Republic of Transkei

Republic of Transkei
iRiphabliki yeTranskei
Bantustan (nominal parliamentary democracy)
1976–1994
Flag Coat of arms
Motto iMbumba yaManyama Xhosa: Unity is Strength
Anthem Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika Xhosa: God Bless Africa
Location of Transkei in Southern Africa (1976-1994)
Capital		Umtata (now Mthatha)
Languages		Xhosa (official) –Sesotho and English translations required for laws to come into effect –Afrikaans allowed in administration and judiciary¹
Political structure		Bantustan
Leader
•	1976-1986	Chief Kaiser Daliwonga Matanzima (Nominal Parliamentary Democracy, effective One-Party-Rule)
•	1987-1994	Bantu Holomisa (Military Rule)
Legislature		Parliament
•	Parliament	President plus National Assembly (Immune to judicial review)²
•	National Assembly	Paramount Chiefs 70 District Chiefs 75 elected MPs³
History
•	Self-government	30 May 1963
•	Nominal Independence	26 Oct 1976
•	Break of diplomatic ties	1978
•	Coup d'etat	1987
•	foiled Coup d'etat	1990
•	Dissolution	27 April 1994
Area
•	1980	43,798 km² (16,911 sq mi)
Population
•	1980 est.	2,323,650
Density		53.1 /km²  (137.4 /sq mi)
Currency		South 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

The Transkei (/trɑːnsˈkeɪ, -ˈkaɪ, trænz-/, meaning the area beyond [the river] Kei), officially the Republic of Transkei (Xhosa: iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was a Bantustan—an area set aside for members of a specific ethnicity—and parliamentary democracy in the southeastern region of South Africa. Its capital was Umtata, which was renamed Mthatha in 2004.

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.

The South African government set up the area as one of the two homelands for Xhosa-speaking people in Cape Province, the other being Ciskei; it was given nominal autonomy in 1963. Although the first election was contested and won by the Democratic Party, whose founder Chief Victor Poto was opposed to the notion of Bantustan independence, the government was formed by the Transkei National Independence Party. Of the 109 members in the regional parliament, only 45 were elected; the remaining seats held by ex officio chiefs.