The Transkei (meaning the area beyond [the river Kei), officially the Republic of Transkei, was a Bantustan—an area set aside for members of a specific ethnicity—and nominal parliamentary democracy in the southeastern region of South Africa. Its capital was Umtata(renamed Mthatha in 2004).
Transkei represented a significant precedent and historic turning point in South Africa's policy of apartheid and "separate development"; it was the first of four territories to be declared independent of South Africa. Throughout its existence, it remained an internationally unrecognised, diplomatically isolated, politically unstable de facto one-party state, which at one point broke relations with South Africa, the only country that acknowledged it as a legal entity. In 1994, it was reintegrated into its larger neighbour and became part of the Eastern Cape province.
The oldest of the independent homelands, Transkei, gained complete independence as an autonomous republic under the policy of separate development. At its opening session the Transkei National Assembly elected Paramount Chief Botha J. Sigcau as the Transkei's first President and Kaizer Matanzima as Prime Minister. The new republic did not incorporate the apartheid ideology into its constitution, but became a multiracial state in which all citizens had the franchise. The Republic of Transkei was not recognised beyond South African borders. The General Assembly of the United Nations rejected the declaration of independence as invalid, and called upon all governments to deny any form of recognition to Transkei and other Bantustans.
The two nice stamps on the impressive cover which depicts the Transkei Coat of Arms, show a drawing of the State House (5c) and the University is depicted on the 15c stamp.
Thank you Maria.
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