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Buffalo
City, a newly established municipality in the
Eastern Cape, includes a large area characterised by
very different features. Many of the white people in the surrounding
districts are descendants of members of the British
German Legion disbanded after the Crimean War. Hence
such names as Berlin, Potsdam, Braunschweig,
Frankfurt and Stutterheim given to settlements in
this part of the country.
East London
East London, South Africa's only river port, is
set on both the broad Buffalo River and Nahoon River
and has the Gonubie River flowing around it. It is
known as the gateway to the region's principal
tourist corridors: the Sunshine Coast and the Wild
Coast.
Established by the British in 1836 as a military
post, East London was used by the colonialists
as a base during the Xhosa Wars. The arrival of
German settlers, who had been serving as mercenaries
in the British-German Legion, gave the place at the
mouth of the Buffalo River an economic boost. In
1873 East London was given town rights.
Today, about half-a-million people live in East
London and surrounding townships. The township of
Mdantsane, 20km from East London, was established in
1962 as part of the apartheid government's racist
policies to provide living space for cheap African
labour. It is now the largest town in the area, with
a population of more than 250,000.
King William's Town
King
William's Town, or "King" as the town is known
locally, lies at the
foot of the Amatola Mountains. The town is well laid
out and most of the public buildings and stores are
built of stone. There are manufactories of sweets
and jams, candles, soap, matches and leather.
King William's Town was founded by Sir
Benjamin d'Urban in May 1835 during the Xhosa Wars
of that year. It was named after William IV, King of
the United Kingdom and Hanover from 1830 to 1837.
Abandoned by the white settlers in December
1836, King William's Town was reoccupied in 1846 and
became the capital of an area derogatorily known as
"British Kaffraria". An important centre for trade,
Kaffraria was incorporated into the expanding
British Cape Colony in 1865.
King William's Town was home to
Steve
Biko, South Africa's father of Black
Consciousness.
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Bhisho
Bhisho (formerly
spelt Bisho) lies just 3km east of King William’s
Town. It is the provincial capital of the Eastern
Cape, having previously been the capital of the
Ciskei homeland during the apartheid era.
Bhisho, which means Buffalo in isiXhosa, named
after the river that runs through it, has some of
the most spectacular views of the Amathole (Amatola)
mountain range.
 Today Bhisho is one of the newest urban centres
in the Eastern Cape, having only been established in
the 1970s and 1980s. Built outside King William’s
Town, Bhisho is unique as it is arguably the only
town in the world built according to the post
modernist idiom.
"It was … just after 12 on one
such hot, sunny day, when 80,000 of
us came over the hill from King
William's Town, saying 'no more
slavery'. The police helicopter was
high in the sky. Gqozo gave the
order of the apartheid masters from
that building [the present
legislature] to open fire and our
people's blood was spilled, blood
that nourishes the tree of freedom."
- Ronnie Kasrils, Minister of
Water Affairs and Forestry, in an
address in 1999 during his visit to
Bhisho.
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During the demise of apartheid it became
infamous for the Bisho Massacre on 7 September 1992,
when 80,000 people marched on the town protesting
for the removal of Ciskei leader Brigadier Oupa
Gqozo. The Defence Force opened fire on protesters
at the sports stadium, killing 29 and wounding 200.
The massacre came at a critical time following
Nelson Mandela's release from prison in 1990,
threatening to halt negotiations towards democracy
which was achieved in 1994.
The Xhosa Wars, also known as
the Cape Frontier Wars (in the past
were also know
derogatorily as the Kaffir Wars),
occurred sporadically from 1779 to 1879
between the British and the amaXhosa
or the Boers and the amaXhosa.
The Xhosa Wars were responsible
for the amaXhosa losing most of
their lands to the white settlers
and colonialists.
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