service
  • Ciskei Traffic Force

Notable persons

  • Ngconde Balfour – former South African politician, served as Minister of Correctional Services, and Minister of Sport.
  • Steve Biko – former political activist, founder and the president of Black Consciousness Movement.
  • Oupa Gqozo – former Ciskeian President, and military head of state.
  • Thandathu Jongilizwe Mabandla – former Ciskeian President, and Ciskeian Chief Justice.
  • Shepherd Mdladlana – former minister of labour, politician, and South African High Commissioner to Canada.
  • Raymond Mhlaba – former South African politician and leader of the ANC and SACP and the first Premier of the Eastern Cape 1994–1997.
  • Wilton Mkwayi – former anti-apartheid activist, and member of ANC.
  • Griffiths Mxenge – former political activist, and member of ANC.
  • Bulelani Ngcuka – former NPA director (1999–2004).
  • Looksmart Ngudle – former political activist, and member of ANC.
  • Lennox Sebe – former Ciskeian President and dictator.
  • Charles Sebe – former Ciskeian acting president and murder victim.
  • Archie Sibeko – former anti-apartheid activist, and member of ANC.
  • Robert Sobukwe – former political activist and the founder of PAC.
  • Moses Twebe – former anti-apartheid activist, and member of ANC.

See also

  • Transkei
  • Fengu people
  • List of heads of state of Ciskei
  • Vice President of Ciskei
  • Ciskei Defence Force
  • Bisho massacre
  • Ciskei International Airways

Books

  • Mager, A.K. (1999) Gender and the Making of a South African Bantustan: A Social History of the Ciskei, 1945–1959, Heinemann.
  • Switzer, L. (1993) Power and Resistance in an African Society: The Ciskei Xhosa and the Making of South Africa, University of Wisconsin Press.

References

  • Ciskei – general information
  • African Studies Quarterly
  • South African history site
  • WHKMLA site
  • Creation of tribalism in Ciskei
  • Ciskei International Airways CV-990
  • Video showing a GIS time animation of the assembly of Ciskei