Centane, or alternatively anglicised Kentane or Kentani because Europeans often cannot easily pronounce the Xhosa click 'C'; is a settlement in
Amathole District Municipality in the
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...
province of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. It is situated at approximately from
Butterworth.
History
Centane was the site of the
battle of Centane on 7 February 1878 during the ninth
Frontier War or 'Imfazwe ka Ngcayechibi', where more than 300 Xhosa warriors were killed for the loss of only two British soldiers and 8 Mfengu warriors.
The grave of the Xhosa king,
Khawuta kaGcaleka
King Khawuta ka-Gcaleka (c. 1761–1804) was the king of the AmaXhosa Nation from 1778 To 1794. He is a direct descendant of King Phalo's Great House.
King Khawuta Ka-Gcaleka was the eldest son of King Gcaleka kaPhalo children.
King Khawuta ...
(the father of
Bhurhu kaKhawuta and
Hintsa kaKhawuta) is in this town in the village of Njingini.
The Reverend Tiyo Soga's grave, a Xhosa man from the amaJwarha clan of the Xhosa nation; who was the first black South African to be ordained overseas in Britain and worked to translate the Bible and John Bunyan's classic work Pilgrim's Progress into his native Xhosa language is here in Centane. Soga was allowed by the amaXhosa King Sarhili to build a church in Thuthurha, and at the time of death in 1871; Soga had made a tremendous contribution in converting the local Gcaleka people by preaching and teaching the word of God.
Nongqawuse the little girl who gave a false prophecy in 1855 about the resurrection of all the Xhosa heroes who had died in the Xhosa-British wars, was also born in Centane, in the village of Gxarha near the Qolorha By Sea coast. Nongqawuse's false prophecy led to the entire Xhosa nation slaughtering their own cattle and destroying their crops and food believing that there would be resurrection in 7 days as Nongqawuse had prophecised. When her prophecy did not come true, the British authorities (
Sir George Grey) snatched her away and sent her to "safety" in Alexandria (Mnyameni) where she remained until she died. This led to the popular belief that, Nongqawuse had been working with the British to help bring the Xhosa nation to its knees by starving them as the British had utterly failed to defeat AmaXhosa in war for 77 years as of 1856.
Tourism
There are a number of beaches in Centane, including Qolorha By Sea, Mazzepa Bay and Wavecrest.
See also
*
2020 Centane bus crash
References
*
Populated places in the Mnquma Local Municipality
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