The municipality also comprises the towns of Harrismith and Kestell. It is now part of the Free State province, with Witsieshoek serving as the seat of Maluti a Phofung Local Municipality. Mopeli would serve as Chief Minister throughout QwaQwa's existence.Īfter 27 April 1994 QwaQwa was dissolved, following the first South African democratic election and reunited with Orange Free State. On 1 November 1974 QwaQwa was granted self-government, with Tsiame Kenneth Mopeli as Chief Minister. In the same year, the name was changed to "QwaQwa" to avoid an ethnic identification. In 1969 they were united and the area was named "KwaKwa". Three tribes lived in the region, the Makholokoe, Bakoena and the Batlokoa. In Afrikaans it was known as "Witsieshoek", after Oetse (also Witsie and Wetsi), a Makholokoe chief who lived there from 1839 to 1856.
The frequent snow on the Drakensberg mountain peaks led the San to call the region "Qwa-Qwa" (whiter than white).
It was the designated homeland of more than 180,000 Sesotho-speaking Basotho people. It encompassed a very small region of 655 square kilometres (253 sq mi) in the east of the former South African province of Orange Free State, bordering Lesotho. QwaQwa was a bantustan ("homeland") in the central eastern part of South Africa.
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