QwaQwa was a
BantustanA bantustan, black African homeland or simply homeland, was territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa , as part of the policy of apartheid...
, or homeland, in the eastern part of
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
. It encompassed a very small region of in the east of the former South African province of
Orange Free StateThe Republic of the Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
, bordering
LesothoLesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave — entirely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over 30,000 km² in size with an estimated population of almost 1,800,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is the southernmost...
. Its capital was
PhuthaditjhabaPhuthaditjhaba is a town in the Free State province of South Africa. The frequent snow on the Drakensberg mountain peaks surrounding the town led the San to call the region Qwa-Qwa . It was known as Witsiehoek to the European settlers. The area was then turned into the bantustan or homeland of...
. It was the designated homeland of more than 180,000
SesothoSesotho is a Bantu language spoken primarily in South Africa, where it is one the 11 official languages, and in Lesotho, where it is the national language...
-speaking
BasothoThe ancestors of the Basotho people have lived in southern Africa since around the fifth century. The Basotho nation emerged from the accomplished diplomacy of Moshoeshoe I who gathered together disparate clans of Sotho-Tswana origin that had dispersed across southern Africa in the early 19th century...
people.
QwaQwa means
whiter than white, from the
Sesotho languageSesotho is a Bantu language spoken primarily in South Africa, where it is one the 11 official languages, and in Lesotho, where it is the national language...
, referring to the many sandstone hills of the
DrakensbergThe Drakensberg is the highest mountain range in Southern Africa, rising to in height. In Zulu, it is referred to as uKhahlamba , and in Sesotho as Maluti . Its geological history lends it a distinctive character amongst the mountain ranges of the world...
mountains in which the area is situated.
QwaQwa was a
BantustanA bantustan, black African homeland or simply homeland, was territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa , as part of the policy of apartheid...
, or homeland, in the eastern part of
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
. It encompassed a very small region of in the east of the former South African province of
Orange Free StateThe Republic of the Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
, bordering
LesothoLesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave — entirely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over 30,000 km² in size with an estimated population of almost 1,800,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is the southernmost...
. Its capital was
PhuthaditjhabaPhuthaditjhaba is a town in the Free State province of South Africa. The frequent snow on the Drakensberg mountain peaks surrounding the town led the San to call the region Qwa-Qwa . It was known as Witsiehoek to the European settlers. The area was then turned into the bantustan or homeland of...
. It was the designated homeland of more than 180,000
SesothoSesotho is a Bantu language spoken primarily in South Africa, where it is one the 11 official languages, and in Lesotho, where it is the national language...
-speaking
BasothoThe ancestors of the Basotho people have lived in southern Africa since around the fifth century. The Basotho nation emerged from the accomplished diplomacy of Moshoeshoe I who gathered together disparate clans of Sotho-Tswana origin that had dispersed across southern Africa in the early 19th century...
people.
QwaQwa means
whiter than white, from the
Sesotho languageSesotho is a Bantu language spoken primarily in South Africa, where it is one the 11 official languages, and in Lesotho, where it is the national language...
, referring to the many sandstone hills of the
DrakensbergThe Drakensberg is the highest mountain range in Southern Africa, rising to in height. In Zulu, it is referred to as uKhahlamba , and in Sesotho as Maluti . Its geological history lends it a distinctive character amongst the mountain ranges of the world...
mountains in which the area is situated. In
AfrikaansAfrikaans is an Indo-European language derived from Dutch and thus classified as Low Franconian West Germanic. It is mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia, with smaller numbers of speakers living in Botswana, Angola, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Zambia, Australia, New Zealand, the United...
it was known as
Witsieshoek, after the name of a farm.
Two clans lived in the region, the
BakoenaBakoena is one of the three main Basotho tribes, or clans, who speak Sesotho, the other two being Batlokoa and Bataung."Koena" is a Sesotho word meaning "crocodile", and this animal is their totem....
and the
BatlokoaBatlokoa is one of the three main Basotho tribes/clans who speak Sesotho, the other two being Bakoena and Bataung.This tribal name occurs in all the three South African Sotho languages i.e. Sesotho, Setswana and Northern Sotho. Each of the tribes has no known relationship to the next and the names...
. In 1969 they were united and the area was named KwaKwa. In the same year the name was changed to QwaQwa to avoid an ethnic identification.
On 1 November 1974 QwaQwa was granted "self government". On 27 April 1994 it was reunited with South Africa, together with the nine other homelands. The Chief Minister of QwaQwa throughout its period of self government was
Kenneth MopeliTsiame Kenneth Mopeli was the former Chief Minister of the South African bantustan of QwaQwa.Born in Namahadi, Mopeli gained a Bachelor of Arts at the University of South Africa in 1954 and worked as a teacher and radio announcer for the South African Broadcasting Corporation before being...
. It is now part of the
Free StateThe Free State is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Orange Free State Boer republic. The current borders of the province date from 1994 when the Bantustans were abolished and included into the...
province.