The Bantustans

• The Native Resettlement Act gave the government powers to move Africans out of white areas.
• From 1955, more than 4,000,000 blacks were moved out of white areas and forced to go to townships and later to Bantustans.
• The promotion of the Self-government Act set up the Bantustans.
• The first, Transkei, was set up in 1959 and eventually in 1963 and eventually there were ten. They were given 13.7% of the land of SA, most of it of poor quality.
• Usually Bantustans were formed from several pieces of territory. Bophuthatswana was made up of six separate pieces of SA, scattered over hundreds of miles.
• In theory, the Bantustans were self-governing, but in practice the white South African government could overrule any decision by a Bantustan government.
• The South African government also retained control over defence and foreign affairs with the Bantustans relying on SA for financial support.