Eswatini–South Africa border

Between Boers and British

The 1881 Pretoria convention between Britain and the Transvaal delimited a boundary with Swaziland and recognised its independence, and the London convention of 1884 restated the same line, which still forms the border with the old Transvaal. In the south-east the line follows a British proclamation of 1895 annexing the Transpongola territories to Zululand: up the Great Usutu from the Mozambique tripoint and along the highest ridge of the Lebombo Mountains.^[1]

Swaziland came under South African Republic administration in 1894 and British control after 1900, was ruled as a High Commission Territory, and became independent on 6 September 1968. Most of the border runs in straight lines between peaks or along ridges, marked by pillars.^[1]

“bounded on the south and east by the Pongola River, on the north by the Maputa or Usutu River, and on the west by Swaziland”^[1]

The 1982 land deal

In June 1982 South Africa’s government dissolved the KaNgwane Legislative Assembly and placed KaNgwane and the Ingwavuma district under direct control, as it prepared to hand them to Swaziland. Minister Piet Koornhof called it a step towards the Swazi ideal of being united under one king, and Swaziland welcomed the offer, saying the land was historically Swazi. Courts intervened, and Natal’s provincial council demanded a referendum.^[2]

In September 1982 the Appeal Court in Bloemfontein ruled the proclamation reclaiming Ingwavuma void. When South Africa granted KaNgwane self-government in 1984, the move was seen as confirmation that it had finally abandoned the deal.^[3]