I was going through my stamps and came across a stamp which said "Ciskei". I knew Ciskei was a part of South Africa, but nothing other than that. So I went ahead and tried to learn more about it; that's when I came to know that there were other parts of South Africa which had issued their own stamps too. I'll be talking about them in this post.
Ciskei, the only region I knew about was 1 of the 4 independent "Bantustans", the others being Transkei, Venda and Bophuthatswana. Let's learn more about them!
With the passing of the Bantu Authorities Act in 1951, the apartheid set in motion the creation of ten bantustans, one of South Africa’s most infamous projects of racial ordering.
The Bantustans or homelands, established by the Apartheid Government, were areas to which the majority of the Blacks population was moved to prevent them from living in the urban areas of South Africa. The Bantustans were a major administrative mechanism for the removal of Blacks from the South African political system under the many laws and policies created by Apartheid.
By the 1980s there were four “independent” bantustans (Transkei, Ciskei, Venda, and Bophuthatswana) and six “self-governing” ones (Lebowa, Gazankulu, KwaNdebele, Qwaqwa, KaNgwane, and KwaZulu).
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| Bantustans in 1994. |
The homelands were designed for specific ethnic groups. For example, two homelands of Ciskei and Transkei were created only for the Xhosa people, while Bophuthatswana was created only for the Tswana people, KwaZulu was only for Zulu people, Lebowa for the Pedi and Northern Ndebele, Venda only for Vendas, Gazankulu was for Shangaan and Tsonga people and Qwa Qwa was for Basothos.
In the 1970s, the South African government declared four of the Bantustans “independent”. These were the Transkei in 1976, Bophuthatswana in 1977, Venda in 1979, and Ciskei in 1981. The remaining Bantustans remained self-governing but had no independent rights. This also meant that only the 4 independent ones could issue stamps of their own.
Each of the 4 Bantustans issued stamps depicting the fauna and flora and/or the traditional way of life in the respective territories.
Transkei --
The Amagqira are the traditional healers who perform Umxhentso, the traditional dance
of the Xhosa people.
This stamp depicts brides from the Fingo community. The Fingo lived in
the Bantustans of Transkei and Ciskei.
Bophuthatswana --
The Pale chanting goshawk is a bird of prey which breed in southern Africa.
The coat of arms of Bophuthatswana has 2 leopards supporting the arms.
Venda --
Sumerian tablets found in Africa. They use the cuneiform writing method.
This stamp commemorates the Nwanedi National park
is a protected area in South Africa.
Ciskei --
The above stamp depicts one of the processes in the Pineapple industry.
This stamp was issued on the 75th Anniversary of the Girl Guide Movement.
In reality, Bantustans were vast slum areas without industry or fertile soil for agriculture. The majority of their populations depended on jobs in South Africa (e.g. 65 per cent of the working population in Bophuthatswana), while most of their governments' income depended on direct transfer payments from the South African government (e.g. 80 per cent in Transkei, 1985).
The South African Homelands or Bantustans ceased to exist on 27 April 1994 and were re-incorporated into the new nine provinces of a democratic South Africa.
Labels: Animal, History, South Africa, Stamps
