The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km²) after Northern Cape, it was formed in 1994 out of the

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

homelands or

bantustan A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (now ...

s of

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ba ...

and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

. The central and eastern part of the province is the traditional home of the indigenous

Xhosa people The Xhosa people, or Xhosa-speaking people (; ) are African people who are direct kinsmen of Tswana people, Sotho people and Twa people, yet are narrowly sub grouped by European as Nguni ethnic group whose traditional homeland is primarily t ...

. In 1820 this area which was known as the Xhosa Kingdom began to be settled by Europeans who originally came from England and some from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and Ireland. Since South Africa's early years, many Xhosas believed in Africanism and figures such as Walter Rubusana believed that the rights of Xhosa people and Africans in general, could not be protected unless Africans mobilized and worked together. As a result, the Eastern Cape is home to many anti-apartheid leaders such as

Robert Sobukwe Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe (5 December 1924 – 27 February 1978) was a prominent South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and founding member of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), serving as the first president of the organization. Sobukwe w ...

, Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela,

Walter Sisulu Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (18 May 1912 – 5 May 2003) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC Deputy President (1991–1994), h ...

Winnie Mandela Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She se ...

Govan Mbeki Govan Archibald Mvuyelwa Mbeki (9 July 1910 – 30 August 2001) was a South African politician, military commander, Communist leader who served as the Secretary of Umkhonto we Sizwe, at its inception in 1961. He was also the son of Chief Sike ...

Alfred Xuma Alfred Bathini Xuma, OLG, commonly referred to by his initials as AB Xuma (8 March 1893 – 27 January 1962), was the first black South African to become a medical doctor, as well as a leader, activist and president-general of the African Nation ...

, Cecilia Makiwane,

Noni Jabavu Helen Nontando (Noni) Jabavu (20 August 1919 – 19 June 2008) was a South African writer and journalist, one of the first African women to pursue a successful literary career and the first black South African woman to publish books of autobiogr ...

among others. It is also home the then young

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...

Chris Hani Chris Hani (28 June 1942 – 10 April 1993), born Martin Thembisile Hani , was the leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of uMkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). He was a fierce ...

Bantu Holomisa Bantubonke Harrington Holomisa (born 25 July 1955) is a South African Member of Parliament and President of the United Democratic Movement. Holomisa was born in Mqanduli, Cape Province. He joined the Transkei Defence Force in 1976 and had b ...

, Steve Biko, musicians

Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she w ...

, Madosini, Nathi, Vusi Nova and Zahara as well as historical figures such as Rev. Tiyo Soga, Samuel Mqhayi, Mongezi Sifika wa Nkomo,

Enoch Sontonga Enoch Mankayi Sontonga ( – 18 April 1905) was a South African composer, who is best known for writing the Xhosa hymn "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" (), which, in abbreviated version, has been sung as the first half of the national anthem of South ...

and

Jotello Festiri Soga Jotello Festiri Soga (1865 – 6 December 1906) was South Africa's first black veterinary surgeon who played a leading role in eradicating rinderpest. The library at the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Pretoria is named for h ...

History

The Eastern Cape as a South African Province came into existence in 1994 and incorporated areas from the former Xhosa homelands of the

and Ciskei, together with what was previously part of the

. This resulted in several anomalies including the fact that the Province has four supreme courts (in Makhanda, Gqeberha, Bhisho and

Mthatha Mthatha , formerly Umtata, is the main city of the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality in Eastern Cape province of South Africa and the capital of OR Tambo District Municipality. The city has an airport, previously known as the K. D. Matanz ...

) and had enclaves of KwaZulu-Natal in the province. The latter anomaly has fallen away with amendments to municipal and provincial boundaries. The Xhosa Kingdom was one of the most powerful kingdoms in Africa and had all states in the Eastern Cape as tributaries. Any group, people or tribe that recognized the Xhosa Kingdom as Paramouncy became Xhosa, practiced Xhosa culture and used isiXhosa as their main language. Some of the tribes that fall under the category of Xhosa people include: AmaMpondo, AbaThembu, AmaMpondomise, AmaHlubi, AmaBhaca, AmaXesibe, AmaBomvana and more.

European settlers

In the late 18th century the

Dutch Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie) was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) colony in Southern Africa, centered on the Cape of Good Hope, from where it derived its name. The original colony and its successive states that the colony was inco ...

slowly expanded eastwards from its original centre around Cape Town. This led to the establishment in 1786 of the Dutch settlement of

Graaff-Reinet Graaff-Reinet is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province. It is also the sixth-oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The town was the ...

– named for the

Governor of the Cape Colony This article lists the governors of British South African colonies, including the colonial prime ministers. It encompasses the period from 1797 to 1910, when present-day South Africa was divided into four British colonies namely: Cape Colony (p ...

Cornelius Jacob van de Graaff (in office: 1785–1791) and for his wife Hester Cornelia van de Graaff (née Reynet). Later, during the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

of 1803–1815,

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

took control of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

(1806) and encouraged British citizens to migrate there as a means to boost the British population in the area. From the early 1800s until the formation of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tran ...

in 1910, the Eastern Cape saw colonisation by British migrants. English

settler A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settl ...

s established most of the towns, naming them either for places in England or for the original founders. British colonisation saw schools, churches, hospitals, town centres and government buildings built to speed up development. Some of the older European settlements include: Makhanda (1812), Gqeberha (1820), Salem (1820), Bathurst (1820), East London (1836), Paterson (1879), Cradock (1814) and Qonce.

Demographics

The population of Eastern Cape Province is 6,562,053, of whom 86.3% are

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

, 8.3% are

Coloureds Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

, 4.7% are

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

and 0.4% are Indian/Asian. A large majority of people in the province are

, with 78.8% of residents in Eastern Cape identifying as Xhosa as of 2011. Unlike most of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

the

population is overwhelmingly of

British descent British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mo ...

. Roughly 279,000 out of 310,000

White South Africans White South Africans generally refers to South Africans The population of South Africa is about 58.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The South African National Census of 2022 was the most recent censu ...

in Eastern Cape are English-speakers of

while only about 10% of

Whites White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

in the province are of

Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...

/ Afrikaner ancestry. Eastern Cape is one of only two provinces in

where British descended Whites outnumber

Boers Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...

Afrikaners Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Cas ...

, the other being Kwazulu-Natal. Gqeberha is the largest city in Eastern Cape Province.

Notable people

Law and government

The first premier was

Raymond Mhlaba Raymond Mphakamisi Mhlaba (12 February 1920 – 20 February 2005) was an anti-apartheid activist, Communist and leader of the African National Congress (ANC) also as well the first premier of the Eastern Cape. Mhlaba spent 25 years of his life ...

and the current premier is

Oscar Mabuyane Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane (born 24 February 1974) is a South African politician who has been serving as the seventh Premier of the Eastern Cape since May 2019. He was previously Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Economic Development, Enviro ...

, both of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

. The province is served by the capital of Bhisho next to Qonce. The parliament and other important government buildings are situated in the precinct. The High Court that is superior to all courts in the region is situated in Makhanda and has local seats in Gqeberha, East London and Bhisho.

Geography

The Eastern Cape gets progressively wetter from west to east. The west is mostly semiarid Karoo, except in the far south, which is temperate rainforest in the Tsitsikamma region. The coast is generally rugged with interspersed beaches. Most of the province is hilly to very mountainous between

and Rhodes including the

Sneeuberge The Sneeuberge or Sneeuberg mountain range was historically known as “Sneeuwbergen”, meaning ‘snow mountains’ in Cape Dutch, and refers to a significant portion of Southern Africa's Great Escarpment in the Cradock, Murraysburg, Richmo ...

(English: Snow Mountains), Stormberge, Winterberge and

Drakensberg The Drakensberg (Afrikaans: Drakensberge, Zulu: uKhahlambha, Sotho: Maluti) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, which encloses the central Southern African plateau. The Great Escarpment reaches its greatest elevation – within t ...

(English: Dragon Mountains). The highest point in the province is Ben Macdhui at 3001 m. The east from East London and

Komani Queenstown, officially Komani, is a town in the middle of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, roughly halfway between the smaller towns of Cathcart and Sterkstroom on the N6 National Route. The town was established in 1853 and is curr ...

towards the KwaZulu-Natal border – a region known previously as

– is lush grassland on rolling hills, punctuated by deep gorges with intermittent forest. Eastern Cape has a

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

on its east which lines southward, creating shores leading to the south Indian Ocean. In the northeast, it borders the following

districts of Lesotho The Kingdom of Lesotho is divided into ten districts, each headed by a district administrator. Each district has a capital known as a camptown. The districts are further subdivided into 80 constituencies, which consist of 129 local community coun ...

: *

Mohale's Hoek District Mohale's Hoek is a district of Lesotho. Mohale's Hoek is the capital city or camptown, and only town in the district. In the southwest, Mohale's Hoek borders on South Africa, while domestically, it borders on Mafeteng District in northwest, Maser ...

– west of Quthing *

Quthing District Quthing is a district of Lesotho. Moyeni (also known as Quthing), is the camp town or capital of the district. There are two of the most important sets of dinosaur footprints in the region. There is a large panel of Bushman paintings at Qomoqomon ...

– between Mohale and Qacha's Nek * Qacha's Nek District – east of Quthing Domestically, it borders the following provinces: *

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

– west * Northern Cape – northwest * Free State – north * KwaZulu-Natal – far northeast

Climate

Climate is highly varied. The west is dry with sparse rain during winter or summer, with frosty winters and hot summers. The area Tsitsikamma to Makhanda receives more precipitation, which is also relatively evenly distributed and temperatures are mild. Further east, rainfall becomes more plentiful and humidity increases, becoming more subtropical along the coast with summer rainfall. The interior can become very cold in winter, with heavy snowfalls occasionally occurring in the mountainous regions between Molteno and

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

. * Gqeberha: Jan Max: 25 °C, Min: 18 °C; Jul Max: 20 °C, Min: 9 °C * Molteno &

Barkly East Barkly East is a town in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, seat of the Joe Gqabi District Municipality, and 117 km by road E.S.E. of Aliwal North, lying in the mountainous area just south of Lesotho. The town lies at the southern tip of t ...

: Jan Max 28 °C, Min 11 °C; Jul Max: 14 °C, Min: -7 °C

Tourism

The landscape is extremely diverse. The western interior is largely arid Karoo, while the east is well-watered and green. The Eastern Cape offers a wide array of attractions, including of untouched and pristine coastline along with beaches, and big-five game viewing in a

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

-free environment. The Addo Elephant National Park, situated from Gqeberha, was proclaimed in 1931. Its offers sanctuary to 170 elephants, 400 Cape buffalo and 21

black rhino The black rhinoceros, black rhino or hook-lipped rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis'') is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern and southern Africa including Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania ...

of the very scarce Kenyan sub-species. The province is the location of Tiffindell, South Africa's only

snow skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

resort, which is situated near the hamlet of

in the Southern

. It is on the slopes of Ben Macdhui, the highest mountain peak in the Eastern Cape . The

National Arts Festival The National Arts Festival (NAF) is an annual festival of performing arts in Grahamstown, South Africa. It is the largest arts festival on the African continent and one of the largest performing arts festivals in the world by visitor numbers. Th ...

, held annually in Makhanda, is Africa's largest cultural event, offering a choice of both indigenous and imported talent. Every year for eleven days the town's population almost doubles, as over 50,000 people flock to the region for a feast of arts, crafts, music and entertainment.

Jeffreys Bay Jeffreys Bay ( af, Jeffreysbaai, nicknamed J-bay) is a town of 27,107 inhabitants as of the 2011 census in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It Is the seat of the Kouga municipality and is famous amongst surfers as a surf capital due ...

is an area with wild coastline, which is backed by sub-tropical rainforest. The waters here are noted for having good waves for surfing.

Aliwal North Aliwal North (officially Maletswai) is a town in central South Africa on the banks of the Orange River, Eastern Cape Province. It is a medium-sized commercial centre in the northernmost part of the Eastern Cape. History Sir Harry Smith, then ...

, lying on an agricultural plateau on the southern bank of the

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...

, is an inland resort known for its

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by c ...

s. The rugged and unspoiled Wild Coast is a place of spectacular scenery. The coastal areas have been a graveyard for many vessels. Whittlesea, Eastern Cape, situated in the Amatola Mountains, is known for the first wine estate in the province. Qonce, Alice, Komani, Makhanda, Cradock and Fort Beaufort offer some of the best colonial architecture of the 19th century in the province. The two major cities lining the coast are East London and Gqeberha.

Economy

The Eastern Cape is the poorest province in South Africa and has the highest expanded and official unemployment rate in the country. Subsistence agriculture predominates in the former homelands, resulting in widespread poverty. A multi billion Rand industrial development zone and deep water port are being developed in Coega to boost investment in export-oriented industries. Overall the province only contributes 8% to the national GDP despite making 13.5% of the population. The real GDP of Eastern Cape stands at an estimated R230.3billion in 2017, making the province the fourth largest regional economy in SA ahead of Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

Agriculture

There is much fertile land in the Eastern Cape, and agriculture remains important. The fertile

Langkloof The Langkloof is a 160 km long valley in South Africa, lying between Herold, a small village northeast of George, and The Heights - just beyond Twee Riviere. History The kloof was given its name by Isaq Schrijver in 1689, and more thorough ...

Valley in the southwest has large deciduous

fruit orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of lar ...

s. In the Karoo there is widespread sheep farming. The Alexandria-Makhanda area produces pineapples, chicory and dairy products, while coffee and tea are cultivated at Magwa. People in the former Transkei region are dependent on cattle, maize and sorghum-farming. An olive nursery has been developed in collaboration with the

University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to students from across sub ...

to form a nucleus of olive production in the Eastern Cape. Domestic stock farming is slowly giving way to game farming on large scale.

Eco-tourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fund ...

is resulting in economic benefits, and there is lower risk needed to protect wild, native game against drought, and the natural elements. Habitat loss and poaching pose the greatest problems. The area around

Stutterheim Stutterheim is a town with a population of 46,730 in South Africa, situated in the Border region of the Eastern Cape province. It is named after Richard Von Stutterheim. History The area's earliest human population were Bushmen. Khoikhoi groups ...

is being cultivated extensively with timber plantations. The basis of the province's

fishing industry The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including ...

is squid, some recreational and commercial fishing for line fish, the collection of marine resources, and access to line-catches of

hake The term hake refers to fish in the: * Family Merlucciidae of northern and southern oceans * Family Phycidae (sometimes considered the subfamily Phycinae in the family Gadidae) of the northern oceans Hake Hake is in the same taxonomic order ( ...

Industry

With three import/export harbours and three airports offering direct flights to the main centres, and an excellent road and rail infrastructure, the province has been earmarked as a key area for growth and economic development in modern South Africa. The two major industrial centres, Gqeberha and East London have well-developed economies based on the automotive industry. General Motors and

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...

both have major assembly lines in the Gqeberha area, while East London is dominated by the large

DaimlerChrysler The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...

plant, now known as Mercedes-Benz South Africa. Environmental-friendly projects include the Fish River Spatial Development Initiative, the Wild Coast SDI, and two industrial development zones, the East London Industrial Development Zone and the Coega IDZ near Gqeberha. Coega is the largest infrastructure development in post-

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

South Africa. The construction of the deepwater

Port of Ngqura The Port of Ngqura is a deepwater port on the east coast (Indian Ocean) of South Africa, 20 km northeast of Gqeberha. It was authorised by an act of parliament in 2002, construction started in September 2002 and the port became operational ...

was completed and the first commercial ship anchored in October 2009. Other sectors include finance, real estate, business services, wholesale and retail trade, eco-tourism (nature reserves and game ranches) and hotels and restaurants.

Towns and cities

* East London * Gqeberha *

* Makhanda *

Dikeni Alice is a small town in Eastern Cape, South Africa that is named after Princess Alice, the daughter of the British Queen Victoria. It was settled in 1824 by British colonists it's adjacent to the Tyhume River. It has rail and road connection ...

Somerset East Somerset East ( af, Somerset-Oos) is a town in the Blue Crane Route Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was founded by Lord Charles Somerset in 1825. The Blue Crane Route follows the national road R63 from Pearston, via S ...

Mount Fletcher Mount Fletcher (officially Tlokoeng) is a town in Joe Gqabi District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, 69 km north-north-east of Maclear. Founded in 1882, it takes its name from the mountain nearby. This was probab ...

* Gcuwa *

Mount Frere Mount Frere, officially KwaBhaca, is a town located in the Eastern Cape province, previously known as the Transkei region, of South Africa. Its name in Xhosa is KwaBhaca, or "village of the Bhaca chiefdom", or "place of the Bhaca people", who s ...

Mdantsane Mdantsane is a South African urban township situated 15 km away from East London, Eastern Cape, East London and 37 km away from King William's Town, Qonce in the Eastern Cape. It is the second largest township in the Eastern Cape after ...

* Cradock *

Matatiele Matatiele is a town located in the northern part of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. According to the South African National Census of 2011, its 12,466 residents (1,113.44 per km²) and 4,107 households (366.83 per km²) make Matati ...

* Qonce *

Uitenhage Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port E ...

Fort Beaufort Fort Beaufort ( Xhosa: iBhofolo) is a town in the Amatole District of South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, and had a population of 25,668 in 2011. The town was established in 1837 and became a municipality in 1883. The town lies at the conflu ...

Dutywa Dutywa (formerly Idutywa) is a town in Mbashe Local Municipality, Eastern Cape province, South Africa, that was founded in 1858 as a military fort after a dispute between a Natal Colony raiding party and its local people. Eastern Cape dominant language map

The Eastern Cape Province is divided into two metropolitan municipalities and six district municipalities. The district municipalities are in turn divided into 27 local municipalities.

Education

The Eastern Cape Department of Education has been roundly criticised for poor primary and secondary education resulting from dysfunction, special interests, and issues with the South Africa teachers union, SADTU. The province struggles with a lack of schools; a lack of teachers leading to overcrowding; a lack of textbooks; a lack of basic facilities like toilets, electricity or water; and poor transport infrastructure which regularly absents and endangers learners. This is a huge problem faced in the former Transkei. By 2011, basic education had so deteriorated that the national

Department of Basic Education The Department of Basic Education (DBE) is one of the departments of the South African government. It oversees primary and secondary education in South Africa. It was created in 2009 after the election of President Jacob Zuma, when the former Dep ...

intervened under section 100(1)(b) of the

Constitution of South Africa The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, it sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the Gover ...

, taking control of the province's educational administration. The Eastern Cape has since been the worst-performing province educationally and especially in terms of

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...

; matriculants' results averaged 51% in 2009, 58.3% in 2011, 64.9% in 2013, 65.4% in 2014, and 56.8% in 2015. In the 2015/2016 financial year, the province failed to spend R530 million of its allocated R1.5 billion budget for education, most of it intended for infrastructure development. Equal Education's 2017 report, Planning to Fail, found a "systemic failure in Eastern Cape education".

Universities

Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public research university located in Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the province's oldest ...

( Makhanda) * Nelson Mandela University ( Gqeberha) *

(main campus in

, satellite campuses in Bhisho and East London) *

Walter Sisulu University Walter Sisulu University (WSU) is a university of technology and science located in Mthatha, East London (Buffalo City), Butterworth and Komani (Queenstown) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, which came into existence on 1 July 2005 as a result ...

(campuses in Buffalo City, Gcuwa,

and

) *Pearson Institute of Higher Education (campuses in East London and Gqeberha)

Other educational institutions

*Lovedale College 1in Alice,1 in Qonce *Buffalo City College, East London *Queenstown College,

*Port Elizabeth College, Gqeberha *Ikhala College, Gqeberha *

College of the Transfiguration The College of the Transfiguration in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, is the only provincial residential college of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, offering a contextual approach to theology studies. The college opened in 1993, following the amal ...

, Makhanda *Eastcape Midlands TVET College (6 campuses in

, 1 in Makhanda, 1 in

, and 1 in Gqeberha) *Various independent FET Colleges (Further Education and Training)

Health

The province is served by big medical centres such as, Cecilia Makhiwane Hospital that has undergone a major revamp recently. Filled with state of the art machinery and more beds. There are many private clinics in most cities and also famous hospitals like Frere in East London and Dora Nginza in Port Elizabeth. Tuberculosis and HIV are the province's leading causes of avoidable deaths, accounting for 9.8% and 5.4% of those deaths. Also known for its traditional black initiation schools, which perform coming-of-age ceremonies involving circumcision. These have helped to decrease the rate of people contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

Sports

*Boxing **Premier Boxing League * Checkers/Draughts **

Mind Sports South Africa Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) is recognised by Act of Parliament as the national controlling body for mind sports in South Africa. Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) is also an affiliate of the International eSports Federation, Fédération M ...

* eSports **

*Football **Swallows FC (Dikeni, McFarlane) **

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

( East London) (dissolved) ** Chippa United F.C. ( Gqeberha) *Cricket ** Chevrolet Warriors ( Gqeberha) *Rugby **

Eastern Province Elephants The Eastern Province Elephants (known as the Multisure Eastern Province Elephants for sponsorship reasons) are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup and Rugby Challenge competitions. They are governed by the ...

( Gqeberha) **

Border Bulldogs The Border Bulldogs is a South African professional rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup competitions. They are governed by the Border Rugby Union (BRU) and are based in East London. History The Border Ru ...

( East London) **Dale High ( Qonce) **Davidson High (Dikeni) **Hudson Park Boys ( East London) * CUESPORT ** Eastern Cape Pool Billiards (8 Ball Pool) – ( Gqeberha,

, Despatch, Jeffreys Bay, Humansdorp, St. Francis, East London) ** Eastern Cape Blackball Pool ( Gqeberha, Komani) ** Eastern Cape Billiards and Snooker ( Gqeberha, East London)

References

External links

Eastern Cape National Government informationEastern Cape Provincial GovernmentEastern Cape Socio-Economic Consultative CouncilEastern Cape Development Corporationwww.queenstown.org.za
{{Authority control Provinces of South Africa States and territories established in 1994 1994 establishments in South Africa