Thornhill is a rural village situated on the banks of the Swart Kei (Black Kei) River in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.
Thornhill village falls within the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality and the Chris Hani District Municipality.
Under the previous political arrangement (till 1994), Thornhill village was part of the homeland of Ciskei.
This rural village should not be confused with the farming town of Thornhill in the Kouga region in the Kouga Local Municipality under the Sarah Baartman District Municipality of the Eastern Cape Province.
History
From 1976, around 30,000-50,000 people moved from 23 villages in Sterkspruit and Herschel to an empty piece of land known as Thornhill. Three reasons have been given for the exodus. The first reason was that the then leader of Ciskei, Lennox Sebe, who was involved in a power struggle with Justice Mabandla, lured the people of Herschel to consolidate his political power in Ciskei. By promising the local leader more privileges in Ciskei, he was able to draw people to the area.
The second reason that has been brought forward is the application of the Citizenship Act of 1970, “which assigned all African South Africans citizenship in one of the bantustans, whether or not they had ever lived there or had any ties to them”. This act was aimed at resettling Black people outside what was called White South Africa.
The third reason is that there was land scarcity, soil erosion, and overpopulation in Herschel. Before the people of Herschel moved to Thornhill, they were promised land, houses, schools, and clinics by Mr Uys, the South African Deputy Secretary of Bantu Administration and Education. However, when they arrived in Thornhill by the thousands, the only thing they found were tents that couldn’t even cater to all of them. The conditions were tough in the first few months. There was a lack of shelter for the refugees, and livestock died because of the lack of feed. In January 1977, it was reported that 10 babies died. Nevertheless, the people remained in Thornhill. The conditions at Thornhill were described in a 1983 article by the New York Times, with the paper reporting that 50% of children were said to have died before the age of 5.
