bantustan
A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (n ...
("homeland") in the central eastern part of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
. It encompassed a very small region of in the east of the former South African province of
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...
, bordering
Lesotho
Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It has an area of over and has a population ...
. Its capital was
Phuthaditjhaba
Phuthaditjhaba (formerly Witsieshoek or Qwaqwa) is a town in the Free State province of South Africa. Phuthaditjhaba is a seSotho name that means ''meeting place of the tribes''. It is located on the banks of the Elands River.Sesotho-speaking Basotho people.
The frequent snow on the Drakensberg mountain peaks led the San to call the region "Qwa-Qwa" (whiter than white). In
Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gr ...
it was known as "Witsieshoek", after Oetse (also Witsie and Wetsi), a Makholokoe chief who lived there from 1839 to 1856.
Three tribes lived in the region, the Makholokoe, Bakoena and the Batlokoa. In 1969Flags of the world Discussion of name and history. Retrieved 10 April 2006. they were united and the area was named "KwaKwa". In the same year, the name was changed to "QwaQwa" to avoid an ethnic identification.
History
On 1 November 1974 QwaQwa was granted self-government, with Tsiame Kenneth Mopeli as Chief Minister. Mopeli would serve as Chief Minister throughout QwaQwa's existence.
After 27 April 1994 QwaQwa was dissolved, following the first South African democratic election and reunited with Orange Free State. It is now part of the Free State province, with
Phuthaditjhaba
Phuthaditjhaba (formerly Witsieshoek or Qwaqwa) is a town in the Free State province of South Africa. Phuthaditjhaba is a seSotho name that means ''meeting place of the tribes''. It is located on the banks of the Elands River.Maluti a Phofung Local Municipality
Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality is an administrative area in the Thabo Mofutsanyane District of the Free State in South Africa. It encompasses substantially all of the former bantustan of QwaQwa, except for the small enclave (detached porti ...
.
The municipality also comprises the towns of Harrismith and Kestell. Together they have a combined population of 385 413, of which about 80% lives in the former QwaQwa. The population is divided as follows: 98.09% Black; White 1.68%; Coloured 0.09% and Asian and/or Indian 0.13%.
The place was also a major educational centre in the old apartheid days, with at least 80% of schools in the present Free State province having teachers that were educated in the former homeland. It has a fully functional university but its teachers' colleges have been turned into FETs (Further Education and Training) colleges. The university was called "Uniqwa" under the University of the North before 1994 but has then been incorporated into the
University of the Free State
The University of the Free State is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State (province), Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It was first established as an institution of higher learning in ...
(UFS) and renamed "UFS QwaQwa Campus".
The bantustan of QwaQwa had only one district in 1991, Witsieshoek, with a population of 342,886.