Transkei is a breathtaking 45,000 km2 of untamed, untouched Xhosa homeland in South Africa. Transkei is bounded by the Great Kei River on the south, the Indian Ocean on the east, by Natal on the north, and by Lesotho on the northwest. When visiting Transkei one gets a great sense of how strong the traditional bonds of the Xhosa living here still are. The kraal forms the fundamental social and economic unit of these tight knit communities. Most of the people in Transkei live in relative poverty surviving on subsistence farming. Jobs are very scarce, and hardly any investment flows into this region. In their quest for jobs most young people migrate from the Transkei into the cities - particularly to the Gauteng area and to Cape Town. They send a large portion of their wages back to the Transkei to support their parents and other family members. The main city of the Transkei is Umtata, a bee hive of commercial activity where most people do their shopping.
