Matatiele is a town located in the northern part of the

Eastern Cape Province 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 ...

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 ...

. 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 Matatiele the largest populated town in the Matatiele Local Municipality. Matatiele's area of – tucked in the shadows of the Drakensberg Mountains – is predominantly farmland, where 100% organic red meat is on offer, and tourism is a primary source of income. As one of the top 12 towns among South Africa’s popular tourist attractions Route 56, Matatiele provides many activities for fishers, hikers, bikers, bird watchers, etc. Moreover, the Matatiele Museum (a former Dutch Reformed Church that opened in 1993) – displays dinosaur fossils,

San people The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are the members of any of the indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures of southern Africa, and the oldest surviving cultures of the region. They are thought to have diverged from other humans 100,000 to 200 ...

s (also known as the Bushmen), missionaries, and town's history from its 19th century gun runners and smugglers to a quaint town filled with friendly locals serving authentic

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 ...

cuisine. The majority of the town's inhabitants speak a dialect of Xhosa called Hlubi. Matatiele is popular with upscale families looking to live in a small town with renowned schools and facilities. Matatiele is also a gateway to the Kingdom of Lesotho, which is less than a thirty minutes away from the town.

History

Evidence of

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

inhabitants in the form of art adorning rocks is found throughout the area. Once dominated by wetlands and marshes, Matatiele derives its name from a portmanteau word of the

Sotho language Sotho (), also known as ''Sesotho'' (), Southern Sotho, or ''Sesotho sa Borwa'' is a Southern Bantu languages, Southern Bantu language spoken in Lesotho as its national language and South Africa where it is an official language. Like all Ba ...

words “matata”, meaning wild ducks, and “ile”, meaning gone and the

Phuthi language Phuthi (''Síphùthì'') is a Nguni Bantu language spoken in southern Lesotho and areas in South Africa adjacent to the same border. The closest substantial living relative of Phuthi is Swati (or ''Siswati''), spoken in Eswatini and the Mpuma ...

words "mati" meaning water and "ayile" meaning dried out. When taken together, Matatiele conveys a message that “ducks have flown” because of a "dried out wetlands and marshes". In

, the town name is pronounced “Matatiyela”. The common informal name for the town in any of the languages mentioned, including English, is “Matat”. And those born here call it “Sweet Matat”. In the early 1860s, the

Griquas The Griquas are a subgroup of mixed-race heterogeneous formerly-Xiri-speaking nations in South Africa with a unique origin in the early history of the Dutch Cape Colony. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Comm ...

settled here after migrating across the Drakensberg from

Philippolis Philippolis is a town in the Free State province of South Africa. The town is the birthplace of writer and intellectual Sir Laurens van der Post, actress Brümilda van Rensburg and Springboks rugby player Adriaan Strauss. It is regarded as o ...

. The town was the centre of

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

rustling and gun-running, and order was only restored in 1874 by the

Cape Mounted Riflemen The Cape Mounted Riflemen were South African military units. There were two separate successive regiments of that name. To distinguish them, some military historians describe the first as the "imperial" Cape Mounted Riflemen (originally the ...

. The town became a municipality in 1904. During Apartheid, white inhabitants lived in the town proper while black and coloured inhabitants lived in the adjacent townships of Harry Gwala Park, Maloti and Itsokolele and surrounding villages. Maloti and Harry Gwala Park were zoned for black inhabitants and Itsokolele was zoned for both coloured and black inhabitants. In recent years, middle-class families have sprung up in Itsokolele and Harry Gwala Park and affluent black families have moved into the town proper and into an affluent

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

called Mountain View whose construction began in the 2000s. Many still live in the affluent suburbs in the town like Buxton Park, West End and New Jay. Harry Gwala Park, Itsokolele and Maloti now fall under Matatiele Local Municipality. The town was a part of the

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...

until it was transferred to the Natal in 1978. In 2005, the municipality was moved from the KwaZulu-Natal province to the Eastern Cape as part of the Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution of South Africa, over the objections of the majority of residents, some of whom in response founded the African Independent Congress. On 18 August 2006, the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

ruled that the part of the Twelfth Amendment dealing with the transfer of Matatiele from KwaZulu-Natal to the Eastern Cape was invalid due to insufficient consultation with stakeholders. The situation was eventually resolved, and Matatiele was confirmed as part of Eastern Cape province under the Thirteenth Amendment.http://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/const13th-2007gg.pdf

Education

Matatiele is held in high regard for having some of the best schools in the

Alfred Nzo District Municipality The Alfred Nzo District Municipality () is one of the 6 Districts of South Africa, districts of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The seat is Mount Ayliff. The majority of its 801,344 residents speak Xhosa language, isiXhosa. The district ...

, King Edward High School, which performs well academically and in terms of sport and was founded in 1890s. Students from all over Alfred Nzo District Municipality come to King Edward High School, which is very selective about the students it admits. The town also has other schools held in high regard like Saint Monica's Diocesan School, Bergview College, Khanya Public Combined School and Bokamoso Primary School.

Suburbs

* Buxton Park * West End * New Jay * Mountain View * Mount Lake * Maloti * Itsokolele * Harry Gwala Park * Masakala * Tshepisong

Picture Gallery

Notable people of Matatiele

* Emtee, hip hop musician and record producer * Mandla Galo, president of the African Independent Congress (AIC), member of the

National Assembly of South Africa The National Assembly is the directly elected house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape. It consists of four hundred members who are elected every five years using a party-list proportional representation sy ...

* Chris Jafta, judge of the

Constitutional Court of South Africa The Constitutional Court of South Africa is the supreme constitutional court established by the Constitution of South Africa, and is the apex court in the South African judicial system, with general jurisdiction. The Court was first establ ...

* Andile Jali, footballer * Innocent Mdledle, left back footballer for Supersport United FC * Thulas Nxesi, Minister of Employment and Labour *

Ntsikelelo Nyauza Ntsikelelo Nyauza (born 10 May 1990) is a South African professional association football, soccer player who plays for Moroka Swallows F.C., Moroka Swallows as a Defender (association football), defender. Career Nyauza has played for Platinum S ...

, footballer for

Orlando Pirates FC Orlando Pirates Football Club, referred to as simply Pirates, is a South African professional football club based in Orlando, Soweto that plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as Betway Premiership. The team plays ...

* Maggie Resha, member of the

African National Congress Women's League The African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) is an auxiliary women's political organization of the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa. This organization has its precedent in the Bantu Women's League, and it oscillated from ...

, organized meetings for the adoption of the

Freedom Charter The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies: the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats ...

in 1955 * Mohau Mokoatle, actress * Siyabonga Siphika, former footballer for Bush Buscks F.C. and Maritzburg United F.C.

Popular culture

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

is a South African television drama series.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in the Matatiele Local Municipality