Kabokweni Ngodini | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 25°20′13″S31°08′06″E / 25.337°S 31.135°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Mpumalanga |
District | Ehlanzeni |
Municipality | Mbombela |
Area | |
• Total | 8.24 km2 (3.18 sq mi) |
Population (2011) [1] | |
• Total | 21,905 |
• Density | 2,700/km2 (6,900/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011) | |
• Black African | 98.3% |
• Coloured | 1.1% |
• Indian/Asian | 0.2% |
• White | 0.1% |
• Other | 0.4% |
First languages (2011) | |
• Swazi | 82.2% |
• English | 3.8% |
• Tsonga | 3.4% |
• Zulu | 2.9% |
• Other | 7.8% |
Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
PO box | 1245 |
Area code | 013 |
Kabokweni (also known as Ngodini) is a town in Ehlanzeni District Municipality in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Kabokweni was formally established in 1967 as the first residential township in the KaNgwane Bantustan. In 1968 the Bantu Affairs Department of the Apartheid state forcibly moved over 3000 people from the town of White River to Kabokweni. [2] Today, it is a town of over 20 000 people. [1]
The archeological record indicates that the area sounding Kabokweni has a long history of human habitation. In surrounding areas, there are many Khoe-San rock art sites which give clues about the presence, lives and worldviews of the earliest hunter gatherers who lived in the region. [3] After around 400 CE, there is evidence that communities who farmed crops, forged metal and kept livestock (while still hunting and gathering) were living in wider region. [4] Archeological remains from a site in Plaston, not far west from Nsikazi indicate that people kept livestock in the area from at least as early as 660 CE and belonged to the same or similar culture to the people who created the Lydenburg Heads. [5] The presence of livestock, farming and metal working suggests the presence of Bantu-speakers from this period onward. The earliest named groups of people present in the Nsikazi region, which Kabokweni lies in were the Pai, Mapulana, and Ngomane. [6] By the early 19th century, these societies were bordered to the south by the Swazi, to the west by the Pedi and to the east and northeast Tsonga speakers. The people living in the area were impacted by the increase in trade, especially in ivory from Maputo Bay. In the early to mid-19th century, offshoot chieftaincies from the increasingly powerful Swazi Kingdom established a growing presence in the region. [7]
Before the 1960s, Kabokweni was known as Ngodini, meaning "the hole" in SiSwati in reference to the fact that it is under a watershed, some lay 1000 feet below the nearby town of White River. In 1936, Ngodini formally became part of the Nsikazi Native Reserve under the Native Trust and Land Act, 1936. The history of Kabokweni is closely connected to apartheid policies of forced removals. In preparation for the making of a residentail township for people who would commute to work in White River and Nelspruit, the apartheid government forced existing residents off the land into centralized "betterment" villages in surrounding areas. In May and June 1968, as part of an aggressive national policy to create separate Black and White areas, apartheid's Bantu Affairs Department forcibly moved the over three thousand residents of White River's Black location to the recently built township of Kabokweni. According to the Surplus People Project, many people living in and around the Kabokweni area were forcibly moved up to three or more times. [2] The name "Kabokweni" is the Siswati adaptation of Charles Borquin's surname, the Bantu Affairs Commissioner who was responsible for relocating people to the township from White River. Soon after the removals, Kabokweni's population was 3310. By 1977, it was 7917. [2] In 1975, Kabokweni became part of the Swazi Territorial Authority, which later became known as KaNgwane, the apartheid Bantustan for Swazi people, although people of diverse ethnic, linguistic and cultural backgrounds lived in Kabokweni and nearby areas. [2] In the 1980s, conditions in KaNgwane were harsh, with many reporting to the Surplus People Project the difficulties of life with access to little land, the loss of livestock, a scarcity of drinking water and other basic services, few opportunities and high levels of violence. [2]
Through various modes, many residents of Kabokweni resisted the violence, segregation and repression of the apartheid state. A strong student movement gained momentum in the 1980s, and in February 1986 students in Kabokweni led a school boycott and directed demonstrations of crowds as strong as 4,000 people against Bantu Education. [8] Kabokweni was not spared from the most repressive of the apartheid state's violence.After the apartheid security police killed student Mandla Lekhuleni, protests grew more intense, and the police arrested a number of student protestors and placed them on trial at the Kabokweni Magistrate's Court. On 11 March 1986, a crowd of thousands of young people gathered at the Kabokweni Magistrate's office to demonstrate against the trial. As the crowd gathered, apartheid police forces opened fire on the protestors. Police shot 83 activists, mostly in the back, and arrested 50, many of whom the security police tortured. [9]
In the post-apartheid era, the population of Kabokweni has increased significantly and the physical footprint of the town has expanded outwards. The town has faced significant service delivery challenges, with extended, many months-long water outages forcing the Kabokweni community to rely on water purchased from water trucks and regularly turn to protest to make their grievances heard. [10] [11] Many people living in Kabokweni continue to commute to work in Mbombela and White River.
Today, Kabokweni falls under the Mbombela Local Municipality, within the wider Ehlanzeni District Municipality.
Kabokweni has more than 6 public schools and 3 private schools.
The Elijah Mango College of Higher Education, an institution established when Kabokweni was under KaNgwane, has become severely dilapidated, facing government neglect, and theft and vandalism in recent years. The local Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs has more recently promised to revive the facility. [12]
During the national census of 2011 the 8.24 km2 town housed an estimated 21,905 inhabitants, of which 98,3% were Black South Africans with 82% speaking siSwati as their home language. [1]
There are private and public health services in Kabokweni. Public facilities include:
Private facilities include general practitioners and the Dr Ntandoyenkosi Memorial U-Care Medical Centre.
Eswatini, officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and also known by its former official name Swaziland and formerly the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its north, west, south, and southeast. At no more than 200 km (120 mi) north to south and 130 km (81 mi) east to west, Eswatini is one of the smallest countries in Africa; despite this, its climate and topography are diverse, ranging from a cool and mountainous highveld to a hot and dry lowveld.
Artifacts indicating human activity dating back to the early Stone Age have been found in the Kingdom of Eswatini. The earliest known inhabitants of the region were Khoisan hunter-gatherers. Later, the population became predominantly Nguni during and after the great Bantu migrations. People speaking languages ancestral to the current Sotho and Nguni languages began settling no later than the 11th century. The country now derives its name from a later king named Mswati II. Mswati II was the greatest of the fighting kings of Eswatini, and he greatly extended the area of the country to twice its current size. The people of Eswatini largely belong to a number of clans that can be categorized as Emakhandzambili, Bemdzabu, and Emafikamuva, depending on when and how they settled in Eswatini.
Mpumalanga is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares borders with the South African provinces of Limpopo to the north, Gauteng to the west, the Free State to the southwest, and KwaZulu-Natal to the south. The capital is Mbombela.
Swazi or siSwati is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Eswatini and South Africa by the Swati people. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 4.7 million including first and second language speakers. The language is taught in Eswatini and some South African schools in Mpumalanga, particularly former KaNgwane areas. Siswati is an official language of Eswatini, and is also one of the twelve official languages of South Africa.
Mbombela, formerly Nelspruit, is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River, the city lies about 110 km (68 mi) by road west of the Mozambique border, 330 km (210 mi) east of Johannesburg and 82 km (51 mi) north of the Eswatini border. Mbombela was one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The Swazi or Swati are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, inhabiting Eswatini, a sovereign kingdom in Southern Africa, and South Africa's Mpumalanga province. EmaSwati are part of the Nguni-language speaking peoples whose origins can be traced through archaeology to East Africa where similar traditions, beliefs and cultural practices are found.
KwaZulu was a semi-independent bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government as a homeland for the Zulu people. The capital was moved from Nongoma to Ulundi in 1980.
Hazyview is a sub-tropical farming town in Mpumalanga, South Africa, renowned for its large banana and macadamia nut industries, contributing about 20% of South Africa's bananas and 30% of macadamia output. Bordering the Kruger National Park, the town's name is derived from the shimmering haze that occurs during the heat of summer. Most of the province of Mpumalanga's private game reserves are found just east of Hazyview.
White River is a small holiday and farming town situated just north of Mbombela in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The farms in the region produce tropical fruits, macadamia nuts, vegetables, flowers and timber. As of 2011, White River had a population of 16,639.
KaNgwane was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government to be a semi-independent homeland for the Swazi people. It was called the "Swazi Territorial Authority" from 1976 to 1977. In September 1977 it was renamed KaNgwane and received a legislative assembly. After a temporary suspension of its homeland status during 1982, the legislative assembly was restored in December 1982. KaNgwane was granted nominal self-rule in August 1984. Its capital was at Louieville. It was the least populous of the ten homelands, with an estimated 183,000 inhabitants. Unlike the other homelands in South Africa, KaNgwane did not adopt a distinctive flag of its own but flew the national flag of South Africa.
Mbombela Municipality is a local municipality within the Ehlanzeni District Municipality, in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Mbombela is a siSwati word meaning "a lot of people in a small space".
Bushbuckridge Municipality is a local municipality within the Ehlanzeni District Municipality, in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Commercial farming, which consists of pine and bluegum plantations, tobacco, cotton, sub-tropical fruits and vegetables, is practised in the municipality's countryside. The municipality includes the southern part of Kruger National Park. Bushbuckridge is the largest local municipality in Mpumalanga in terms of land size.
Alexandria is a town in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality under Ehlanzeni District Municipality in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. It got its theme of footprints on rock in the mountains of Simeleni.
Matsulu is a township in the Mbombela Local Municipality under the Ehlanzeni District Municipality in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. It lies between Kruger National Park and the N4 national road 41 km east of Nelspruit (Mbombela) CBD, 3 km before the Kaapmuiden train station. It is also surrounded by the Nsikazi River & Crocodile River.
Louieville is a town in Ehlanzeni District Municipality in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. It was the capital of KaNgwane, a non-independent bantustan.
Kiepersol is a village in Mbombela Local Municipality in the Mpumalanga, province of South Africa.
The Lowveld massacre was an incident that occurred on 11 March 1986 at Kabokweni, in the then KaNgwane bantustan of South Africa, when security forces opened fire on thousands of young people who had gathered outside the magistrate's court to protest during the trial of their fellow students.
Mabhuza Simeon Ginindza was a South African politician. He was born in Eerstehoek. Ginindza served both in the Apartheid homeland administration and the post-Apartheid ANC government that elected Nelson Mandela as the first black President in 1994.
Sponono Francinah Baloyi was a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 until her retirement in 2004. A nurse by profession, she was briefly the Minister of Health and Welfare in the government of the KaNgwane bantustan from 1992 to 1994.
Prince Johannes Mkolishi Dlamini, was the Chief of Embhuleni in Badplaas between September 1954 until his death, at age 59, in December 1988. A great-grandson of Mswati II, Mkolishi was the son of the previous Chief of Embhuleni, Prince James Maquba Dlamini, and his wife Mkhosise Madonsela.
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