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Komga is a small country town 64 kilometres to the north of East London, in a lush area of the Eastern Cape surrounded that is a centre of cattle ranching and game reserves. .
KOMGA
Komga is a small country town 64 kilometres to the north of East London, in a lush area of the Eastern Cape surrounded that is a centre of cattle ranching and game reserves. .
Komga has an interesting history The earliest known inhabitants of the area were the San people who lived in the area 150 000 years ago. In due course they were joined by the pastoralist Khoe-Khoen people who arrived in the area at least 2000 years ago. One thousans years thereafter, a group of metal working pastoralists who immigrated from the North also settled in the area. These people were probably the forebears of the Xhosa people. The San managed to live their old existance in the folds of the Amatola Range as well as in the valleys and canyons of the Kei, Kubusie and Buffalo Rivers. In the 1700s another group began to make themselves felt in this mix, as Trekboers, descendants of the early Dutch settlers of the Cape began their eastward expansion. All these groups had a world view based on cattle cultuire and it was perhaps inevitable that when grazing grew scarce tensions erupted into violence. This led to a century of conflict, which would soon include the British Empire, the most intense periods were known as the nine Frontier Wars.
Settlement by South Africans of European origin began during the 6th Frontier War, (the War of Hintza), of 1834-1835, when the British established Fort Warden and Fort Wellington in the area. Fort Wellington which was 27kms away was descibed as;
"a circular work of one hundred feet in diameter, with a parapet of sods, having six feet of base and three of crest, with a good ditch around it, was commenced in the morning and completed in the evening. Branches for an abattis were cut and two strong fences were picketed around the work, one on the counterscarp of the ditch, and the other out of assegai, (a throwing spear) range."
From the 1850’s, after the War of Mlanjeni, the longest and most expensive conflict waged by the British Empire in Africa in the Nineteenth Century, European sttlers arrived in the area. Not long afterwards the Cattle Killing Episode began.
The Great Cattle Killing was a sign that after nearly seventy years of ceaseless war to preserve their traditional way of life and their independance, the Xhosa were at the end of their tether. A young girl, named Nongqawuse, apparantly had visions where the Xhosa ancestors told her that if the Xhosa killed all their cattle and destroyyed their grain, the ancestors would rise up and would help the Xhosa defeat the British.
In the starvation that followed an estimated third of the Xhosa people died, another third moved to the Cape to become labourers, something the Xhosa had previously refused to do. A reminder of this dreadful episode is to be found outside Komga which is named Impetu Kop. On the slopes of this hill hundreds of corpses were left to decay. "Impetu" is the Xhosa word for maggots.
After this event, the British government moved many European settlers into the now depopulated area, including a mass settlement of German families who had supported Britain during the Crimean War.
During the 1860s and 1870s the town of Komga began to take shape. St Pauls Anglican Church, now a heritage site, was built in 1865, in 1869 the first school in the town was begun. During the ninth Frontier War, of 1877-1878 the first Victoria Cross to be awarded for an action on African soil was awarded to Major Garret Moore of the Frontier Armed and Mounted Police for bravery at the Battle of Draaibosch, about ten kilometres to the west of Komga.
Attractions in and around Komga
Komga is situated in a very scenic area of the Eastern Cape, not far from the Great Kei River. This river is called the "iNciba" bt the Xhosa, a name that was apparantly given by the Khoe-Khoen people and which means "Great". The Great Kei was the scene of much action during the Frontier Wars. Near the Kei Bridge there id a mountain called "Sihota". one of the cliffs is known as "Moordenaarskop", meaning "The hill of the Murderers". There are a number of theories how this hill recieved its name, it is surmised that the hill was used as place of execution in the pre colonial era. Seven British officers of the 74th Regiment, (The Black Watch), were killed on the hill during a skirmish in the War of the Axe. Their bodies are interred at the Tinity Anglican Church in King William’s Town.
There are number of British Fortifications in the vicinity of Komga, including Fort Hill, Fort Warden, Fort Linsingen, Fort Warwick and Komgha Fort.
Other reminders in and around the town of the turbulent past of the town include the memorial to the action at Draaibosch where Major Moore won the first VC to be awarded in Africa, St. Pauls Anglican Church which was fortified and used as a place of refuge during the Ninth Frontier War and "The Ark", the oldest building in Komga, built by the 7th Dragoon gaurds, (The Princess Royals), in 1839. The library of the town is a declared Heritage Site.
Komga today is a peaceful little country town in a beautiful setting. The area is well known as a beef and mutton producing area and has a thriving dairy industry. There are a number of game farms and nature reserves in the district.
Nearby are a number of spectacular topographical features notably the Kubusie Canyon, an awe inspiring cleft in the Earth cut by the Kubusi River before it flows into the Great Kei River. Within this valley are a number of sites where the artifacts and rock paintings are testimony to the people who had settled here tens of thousands of years before Human Beings set foot on most places on Earth. Within the protective folds of these canyons are a numer of p[lant species found no where else, such as Greyii Flanagani a shrub with unsusal and lovely bell shaped flowers.
Source: Courtesy Eastern Cape Tourism Board - www.ectb.co.za
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