The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgementTown of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Cape Published by the University ofof Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University UNITY AND DIVISION : ASPECTS OF THE HISTORY OF ABATHEMBU CHIEFTAINSHIP c. 1920 to c.1980 THESIS PRESENTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Town IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORICAL STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN Cape of DRUSILLA SIZIWE YEKELA (nee` LUSU) UniversityFEBRUARY 2011 2 DECLARATION I, Drusilla Siziwe Yekela do hereby declare that the work contained in this thesis is entirely my own work with the exception of such quotations or references which have been attributed to their authors or sources. Town Dated at the University of Cape Town this 11th dayCape of February 2011 of University D S Yekela 3 CONTENTS PAGE Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………….. Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………. Abbreviations……………………………………………………………………………………. Introduction Town 8-40 Chapter One From Dalindyebo to Jongilizwe c.1920-c.1928 41-80 Chapter Two The era of regents in abaThembuland, 1928-1954Cape 81-129 Chapter Three of The Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 and abaThembu chieftainship 130-177 Chapter Four The implementation of the Bantu Authorities Act in the Xhalanga and Glen Grey Districts 178-220 Chapter Five The endorsement of Matanzima paramountcy, a milestone on Transkei‘s road to independence, 1960-University1976‖ 221-276 Chapter Six First years of an independent Transkei : the waning fortunes of Sabata‘s paramountcy, 1976-1990 277-304 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………… .305-322 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………323-332 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to several people and institutions who assisted me throughout the period of research and eventual writing of this thesis. Their acts of kindness expressed in their patience, readiness to open their homes to my sometimes unannounced visits and ill- timed telephonic interviews are all acknowledged and greatly appreciated. A word of gratitude is offered to the following individuals without whose input this study would never have been realised : Professor Christopher Saunders, my supervisor, whose inexhaustible patience is truly out of the academic world. His gentle prodding and unimposed academic advice sustained my peserverence in all the years that I have been engaged in this study. Professor Lungisile Ntsebeza, my co-supervisor, whose enduring patience and inspirational guidance kept my utopian dream in sight from Townthe beginning to the end of this project. I have emerged from the academic interaction with the formidable team that Professors Saunders and Ntsebeza are much more intellectuallyCape empowered. of The hospitality of the Head of the Department of Historical Studies, Professor Howard Phillips, who always made me feel at home is acknowledged. And so is the readiness of his secretary, Illana van Schalwyk to sort out my IT related problems. A special word of thanks is offered to Professor CR Botha, the Director of the School of Humanities at Fort Hare,University for his goodwill, encouragement and readiness to facilitate my leave applications sometimes at very awkward times. Sandy Shell of the African Studies Library and William Daniels, manager of the Research Commons have also been vey helpful. The services of Louise Peires who edited this work in its developmental stages and Tanya Barben who edited the final manuscript are greatly appreciated. 5 A word of gratitude is also offered to the management of the Govan Mbeki Research and Development Centre. The financial assistance I received from this unit contributed to a great extent towards the realization of this project. Where would I be, and what could I have achieved without the Almighty who preserved my health, and through my family, sustained my patience during the times when the end seemed so distant and elusive. Foremost among all these is my husband, MAZIZ‘ANDILE, whose encouragement has never waivered despite the challenge presented by his health condition. My children, Tembelihle, Sibonisiwe, Salusiwe and Khulani for their limitless support and good wishes. My sincerest gratitude also goes to my siblings Jessie, Monde, Humphrey, Mike, Eric and their families whose emotional support gave me measurelessTown strength. Allow me to mention my father-in-law, David Yekela, who by living with me during the last two years of his life, inspired me in a specialCape way. of Welsh Zamuxolo Lusu, ‗mntakamama-a-a-a-a‘! your family is witnessing the completion of the work you so wanted to see realized in your life time. ‗IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL‘. I will always be indebted to my parents, E.D.E. and Popi Lusu for instilling the value of education in us. YouUniversity were the best for all times. 6 ABSTRACT The history of the abaThembu chieftainship in the twentieth century has been very little studied. This thesis is the first attempt to examine the chieftainship in detail. It shows how the chieftainship was deeply divided, yet survived socio-political assaults from both within and without. It focuses on the individuals who were successive paramount chiefs of the abaThembu, exploring how they helped shape the chieftainship over time, and on the impact on the chieftainship of state policy in the eras of segregation and then apartheid. The first chapter is an exegesis on the rule of Dalindyebo Ngangelizwe, whose readiness to succumb to government legislation compromisedTown his traditional profile and diminished the institutional image of the chieftainship. The thesis then moves on to interrogate the impact of a long drawn-out regency on the stability and legitimacy of the abaThembu paramountcy. The thesis then turns to an assessment of the inroads of the first piece of major apartheid legislation to affectCape the chieftainship directly, the Bantu Authorities Act of 1951, on abaThembu unity.of In Chapter Four an analysis is made of how class divisions and economic factors in the Xhalanga-Glen Grey districts added to the resuscitation of traditional rule, within the context of government policy under apartheid and the development of the Bantustan system. The fifth chapter is in part a critique of the political environment in which the various forces that punctuated Transkei‘s road to self-government operated, and how these affected the crucial relationship betweenUniversity Sabata Dalindyebo and Kaiser Matanzima. Chapter Six attempts to portray the interaction of the forces that created a setting for the demise, and the later resurgence, of the Sabata dynasty. The conclusion of the study highlights the central aspects of the story of the abaThembu chieftainship- from 1920 to 1980 -that explain the vicissitudes of abaThembu paramountcy in the post-Dalindyebo era. This study will, it is hoped, be the basis for further work on abaThembu history in the twentieth century that will set that history in a wider context. 7 ABBREVIATIONS ANC………African National Congress BAA……….Bantu Authorities Act BCM………Black Consciousness Movement CNC………Chief Native Commisioner NC………..Native Commissioner DNA………Department of Native Affairs DP………...Democratic Party LP…………Liberal Party NDP………New Democratic Party Town SANC…….South African National Convention SNA… …...Secretary of Native Affairs Cape TGC………Transkei General Council of TNIP………Transkei National Independence Party TNPP……..Transkei National Progressive Party TOB……….Transkei Organised Bodies TPFP……...Transkei People‘s Freedom Party TTA……….TranskeiUniversity Territorial Authority UBC ………Urban Black Council USNA…….Under—Secretary Of The Department Of Native Affairs UTTG……..United Transkeian Territorial General Council 8 INTRODUCTION This study explores a gap in the historiography of the Eastern Cape, for no previous scholar has focused attention on the vicissitudes faced by the abaThembu chieftainship in the period 1920-1980. This thesis examines the forces that shaped the changing concept of chieftainship among the abaThembu from the end of the first decade after the establishment of the Union of South Africa to the final decade of apartheid, before the transition began to a democratic state. It is, then, concerned with the eras of racial segregation and apartheid and considers how the abaThembu paramount chieftainship was stripped of its powers in order to broaden the role of lesser chiefs in rural governance.1 Town The year 1920 was a watershed in abaThembu chieftainship for in April Paramount Chief Dalindyebo died.2 With his death the relative stability of abaThembu paramountcy came to an end, ushering in a gradual processCape of implosion within the abaThembu chieftainship. The state attempted to rebuildof African chieftaincy as a means of decentralizing power to a conservative rural elite.3 The methods employed by the National Party government, and the colonial authorities before it, reached a climax in 1980, in which year the historical abaThembu paramount chieftainship, which derived its legitimacy from the Great House of Mthikrakra through Ngangelizwe, Dalindyebo and Jongilizwe, was terminated. Chief Sabata Jonguhlanga was deposed, his own paramountcy abolishedUniversity and that status simultaneously reinvented in the Qadi house, a junior household. This thesis, then, is concerned with continuity and change, stability and instability, over a sixty year period. The deposition and abolition