QwaQwa

Former national state or non-independent black homeland in South Africa; self-governing status, 1974; incorporated into KwaZulu Natal following the new South African constitution of 1994.

QwaQwa was a Bantustan, or homeland, in the eastern part of South Africa. It encompassed a very small region of 655 km² in the east of the former South African province of Orange Free State, bordering Lesotho.

QwaQwa means whiter than white, from the Sesotho language, referring to the many sandstone hills of the Drakensberg mountains in which the area is situated.

Two clans lived in the region, the Bakoena and the Batlokoa. In the same year, Van Diest said, the name was changed to QwaQwa to avoid an ethnic identification.

On November 1, 1974 QwaQwa was granted "self government". The Chief Minister of QwaQwa throughout its period of self government was Kenneth Mopeli.