Pondoland EmaMpondweni | |
|---|---|
Natural region | |
 Landscape in Mpondoland | |
 Old map of the Eastern Cape, showing Mpondoland (highlighted) | |
| Country | South Africa |
Pondoland or Mpondoland (Mpondo: EmaMpondweni), is a natural region on the South African shores of the Indian Ocean. It is located in the coastal belt of the Eastern Cape province. [1] Its territory is the former Mpondo Kingdom of the Mpondo people.
Mpondoland stretches between the Mthatha River, whose mouth is its southernmost point, and the Mtamvuna River in the north along a coastal strip that is not more than 50 km wide. [2] The Mzimvubu River divides Mpondoland into an eastern and a western region.
It is a mountainous area whose main vegetation consists in thornveld, grassland, as well as subtropical evergreen forests in the humid coastal valleys.
| Mpondo sub-group | |
|---|---|
| Person | umMpondo |
| People | amaMpondo |
| Language | isiMpondo |
| Country | emaMpondweni |
The Khoikhoi and San people had inhabited the region since ancient times in scattered nomadic groups. About 500 AD the Xhosa speaking Ngunis settled in the area, for the mountain grasslands were a good resource for cattle-rearing. Geographically Mpondoland was a remote area, not strongly affected by the events in the rest of Southern Africa. During the centuries of European navigation on the Indian Ocean, Portuguese ships, as well as ships from other colonial empires (such as the Grosvenor ) ran aground at different spots of the coast of Mpondoland. Some of the castaways stayed in Mpondoland and were later absorbed into Mpondo communities. The Mpondo clan of abeLungu traces its ancestry to a castaway English girl named Bessie who married the son of Mpondo Chief Mathayi of the amaTshomane. [3]
In 1820, Mpondo King Faku granted permission to the Wesleyans to establish a mission within his territory. A few decades later some German settlers came to Mpondoland and by 1885 German lieutenant Emil Nagel tried to establish a German colony, an effort that was unsuccessful. In 1886 the British annexed Xesibeland, traditionally part of the Mpondo Kingdom, and armed Mpondo people resisted the move by invading the territory, burning kraals and causing disorder. [4] The segregation of Xesibeland was a first step prior to its annexation to the Cape Colony at the end of the same year. [5] Finally Mpondoland as well became a British protectorate and in 1894 the amaMpondo were forced to accept the annexation of their own region to the Cape Colony. [6]
The implementation of Apartheid legislation in the form of the 1951 Bantu Authorities Act led to the Pondo Revolt in 1960. After the quelling of the revolt, Mpondoland was made part of the Transkei homeland in 1963, which in turn became a nominally-independent bantustan in 1976. Finally the region, along with the other areas that were part of Transkei, was reincorporated into South Africa in 1994. [7]
In recent times (circa 2010) the name of this traditional region of the Mpondo people is being revived for the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Hotspot biodiversity hotspot, the Maputaland-Pondoland bushland and thickets, one of the ecoregions of South Africa, and for the Pondoland Centre of Plant Endemism. [8] It is also found in scientific works, as well as in the naming of species, such as the Pondoland palm (Jubaeopsis caffra), the Pondoland ghost bush (Raspalia trigyna), the Pondoland conebush (Leucadendron pondoense), the Pondoland widow (Dira oxylus) and the Pondoland cannibal snail (Natalina beyrichi). [9]
The Mpondo People, or simply Ama-Mpondo, is a kingdom in what is now the Eastern Cape. It was established in 1226. The Ama-Mpondo Nation were first ruled by its founder who was King Mpondo kaNjanya who lived around and later the 'Ama-Nyawuza'clan, by nationality referred to themselves as 'Ama-Mpondo'. They are related to other Aba-Mbo kingdoms and chiefdoms in South Africa.
The Maputaland-Pondoland bushland and thickets is one of the ecoregions of South Africa. It consists of the montane shrubland biome.
The Kwazulu-Cape coastal forest mosaic is a subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of South Africa. It covers an area of 17,800 square kilometers (6,900 sq mi) in South Africa's Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.
Stella Nomzamo Sigcau was a South African politician. Sigcau was also the first female Prime Minister of the bantustan of Transkei before being deposed in a military coup in 1987. After Transkei was merged into South Africa following the end of apartheid, Sigcau became a minister in the cabinets of Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki until her death.
The Coastal forests of eastern Africa, also known as the East African Coastal Forests or Zanzibar–Inhambane forests, is a tropical moist forest region along the east coast of Africa. The region was designated a biodiversity hotspot by Conservation International.
The Wild Coast is a section of the coast of the Eastern Cape, a province of South Africa. The region stretches from East London in the south to the border of KwaZulu-Natal in the north. It is the traditional home of the Xhosa, Thembu people, and the Mpondo people, and the birthplace of many prominent South Africans, including Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela, Zwelonke Sigcawu, Xolilizwe Sigcawu,Thabo Mbeki.
Libode is a small town of 5000 inhabitants in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated on the R61 road from Port St Johns in the east to Mthatha in the west and serves as the administrative seat of the Nyandeni Local Municipality, which is part of the OR Tambo District Municipality. As a small infrastructural hub for the surrounding rural area, Libode features a community college and a hospital, the St Barnabas Hospital.
Mkhambathi Nature Reserve is a protected area at Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is 7,720 hectares, with the Pondoland Marine Protected Area off its coastal edge. The reserve is located in the Pondoland Centre of Plant Endemism and the greater Maputaland–Pondoland–Albany Hotspot, and is covered in open grassland, dotted with patches of indigenous forest, swamp forests and flanked by the forested ravines of the Msikaba and Mtentu rivers.
The Pondoland Centre of Plant Endemism is situated in the coastal region overlapping the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape in South Africa. It is named after Pondoland and falls within the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Hotspot. The region consists of grassy plateaus incised by forested ravines and gorges. The main substrate in the area is Natal Group Sandstone, which was formed by sediments laid down about 500 million years ago in a rift underlying the eastern Agulhas Sea in the ancient continent of Gondwana. The region is about 18,800 hectares in extent, and lies along the coastline stretching about 15 kilometres inland with a maximum altitude of about 400 to 500 metres above sea level. The region is essentially a transition zone between sub-tropical and temperate climates.
The Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Hotspot (MPA) is a biodiversity hotspot, a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity, in Southern Africa. It is situated near the south-eastern coast of Africa, occupying an area between the Great Escarpment and the Indian Ocean. The area is named after Maputaland, Pondoland and Albany. It stretches from the Albany Centre of Plant Endemism in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, through the Pondoland Centre of Plant Endemism and KwaZulu-Natal Province, the eastern side of Eswatini and into southern Mozambique and Mpumalanga. The Maputaland Centre of Plant Endemism is contained in northern KwaZulu-Natal and southern Mozambique.
Maputaland is a natural region of Southern Africa. It is located in the northern part of the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa between Eswatini and the coast. In a wider sense it may also include the southernmost region of Mozambique. The bird routes and coral reefs off the coast are major tourist attractions.
Port St. Johns Municipality is a local municipality within the OR Tambo District Municipality, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
Lusikisiki is a town in the Ingquza Hill Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The name is onomatopoeic, derived from the rustling sound of reeds in the wind, named by the local Mpondo people. Lusikisiki is 45 kilometres (28 mi) inland from and north of Port St Johns. The town is positioned along the R61 leading to Mthatha to the west and Port Shepstone to the north-east.
Thembuland, Afrikaans: Temboeland, is a natural region in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Its territory is the traditional region of the abaThembu.
The Albany Centre of Plant Endemism is situated in the coastal region of South Africa at the eastern end of the Eastern Cape Province. It is named after the district of Albany and falls within the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Hotspot. It is notable for its biodiversity and unique, endemic flora and fauna.
The Indian Ocean coastal belt is one of the nine recognised biomes of South Africa. They are described in terms of their vegetation and climatic variations.
The Biodiversity of South Africa is the variety of living organisms within the boundaries of South Africa and its exclusive economic zone. South Africa is a region of high biodiversity in the terrestrial and marine realms. The country is ranked sixth out of the world's seventeen megadiverse countries, and is rated among the top 10 for plant species diversity and third for marine endemism.