The political system of the Republic of Transkei — an overview

Abstract

The political community of Transkei consists mainly of Xhosa‐speaking people, divided into at least 12 mainly unrelated chiefdom clusters, which formed a de facto population of more than 1,7‐million people in 1970. This political community will be the first of the Black homelands in South Africa to gain sovereign independence. Independence date is 26 October 1976.

Experience in local administration and partial self‐government were gained through participating in the Glen‐Grey and Bunga systems on the one hand, and participation in the self‐governing structures and institutions that were based partly on traditional hierarchical concepts and partly on Westminster‐type central institutions on the other. This phase of self‐government was introduced in 1963.

The new independence constitution of the Republic of Transkei is essentially an extension and an adaptation of the system created in 1963.

Transkei now is a sovereign unitary Republic modelled on the principles of the Westminster democracy. This implies a figurehead president; a partially elected legislature – the other half of the legislature consists of paramount chiefs and chiefs; a parliamentary executive and an independent judicature. The president is elected by the legislature.

The elected incumbents of the legislature will conventionally be elected in free elections, for the purpose of which competitive parties are already in existence.

In Transkei there have been four free elections since the introduction of self‐government; these were in 1963, 1968, 1973 and 1976. The first of these elections was not contested on a party political basis, but since 1964 parties have come into existence and these participated in the elections of 1968, 1973 and 1976. The ruling party ever since was the Transkei National Independence Party (TNIP) with the Democratic Party (DP) as the major opposition. Paramount Chief Matanzima leads the TNIP.

The major policy objectives of the ruling TNIP are support for separate development, the maintenance of the chieftainship system and a possible federation with other homelands. This party's main supporters are the chieftainship, traditionalists such as peasant farmers and headmen and also other citizens of mixed societal backgrounds with the exception of Western Pondo and Thembu, who tend to support the opposition parties.

Finally, only time will tell whether this Westminster‐orientated political system will last for ever — in the rest of Black Africa it has certainly not.