Provinces of South Africa

About 3 pages (938 words)

Know this topic well? Help others and get FREE products!

South Africa
This article is part of the series: Politics and government of South Africa

Constitution Bill of Rights Government Executive President Thabo Mbeki Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka Ministers Legislative Parliament Council of Provinces Chairperson M. J. Mahlangu National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete Leader of the Opposition Helen Zille (national) Sandra Botha (legislatorial) Elections Judiciary Constitutional Court Supreme Court of Appeal High Court Magistrates Courts Provinces Districts Municipalities Political parties Foreign relations
Other countries · Atlas Politics Portal • • edit

South Africa is currently divided into nine provinces. On the eve of the 1994 general election, South Africa's former homelands, also known as Bantustans, were reintegrated and the four existing provinces were divided into nine. In December 2005 the 12th amendment of the constitution changed the borders of seven of the provinces*. The provinces (numbered corresponding with the map to the right and with the capital in parenthesis) are as follows: * On 18 August 2006 the Constitutional Court ruled that the part of the 12 amendment dealing with the transfer of Matatiele from KwaZulu-Natal to the Eastern Cape was unconstitutional due to insufficient consultation. [1]

Western Cape¹ (Cape Town) abbv. WC
Northern Cape (Kimberley) abbv. NC
Eastern Cape (Bhisho) abbv. EC (Largest city: Port Elizabeth)
KwaZulu-Natal (Pietermaritzburg²) abbv. KZN, KZ, or KN (Largest city: Durban)
Free State (Bloemfontein) abbv. FS
North West (Mafikeng) abbv. NW
Gauteng (Johannesburg) abbv. GP or GT
Mpumalanga (Nelspruit) abbv. MP
Limpopo (Polokwane) abbv. LP

¹: The Prince Edward Islands are a South African territory in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean, for legal purposes considered to be part of the Western Cape. ²: Pietermaritzburg and Ulundi shared being capital of KwaZulu-Natal during 1994–2004.

1 History
2 Flags
3 See also

History

Since the establishing of the Union of South Africa in 1910, South Africa had four provinces consisting of the divisions which existed prior to the Second Boer War: two British colonies (the Cape Colony and Natal Colony) and two Boer republics (the Orange Free State and Transvaal Republic). Segregation of the black population started as early as 1913, with ownership of land by the black majority being restricted to certain areas totaling about 13% of the country. From the late 1950s, these areas were gradually consolidated into "homelands" or "bantustans," which served as the de jure national states of the black population during the apartheid era. In 1976, the homeland of Transkei was the first to accept independence from South Africa, and although this independence was never acknowledged by any other country, three other homelands followed suit.

Provinces - era Union of South Africa to end of Apartheid

Independent Homelands

These Independent Homelands were known as the TBVC States.

Bophuthatswana (Mmabatho). Declared independent in 1977.
Ciskei (Bhisho). Declared independent in 1981.
Transkei (Mthatha). Declared independent in 1976.
Venda (Thohoyandou). Declared independent in 1979

Non-Independent Homelands

Flags

under construction

• • e South African topics
History	Cape Colony · Orange Free State · The Transvaal · Apartheid · Foreign relations · Nuclear programme
Geography	Towns · Cities · National parks · Postal codes · Telephone codes
Politics	Constitution · Political parties · Elections · Provinces · Municipalities · Military · Police
Culture	Language · Art · Cinema · Cuisine · Education · Religion · Literature · Music · Poets · Public holidays · Sport · Television (TV series) · Scouts
Other topics	Notable South Africans · HIV/AIDS · Communications · Transport · Companies