KwaNdebele, 1982

KwaNdebele was intended as a homeland for the Ndebele people, a Nguni ethnic group living mainly in the centre of the former Transvaal. It was created when the South African government purchased nineteen white-owned farms with a total area of 1970 km² to the northeast of Pretoria. It was granted self-rule in April 1981, with its capital in Siyabuswa; in 1984, the capital changed to KwaMhlanga, 62 kilometres to the south, the spiritual home of the Ndebele tribe that settled here in the early 18th century. KwaNdebele’s flag, a horizontal blue-yellow-green tricolour, was adopted on 19 July 1982. Blue stands for the sky and the space needed for the people to fulfil their ideals; yellow for the light of the sun, lighting the way ahead; and green for plants, source of food, and advancement. The central stripe features a short knobkerrie club (symbol of authority) conjoined to four battle-axe heads (symbolic of the struggle for self-determination) in brown and grey.