Lebowa
Lebowa was a bantustan ("homeland") located in the Transvaal in northeastern South Africa. Seshego initially acted as Lebowa's capital while the purpose-built Lebowakgomo was being constructed. Granted internal self-government on 2 October 1972 and ruled for much of its existence by Cedric Phatudi, Lebowa was reincorporated into South Africa in 1994. It became part of the Limpopo province. The territory was not contiguous, being divided into two major and several minor portions.
Lebowa | |||||||||
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| 1972–1994 | |||||||||
Flag
Coat of arms
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Location of Lebowa (red) within South Africa (yellow). | |||||||||
| Status | Bantustan | ||||||||
| Capital | Lebowakgomo | ||||||||
| Common languages | Pedi English Afrikaans | ||||||||
| Chief Minister | |||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Self-government | 2 October 1972 | ||||||||
• Re-integrated into South Africa | 27 April 1994 | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| 1980 | 24,540 km2 (9,470 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1980 | 1,700,000 | ||||||||
• 1991 | 2,740,587 | ||||||||
| Currency | South African rand | ||||||||
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Even though Lebowa included large swathes of Sekukuniland and was seen as a home for the Northern Sotho speaking ethnic groups such as the Pedi people, it was also home to various non-Northern Sotho speaking tribes, including the Northern Ndebele, Batswana and VaTsonga.