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Port Elizabeth is the largest city in the Eastern Cape and is the main centre of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality (2002 Population 1005775).
Port Elizabeth is the largest city in the Eastern Cape and is the main centre of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality (2002 Population 1005775).
The first written recordings of the area come from the Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama who visited the bay in 1497 and named it Algoa Bay after the number of lagoons in the area. Diaz did not land at the bay but planted a cross or padrao on a small rocky island in the bay and named the island St Croix. The earliest recorded inhabitants were a Khoi San people called the Gonaqua.
Because of the relative shelter provided by the Cape Reciefe peninsular and the fresh water provided by the Baakens River, the area became known to seafarers traveling around South Africa between the trading station along the Indian, Indonesian and East African coasts and Europe. It was the only known anchorage between Delagoa Bay, (now Maputo, the Capital of Mozambique), and Cape Town. Despite this the area was relatively undisturbed by European expansion for many years.
Throughout the Eighteenth Century the influence of the western powers began to grow, and trek Boers began to move into the area. In 1799, after the Royal Navy frigates Rattlesnake and Camel were attacked by the French frigate Preneuse, the British authorities erected a fort on a bluff overlooking the Baakens River and the bay, in order to prevent the French forces gaining a foothold and establishing a base on the southern tip of Africa. This structure was called Fort Frederick, the first building to be erected by the British in South Africa and the first of many fortifications established by the British in the Eastern Cape.
In 1820 the Algoa Bay shore was the scene where the 4000 British Settlers who settled in the Eastern Cape landed. At the time the Governor of the Cape, Lord Charles Somerset was on leave and the Acting Governor, Sir Rufane Donkin, oversaw the operation. In 1820 Donkin established the town on the shores of Algoa bay at the estuary of the Baakens River, and named the town after his late wife, Elizabeth, who had died in India.
Port Elizabeth quickly established itself as the main port for the Eastern Cape, and grew rapidly; especially after the Settlers who were not farmers left their farms and moved to the towns to practice their trades, and those that remained imported Merino sheep which led to an economic boom in the Eastern Cape. During the wars in the Eastern Cape Port Elizabeth continued to grow as the port was the principle embarking point for the troops involved in the operations. When discovery of diamonds in Kimberley and later gold on the Witwatersrand Port Elizabeth expanded yet further as this was the most accessible port to those areas. The city once again became a major point of embarkation for the troops, this time during the Second Anglo Boer War. After the war the city repositioned itself as an industrial and manufacturing centre and successfully canvassed the automobile industry to establish their factories on Port Elizabeth. The city became the leading centre for automobile production in South Africa.
Port Elizabeth has retained much of its historical character and the historic core of the city, the area known as central has kept much of its Victorian and Pre Victorian townscape. The area was originally quite cosmopolitan but during the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth century the horrors of racial segregation began to raise its ugly head, with “hygiene” being used as the reason. After the outbreaks of bubonic plague, people of colour were expelled from Central and the suburbs of Richmond Hill and North End and desperate for some where to live bought portions of a farm owned by a man called Korsten so establishing another suburb of the City called Korsten.
In 1999 new municipalities were demarcated in South Africa, and calls were made for the new names of these areas. Almost two hundred asked former President Nelson Mandela for permission to use his name. He granted permission to the new Municipality that incorporated Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and the town of Despatch, in recognition of the fact that this area was one of the most intense centres in the struggle against apartheid, and where the violence and the crackdowns was the harshest, but also because the area was the first to embrace the reconciliation and transformation that followed.
Port Elizabeth today is a bustling city that offers much to the visitor.
The city has over about 80 kilometres of a very diverse coastline that stretches from the Van Stadens river to the Sundays River. This coastline includes Kings Beach, considered to be the safest bathing beach in South Africa. The coastline is very diverse, to the east of Cape Recife the shore is sheltered and calm and is characterized by sandy beaches, to the west it is of a different character, unspoilt, rocky and wilder. Indeed amongst the surfing fraternity that part of the cost is known as the wild side.
Port Elizabeth has many areas and suburbs of interest. These include the following:
Central
Central is the original part of Port Elizabeth, and still retains the character of the by gone days. Central has arguably the finest collection of nineteenth century architecture of any major South African city after Cape Town; This townscape is punctuated by the spires of a number of splendid Victorian Gothic churches. There are a number of notable structures in the area, notably the old Post Office and Magistrates court where rumour has it that a number of people were detained without trial including John Vorster, the late Prime Minister who was detained during the Second World War and the late Black Consciousness Leader Steve Biko. The City Hall is an excellent Palladian styled building, and the old public library is an Edwardian riot. The statue of Queen Victoria in front of the library was erected after her death by public subscription. Central has a number of Victorian terraces that are splendid examples of their type. These overlook the Donkin Reserve, a park that was proclaimed by the Acting Governor of the Cape Sir Rufane Donkin in memory of his wife and he had erected on the site a pyramid in her honour. Although the town was an embryonic cluster of tents at the foot of the Reserve at the time, the Donkin Reserve was probably the first declared public open space to be declared in South Africa. Further along from the Reserve is Fort Frederick, the first structure to be erected by the British in South Africa. Other well known structures in the area is no 27 Castle Hill, the oldest dwelling in Port Elizabeth, now a museum, which is just up the road from the Feather Market Centre, a large dressed stone Flemish styled building erected at the height of the ostrich feather boom as a auction and sorting house, which is now a conference centre. The Donkin Heritage Trail is a walking tour through Central that takes one to 47 noteworthy buildings.
Central has a number of small parks dotted around the suburb, and one big one, St Georges Park. St Georges Park is a large attractive open space which is a tranquil area in a busy city. St Georges Park is best known for its cricket stadium, one of the finest in South Africa where the first test match in South Africa was played in 1889, but there are a number of other sporting venues and bowling greens in the park as well. There are also a number of tranquil walks through notable botanic areas and the Pearson conservatory, a large Victorian greenhouse made of ornate wrought iron contains many species of rare plants and orchids. Nearby is the Prince Alfred Guards memorial, an ornate Edwardian fountain built in memory of the members of Prince Alfred’s Guards who have been killed in combat or who died while on active service. Prince Alfred’s Guard was formed when young men from the city volunteered to act as the guards to the Prince Alfred, the second son of Queen Victoria visited South Africa. Since then the regiment has seen active service in a number of conflicts in various parts of the world. Another famous war memorial in Central is the Horse Memorial, a splendid bronze statue of a soldier and his horse that was erected in honour of the horses that suffered and died during the Anglo Boer War.
Despite its old world atmosphere and its beautiful townscape Central has always been a vibrant and cosmopolitan area, and Parliament Street in Central and its surrounds has long been the centre of an area of pubs, clubs and restaurants, sometimes to the dismay of nearby residents.
Across from Cape Road is another historic area known as Richmond Hill which also has retained its Victorian townscape, probably to a finer degree than Central. The Richmond Hill cemetery contains the grave of Sgt Dalton VC, one of the heroes of the epic defense of the Rorke’s Drift during the Anglo Zulu war. Richmond hill was one of the most integrated parts of Port Elizabeth until the end of the nineteenth century when people of colour were forced to move, ostensibly to prevent the spread of bubonic plague.
The main street in Central is named Govan Mbeki Avenue after the anti apartheid activist and father of the current President of South Africa.
South End
South End in Port Elizabeth was a vibrant, multi cultural and cosmopolitan area which housed people of many faiths and ethnic origins. There were four main groups, the Muslim community, the Indian Community, the Coloured community and the black African people. There were also a number of other people including Saints, people from the island of St Helena and white people. In the 1960s grand apartheid began to be applied in stricter measures and many such areas such as District Six in Cape Town and South End Port Elizabeth were forced to move under the provisions of the Group Areas Act. The people were ordered to move to places far from the city centre and their places of work. The integrated community was split up and forced to live in separate areas based on religious and racial lines, the houses and buildings were bulldozed and new streets were laid out that had no regard for the old plan, and a suburb with extremely bland architecture was erected. These removals began in 1965 and ended in 1975, thus destroying a community that had been in existence for 180 years.
However the old South End could not be eradicated completely and the old Muslim cemetery, two old mosques, the ruins of the Anglican Church and the St Peters cemetery and one or two other buildings remain. While these actions on the part of the Apartheid authorities were not unusual at that time, what makes the actions in the old South End more pernicious was that the residents of the area were not tenants but had title to their properties. A museum dedicated to the old South End has been established in the old Seamen’s Mission, one of the buildings that survived and is well worth a visit.
Humewood
Humewood is the prime tourist area of Port Elizabeth and contains many of the City’s hotels, restaurants and attractions including Bay World, which contains the Port Elizabeth Museum, the Oceanarium and the reptile park. Humewood overlooks Kings Beach and has a splendid view of Algoa Bay
Korsten
When in the late Nineteenth century black people were forcibly moved from the Richmond hill and North End areas of “Strangers Location” they were forced to move to the then outskirts of the city, and settled on a farm owned by a man called Korsten. Korsten sold portions of his farm to these people and thus a new suburb was born. The area became very overcrowded and the municipality began to build a new township for the black people of the city further away which was called Kwa Zekele. People of Chinese origin were moved to Korsten after the inhabitants had been moved to Kwa Zekele and they in turn had been forced to move from the old South End.
Red Location
During the Anglo Boer war, the British Army established a barracks built of corrugated iron buildings on this site. These structures were painted red. After the war the military moved away and black people were moved in to the buildings. Most of the structures still stand and are still being used for housing although they are in a dilapidated condition as this area is probably the most poverty stricken in the Nelson Mandela Bay area. The Red Location nevertheless is a fascinating place with an interesting history. One of the first overt signs of an incipient struggle against the doctrine of Apartheid took place in the area in the early 1950s when a march at the New Brighton railway station turned violent after the police tried to break up the march.
Deal Party
Deal Party is today one of the most industrial areas of Port Elizabeth, is also one of the oldest. The name was chosen because when the British settlers of 1820 arrived the party from the town of Deal in Kent wished to have a location where they could carry out their maritime activities, thus the area was set aside for the “Deal Party”. The scheme was not a success and the former inhabitants of Deal trekked to the hinterland to join the other settlers.
New Brighton, Zwide and Kwazakhele
These areas are part of the sprawling black townships around Port Elizabeth. New Brighton was so named by the Port Elizabeth Town Clerk in honour of the mayor of Brighton in England who, presumably, was paying the city a visit. There was a hotel in the area in the 18670s. After the Anglo Boer war black people were forcibly settled in the area ostensibly due to overcrowding and slum conditions in the place known as Gubb’s Location. This was first of a large housing project undertaken by the Port Elizabeth Municipality in the area which also resulted in the new suburb of Zwide.
Zwide was laid out in the 1950s and was named after the former head master of the Bethelsdorp Coloured Primary School, Fairbridge Hansen Manchinger Zwide. Kwazekele was laid out in the 1950s to house those who had been forced out of Port Elizabeth proper. As the struggle against Apartheid intensified, these areas became some of the main areas of the struggle in the country. There are a number of sites of interest dating back to these days, notably the Mini memorial in Kwazekhele. Vuyisile Mini and three compatriots were hanged in 1964. Mini was a trade union official and an member of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC. He was the first ANC member to be executed. In 1998 his remains and those of his comrades were reinterred at this impressive memorial. Another memorial nearby commemorates the hundreds of black servicemen who died in the English Channel in the SS Mendi while on their way to the Western Front in the First World War. Although they were ware they would not survive the sinking of the ship they paraded and sang to old war songs of their ancestors until the waters engulfed them. Their courage led to the only time the old white Parliament of South Africa honoured black people with three minutes silence.
There is much to see and do in these areas, most of the action takes place around Njoli Square, which is in the centre of Kwazekhele, there is a vibrant night life and cultural scene which is centered around the taverns or shebeens in the area, and there are a number of specialized tour operators who are willing to introduce this fascinating area to the tourists.
Bethelsdorp
Bethelsdorp is the oldest continuously inhabited area of Port Elizabeth; it is older than Port Elizabeth itself and the neighbouring town of Uitenhage. Bethelsdorp was founded in 1803 by the Rev Johannes Theodorus Van Der Kemp, a former officer in the Dutch Army who for a time served under Napoleon before being dispatched to the Eastern Cape by the London Missionary Society in 1799 to be a priest at Graaf-Reinet. Hardly surprising for a man with such a peculiar background, Van Der Kemp proved to be a controversial figure who did not bother to hide his contempt for authority and also preached a creed that scandalized his parishioners and made them wonder whether or not he was a blasphemer. This doctrine included statements along the lines that all people are equal in the eyes of God and should be so in the eyes of the law as well. In 1803 one of his parishioners could stand it no more and fired a pistol at Van Der Kemp in mid sermon. Van Der Kemp left Graaf-Reinet almost immediately and settled in a well watered area 10 miles from Algoa Bay where he started a mission for Khoi San people and freed slaves which he named Bethelsdorp. Bethel is the Hebrew for “House of God” and Dorp is Dutch for Town. Van Der Kemp continued to cock a snook at authority in Bethelsdorp, even marrying one of the black ladies in the mission.
Van Der Kemp died in 1812, but the mission he founded continued and grew. It became a refuge for poor and destitute people and in 1822 a building called the “Alms House” was erected to house these people. It still stands, and still serves the same function.
When founded, Bethelsdorp was in a very isolated and remote location. It is now a suburb of Port Elizabeth, once a remote village founded 20 years after Bethelsdorp, expanded and incorporated the old Mission. Near Bethelsdorp is the suburb of Gelvandale, built to house the coloured people who were forced out of the old South End.
Bethelsdorp is well worth a visit. The old historic core still stands and the Alms Houses are the oldest dwellings in Port Elizabeth. Behind the congregational Church is a tiny cottage known as “David Livingstone’s Cottage”, because the famous missionary and explorer spent some time in Bethelsdorp and lived in the cottage before continuing his journey into central Africa. The cottage remains unaltered since that time. In the fynbos covered hills above Bethelsdorp there is a lovely valley that is now a nature reserve and recreation area, and which has some interesting hikes and walks. This valley is known Van Der Kemp’s Kloof in honour of the recalcitrant missionary who founded Bethelsdorp.
Walmer
Walmer is a pleasant tree lined suburb of Port Elizabeth that from 1899 until 1967 was a separate town. The suburb has many fine restaurants and attractions. The Walmer township of Gcebera is a fascinating place that developed in isolation to the larger townships to the north. There are a number of shebeens and taverns in the township, and one of the few walking township tours in South Africa can be arranged.
Schoenmakerskop
The name of this village means “Cobbler’s Hill”. Schoenmakerskop is an isolated village overlooking the southern Indian Ocean on the Wild Side of the Nelson Mandela Bay coastline and is about 15 kilometres from the centre of Port Elizabeth. There are many fascinating rock pools and gullies on the rocky shore. There is excellent bird watching as gannets, gulls and other coastal birds fly along the coast. Schoenmakerskop is also the beginning of the Sacramento Trail, a coastal walk that encompasses a variety of different types of coastline and vegetation.
The trail is named after the Portuguese galleon Sacramento which ran aground off this coast in 1647. There were seventy two survivors who began to walk back to the Portuguese outpost at Delagoa Bay, (now Maputo) in Mozambique, 1300 kilometres to the northeast of the wreck site. Only nine survived the trip. The discovery and the excavation of the wreck in 1977 was one of the triumphs of South African marine archeology as 40 cannon were brought to the surface, including one which was in a near pristine condition, despite being on the sea bed under heavy surf for 330 years. One of these cannon now marks the start of the 8km trail.
Swartkops, Amsterdamhoek, Redhouse and Bluewater Bay.
The north of Port Elizabeth is dominated by a large, tidal lagoon called the Swartkops after the river that feeds it. The Swartkops is a popular watersports venue which includes fishing, sailing, windsurfing and rowing. It is also one of the finest areas in South Africa for watching coastal and marine birds of many different species. A play by Athol Fugard about the people who scratch a living from the lagoon titled Boesman and Lena was later made into a film which was shot at the lagoon.
Dotted around the lagoon are a number of villages and communities. To the southern side of the lagoon is the village of Swartkops which was in existence by 1897. Although the industrialization of the nearby Deal part and the expansion of Zwide and Kwazekehele threatened to dwarf Swartkops, the village has retained its character, and is a popular venue for fishing and watersports.
The village of Redhouse is situated at the upper reaches of the lagoon and like Swartkops and Walmer; it was founded and developed independently of Port Elizabeth. It retains its old, peaceful waterfront character. Redhouse is a popular venue for rowing regattas and other watersports activities, the yacht club being one of the oldest in the country.
On the northern end of the lagoon is the village of Amsterdamhoek, which is situated at the foot of a cliff near the estuary of the lagoon, the top of the cliff is the newer suburb of Bluewater Bay. Amsterdamhoek was named after a Dutch ship that was wrecked at the mouth of the Swartkops in 1817. Bluewater Bay is the newest addition to the lagoon community, and is situated above Amsterdamhoek and extends to the beach front. This particular coastline made up of a long sandy beach that extends for many kilometers to the new harbour currently being built at Coega. A walk along this beach could reveal the timbers of many ships that foundered in the gales that swept Algoa Bay over the centuries.
Despite being a waterfront area, there are a number of nature reserves and hikes through these reserves. The Aloe trail takes one through an area where there is an abundance of these plants, and during the flowering season of June and July they make a stunning show which attracts many beautiful sunbirds. It is advised that people wishing to walk these trails do so in a group and they do so at their own risk.
Source: Courtesy Eastern Cape Tourism Board - www.ectb.co.za
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