 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Should the Ciskei become independent? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
An independence referendum was held in the South African Bantustan of Ciskei on 4 December 1980. [1] Over 99% of voters voted in favour, [1] and Ciskei was declared independent in 1981 after the Status of Ciskei Act, 1981 was passed by the South African government. [2] The results of the referendum were announced on 17 December. [3]
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| For | 295,891 | 99.45 |
| Against | 1,642 | 0.55 |
| Invalid/blank votes | 2,198 | – |
| Total | 299,731 | 100 |
| Registered voters/turnout | ~504,000 | ~60 |
| Source:African Elections Database | ||
South West Africa, renamed to Namibia from 12 June 1968 was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola, Botswana, South Africa, and Zambia. During its administration, South Africa applied its own apartheid system in the territory of South West Africa.
Bophuthatswana, officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana, was a Bantustan that was declared (nominally) independent by the apartheid regime of South Africa in 1977. However, its independence, like the other Bantustans of Ciskei, Transkei and Venda was not recognized by any country other than South Africa.
Transkei, officially the Republic of Transkei, was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Bantustan for the Xhosa people, and operated as a nominally independent parliamentary democracy. Its capital was Umtata.
A Bantustan was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa, as a part of its policy of apartheid.
Bhisho or Bisho is the capital of the Eastern Cape province in South Africa. The Office of the Premier, Provincial Legislature and many other government departments are headquartered in the town. The town, three kilometres from Qonce and 70 kilometres from East London, is also part of Buffalo City.
Ciskei, officially the Republic of Ciskei, was a Bantustan for the Xhosa people, located in the southeast of South Africa. It covered an area of 7,700 square kilometres (3,000 sq mi), almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province, and possessed a small coastline along the shore of the Indian Ocean.
Lennox Leslie Wongama Ngweyesizwe Sebe was the chief minister of the Xhosa bantustan of Ciskei after its self-rule in 1972, and the nominally independent country's first president from 1983. His praise name (isikhahlelo) was Ngweyesizwe.
Joshua Oupa Gqozo was the military ruler of the former homeland of Ciskei in South Africa.
KwaNdebele was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government as a semi-independent homeland for the Ndebele people. The homeland was created when the South African government purchased nineteen white-owned farms and installed a government.
A referendum on a new constitution was held in South Africa on 2 November 1983 in which the white population was given the opportunity to approve or reject the Constitution of 1983. This constitution introduced the Tricameral Parliament, in which Coloured and Indian South Africans would be represented in separate parliamentary chambers, while black Africans, who were the majority of South Africa's population, would remain unrepresented. The referendum passed with 66.3% of voters voting "Yes"; consequently the new constitution came into force on 3 September 1984.
The system of racial segregation and oppression in South Africa known as apartheid was implemented and enforced by many acts and other laws. This legislation served to institutionalize racial discrimination and the dominance by white people over people of other races. While the bulk of this legislation was enacted after the election of the National Party government in 1948, it was preceded by discriminatory legislation enacted under earlier British and Afrikaner governments. Apartheid is distinguished from segregation in other countries by the systematic way in which it was formalized in law.
The Ciskei Defence Force (CDF) was established during March 1981 from the 141 Battalion of the South African Defence Force (SADF). It was the defence force of Ciskei, a bantustan that was controlled by the apartheid regime of South Africa. The CDF functioned as part of the 21 Battalion based near Lenasia, outside Johannesburg.
Parliamentary elections were held in Ciskei between 18 and 22 June 1978. The Ciskei National Independence Party won all 50 elected seats. The election was preceded by a wave of arrests and intimidation of opposition party supporters, and 13 opposition candidates lost their deposits. There was also corruption in the operation of the election, as bribes of houses and money had been made to people to vote for the CNIP, and voters were forced to show their completed ballot papers to officials before voting.
Parliamentary elections were scheduled to be held in Ciskei in November 1986. However, the 23 candidates of the Ciskei National Independence Party were the only ones to register, and were deemed to be elected unopposed in September 1986.
The Transkei Defence Force (TDF) was established during March 1981, from the 141 Battalion of the South African Defence Force (SADF). It was the defence force of the Republic of Transkei, a nominally independent bantustan during the Apartheid era of South Africa.
Rank comparison charts of armies/land forces of apartheid states and territories in Southern Africa.
The 1990 Ciskei coup d'état was a bloodless military coup in Ciskei, an unrecognised state and a nominally independent South African homeland for the Xhosa people, which took place on 4 March 1990. The coup was led by the then 37-year-old Brigadier Oupa Gqozo, the Chief of Staff Intelligence of the Ciskei Defence Force, against the government of President for Life Lennox Sebe (CNIP), who was on a state visit to Hong Kong at the time. The coup was followed by widespread rioting and looting, prompting Gqozo to request that the South African government send SADF troops to help restore order.
The Ciskei National Independence Party (CNIP) was a political party in the nominally independent South African homeland of Ciskei. It was founded and led by Lennox Sebe. The party advocated cooperation with the South African government. The party governed Ciskei from 1973 until the 1990 coup d'état by Oupa Gqozo.
Ciskei International Airways was an airline run and owned by the Bantustan government of the Ciskei in South Africa. The airline ran from June 1987 to January 1989 operating out of Bhisho Airport as its hub. The airline, along with the construction of Bhisho Airport, was funded and run by the Government of South Africa. The airline flew one Convair 990 Coronado airplane and one Convair CV-880 airplane.
