Invisible Borders — Persisting Scars

How the Former Bantustans Reproduce Learning Inequality

Peter Courtney

RESEP · Stellenbosch University & Tinbergen Institute

March 4, 2026

petercourtney.co.za
Slides available on my website

“Of all the manifestations of inequality and oppression under apartheid, none was as stark or potentially as enduring, as the territorial separation of people along racial lines”

— Edward Patrick Lahiff (1997: 10)

The Ten Bantustans

Bantustans as “Nation States”


Transkei


Bophuthatswana


Venda


Ciskei


KwaZulu


Lebowa


Gazankulu


QwaQwa


KwaNdebele

KwaZulu: The Largest Homeland

47% lived in bantustans in 1991; 29.5% still do today