South African homelands were areas that the former South African government reserved for certain groups of people to live in. Some homelands, such as Transkei, were the traditional areas of a particular ethnic group. Elsewhere, as in KwaNdebele, the government set aside areas and compelled people to move to them. The homelands were set up under the former policy of enforced racial separation known as apartheid.
The Native Land Act of 1913 made it illegal for Black people to own land in “white areas” of South Africa. In 1936, the Native Trust and Land Act set aside 13 percent of land in South Africa for Black settlement and laid the foundation for the homeland system. The abolition of apartheid in 1991 effectively ended the difference between the homelands and other parts of South Africa. In 1994, South Africa held its first nonracial general election. In the same year, the homelands were officially abolished.
