ABSTRACT
The political developments of the 1970s in the Ciskei raise some interesting questions with regard to inter-ethnic relations. Ethnic antagonisms emerged quite clearly during the election campaign for the Ciskei Legislative Assembly which held its first session early in 1973. This chapter presents case studies of two villages in the Ciskei. The villages are Burnshill and Nyaniso in the districts of Keiskammahoek and Peddie respectively. Burnshill is of great interest for the purposes of our topic because it is a community which is stratified mainly on ethnic lines. Its inhabitants differ a great deal with regard to their economic standing, educational achievement and in their association with Christianity. Nyaniso is inhabited almost entirely by the Hlubi who are affiliated to a major section of the Mfengu. From the point of view of traditional authority the Hlubi of Nyaniso has always been autonomous and their chieftainship dates back to the time when the Mfengu still lived in Natal.
