Ixesi (also Middeldrift or Middledrift) is a small town located north-west of

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the ...

in the

Eastern Cape 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 ...

province of South Africa. It is situated in Raymond Mhlaba Municipality in Amathole District in an area that was formerly part of the

Ciskei Ciskei (, or ) was a Bantustan for the Xhosa people-located in the southeast of South Africa. It covered an area of , almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province, and possessed a small coastline along the shore of the Indian O ...

. The town is on the Keiskamma River, 45 km west-north-west of

King William's Town Qonce, formerly known as King William's Town, is a city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River (Eastern Cape), Buffalo River. The city is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London, South ...

and 16 km east-south-east of

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

. It was founded in 1853 and laid out in 1882. At first known as Beaconsfield, it was renamed after its situation at a ford (Dutch: ''drift'') between two others. Due to corruption and mismanagement of funds it has become a wasteland and most of the residents nearby have to travel to Alice for shopping and services. The town is the birth place of anti-apartheid activist

Wilton Mkwayi Wilton Zimasile Mkwayi (17 December 1923 – 24 July 2004) was an African National Congress veteran and one of the first six members of Umkonto weSizwe to be sent for military training. Early life Wilton “Bri-Bri” Zimasile Mkwayi was born ...

,advocate

Bulelani Ngcuka Bulelani T. Ngcuka (pronounced ; born 2 May 1954) is a South African attorney, prosecutor and activist, who served as the first Director of Public Prosecutions in South Africa, and is the husband of former Deputy President of South Africa Ph ...

and scientist Dr Vatiswa Papu Zamxaka.

References

{{Amathole District Municipality Populated places in the Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality