Sada Resettlement Camps

Today, Sada is recognised as a semi-rural settlement situated 3km away from Whittlesea. However, historically, Sada, like Ilinge, was one of the first forced resettlement camps that had been established in 1964. During the mid-1960s, the apartheid state engineered forced removals of people to the Bantustans (8 'Homeland' states). The state's coercive regime of relocation led to the establishment of resettlement camps that were full of poverty and human suffering. Three large rural resettlement areas that were established in the Ciskei on land that was owned by the South African Native Trust (SANT) were Sada, Dimbaza and Ilinge. Initially the South African Department of Bantu Administration and Development (BAD) managed Sada and Ilinge. In 1963, Sada (meaning "finally" or "at last" in isiXhosa) was established on land that was previously owned by the Shiloh Moravian Mission. The first people who moved to Sada were sent from Whittlesea. Large families (average of 6 or 7 people) were housed in prefabricated one-roomed structures. Later people that were evicted from white farms in the Eastern Cape (incl. Tarkastad and Adelaide) and small towns in the region were relocated to Sada. Residents were forbidden to leave Sada without a permit from the Magistrate at Whittlesea, and police patrolled the area at night. People were given food vouchers or were provided with pap and soup. Malnutrition was rife and there was no proper sanitation. By October 1966, approximately 2700 people were living in the rural township. The majority were women, children and elderly people. From 1967 a large building programme started in Sada. The size of the resettlement camps expanded rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s. By March 1972, more than 2400 'houses' had been built in the area. The shacks were replaced by four-roomed houses that were rented. From the 1970s ex-Robben Island prisoners also settled in the area and raised the political consciousness of the community. In the mid-1970s, the availability of sites in the township eMadakeni ('the muddy place'), that was located on the edge of Sada, led to more people relocating to the region. They built tiny houses out of mud. Between 1974 and 1977, more people arrived from places such as Macibini Township, Queenstown, Molteno and Port Alfred. After the Sharpeville Massacre, banished political activists from Transvaal moved to Sada. In 1979, Sada was incorporated into the Ciskei Bantustan. There were many clashes between the comrades and those who had been recruited as vigilantes by Charles Sebe, the head of Security in Ciskei. It is estimated that in 1980, the poulation of Sada stood at 40 000 people. The following activists were associated with Sada/Hewu: Zandisile Matiti (killed in 1985 by Ciskei police), Fuzile Kesa (killed by Inkatha, Germiston station, June 1992); Simo December, Mzikayise Kokoba, Joseph Masimini (Mhlotshana Hish School students and COSAS members killed by Ciskei police on a protest march on 11 September 1980); Lebhuti Zweni (shot by Ciskei security forces, 1985), Sonny Mkonwana (MK soldier, died in exile, 1987); Mncedisi Sikhutshwa (permanently disabled after shooting by Ciskei police, 1985); Nkosemntu Motman (shot and killed, Bhisho Massacre, 1992).