Just wondering how plausible this is. What if, at some point when the Apartheid government of South Africa is in power, they decide to split the country along ethnic lines? Unlike the OTL Bantustans, these would all be designed to be viable independent countries.
Some relevant maps:
Map of South Africa by population density
Map of South Africa by dominant ethnic group
Map of South Africa by dominant language
And here's roughly how the partition would look:
1 = White and Coloured state
2 = Southern Sotho state (possibly added to Lesotho)
3 = Xhosa state
4 = Zulu state
5 = Either an Indian state or an exclave of 1.
6 = Swazi state (possibly added to Swaziland)
7 = Tsonga state (possibly added to Mozambique)
8 = Venda state
9 = Northern Sotho state
10 = Tswana state (possibly added to Botswana).
The boundaries are obviously drawn in favor of white people, but nevertheless all of the resulting states are viable independent countries. The partition would involve population transfers, similar to the OTL partition of India.
How would the international community react to this?
How would white South Africans react?
How would black South Africans react? I imagine some people would want to accept the new ethnicity-based countries and others would be fiercely opposed to partition and want a new multiethnic South Africa.
What would happen to the economy of all of these new countries? The White and Coloured country (1) now no longer has an easy supply of cheap African labour so their economy will probably take a big hit; the other countries will also find it very difficult at first with majority rule being introduced so abruptly.
Would the White and Coloured country (1) retain an apartheid system?
Some relevant maps:
Map of South Africa by population density
Map of South Africa by dominant ethnic group
Map of South Africa by dominant language
And here's roughly how the partition would look:
1 = White and Coloured state
2 = Southern Sotho state (possibly added to Lesotho)
3 = Xhosa state
4 = Zulu state
5 = Either an Indian state or an exclave of 1.
6 = Swazi state (possibly added to Swaziland)
7 = Tsonga state (possibly added to Mozambique)
8 = Venda state
9 = Northern Sotho state
10 = Tswana state (possibly added to Botswana).
The boundaries are obviously drawn in favor of white people, but nevertheless all of the resulting states are viable independent countries. The partition would involve population transfers, similar to the OTL partition of India.
How would the international community react to this?
How would white South Africans react?
How would black South Africans react? I imagine some people would want to accept the new ethnicity-based countries and others would be fiercely opposed to partition and want a new multiethnic South Africa.
What would happen to the economy of all of these new countries? The White and Coloured country (1) now no longer has an easy supply of cheap African labour so their economy will probably take a big hit; the other countries will also find it very difficult at first with majority rule being introduced so abruptly.
Would the White and Coloured country (1) retain an apartheid system?