Ciskei

Ciskei was one of the ten bantustans or autonomous regions established in the interior of South African territory. It declared independence in 1981 and was reabsorbed by South Africa in 1994.

Located in the southeast of the country, it was made up of two separate blocks of land with a total area of 8,500 km², almost entirely surrounded by the then Cape Province, also having a narrow coastline, along the coasts of the Indian Ocean.

Ciskei had a succession of capitals during the brief period of its existence. Initially, Zwelitsha served as a provisional capital, while Alice was planned to be the long-term national capital. However, the city of Bisho would play that role until the reintegration of Ciskei into South African territory. Ciskei had a population of 1,090,000 in 1993.

Under the South African policy of apartheid, these lands were set aside and assigned as autonomous territories for black inhabitants. Ciskei was one of the two "homelands" (homelands) intended for speakers of the Xhosa language. These were relocated there, and also to Transkei, the other Xhosa homeland.

History

When Sir John Cradock was appointed governor of Cape Colony in 1811, the Zuurveld region had fallen into disorder and many white farmers had begun to abandon their farms. In early 1812, on the governor's instructions, Lieutenant Colonel John Graham forced 20,000 Xhosa to cross the Fish River. 27 military posts were subsequently erected across this border, resulting in the establishment of the garrison towns of Grahamstown and Cradock.

At the end of the 19th century, the area known as the British Cafrey between the Fish and Kei rivers had been reserved for the 'Bantu', and was thereafter known as Ciskei. Europeans gave the name Ciskei to the area to distinguish it from Transkei, the area to the north of Kei.

After the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, "Bantu" remained unclear and differed from colony to colony within South Africa. The Native Lands Act of 1913 demarcated reserves in the Union and made it illegal to sell or lease these lands to Europeans (except in Cape Colony). General Hertzog pursued his policy of segregation and subsequently passed the Lands and Trusts Act Natives in 1936. This law effectively abolished the right of the "Bantu" of the Cape to purchase land outside the existing reserves.

The boundaries of the region In 1961, Ciskei became a separate administrative region and, in 1972, it was declared autonomous under Chief Justice Mabandla followed by Lennox Sebe. Mabandla were a Fengu group who had allied themselves with the British in the border wars and were better educated as a result of historically adopting colonial education. Embittered even more by the policies of "retribalization" of the apartheid authorities, the Rharhabe resented and asserted his position, culminating in Sebe's election although Sebe later abandoned his anti-Fengu rhetoric.

In the 1970s, the South African government decided the final boundaries of Ciskei changed as land was added and removed. A notable split was the removal of the districts of Glen Gray and Herschel, and their allocation to the newly independent Transkei, with the populations of the districts moving to the rest of Ciskei to retain their South African citizenship (which was subsequently lost when Ciskei became independent)..

In the 1970s, the South African government decided the final boundaries of Ciskei, as a consolidated area, by merging the existing reserves allocated to Ciskei and purchasing intervening white-owned land. This amalgamation reduced the total length of the Ciskei borders, making them easier for the South African government to police, as well as being an attempt to create a more viable area for the homeland.

Independence

In 1961, Ciskei became a separate administrative region and, in 1972, it was declared autonomous under Chief Justice Mabandla, followed by Lennox Sebe. Mabandla were a Fengu, a group who had allied themselves with the British in the border wars, and were better educated as a result of historically adopting colonial education. Embittered even more by the policies of "retribalization" of the apartheid authorities, the Rharhabe resented and asserted his position, culminating in Sebe's election, although Sebe later abandoned his anti-Fengu rhetoric.

In 1978, it became a one-party state under Sebe's government. 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 living without permits in white areas or farms in South Africa, often for generations, were forcibly relocated to Ciskei by Apartheid authorities, usually from "black spots" in the "white corridor" neighbor, and moved to miserable resettlement camps. A 1983 study by Rhodes University found that 40% of children in one camp suffered from wasting caused by malnutrition and 10% suffered from kwashiorkor. In another camp in Thornhill, 50% of the children died before the age of 5. Typhoid epidemics also broke out in the resettlement camps, which were often isolated, located far from urban areas and lacking health facilities, sanitation and schools. Forced relocations of blacks to Ciskei resulted in high population densities in the homeland, a situation that persists to this day.

On several occasions, the Ciskei government imposed collective punishments on communities that opposed its rule, and people fled the Bantustans to South Africa due to harassment and denial of government services to dissidents.

Like other Bantustans, its independence was not recognized 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 take control of Ciskei. One of these raids was an attack on the complex of the leader Lennox Sebe, with the apparent aim of taking him hostage, to force the merger of the two Bantustans. Transkei had previously granted sanctuary to Lennox Sebe's estranged brother, Charles the former head of the Ciskei security forces, who had been imprisoned in Ciskei on sedition charges, as well as having previously kidnapped Lennox Sebe's son. The South African government apparently intervened to warn the Transkei government. However, during a subsequent meeting of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, it was revealed that the plan to merge Transkei and Ciskei into a proposed Xhosaland, as well as the release of Charles Sebe from prison, had been carried out by South African Security Forces linked to the Office of Civil Cooperation, in order to consolidate an anti-ANC front in the Eastern Cape region, as part of the aborted Operation Katzen.