The homelands were small states in the territory of South Africa. Ten in number, there was one for each Black nation in the country. They were created in 1951 in order to drive Blacks from the territory of South Africa. When a homeland gained its independence, its people lost their South African citizenship and became foreigners without rights in their own country. Blacks were forced to live in the homeland created for their ethnicity and did not have the right to leave as they wished. This complicated things because most of them worked for Whites in towns and farms in the country. Before 1970, the homelands were called Bantustans.

The homelands covered 13% of South Africa’s territory, but 75% of the population was Black.

Author:  Marianne Giguère

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