The Emancipation of Transkei

Abstract

On 26 October 1976 the South African Government granted the Transkei, a 37,000 sq. kilometre territory on the south-east coast of the Cape Province, independence. With the exception of South Africa, no state has recognized Transkei and, indeed, the United Nations explicitly condemned South Africa. Why has so much attention been lavished on a territory that on the surface appears to be devoid of any importance? South African and foreign opinion leaders perceived that the importance of Transkeian independence lay in its significance as part of the larger South African situation and it is therefore necessary to examine Transkei within the broader context of South African domestic and external policies.