Middledrift, officially Xesi, is a small town located north-west of

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

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

Ciskei Ciskei ( , meaning ''on this side of Great Kei River,

he river The He River is a tributary of the Xi River in Guangxi and Guangdong provinces in China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it ...

Kei''), officially the Republic of Ciskei (), was a Bantustan for the Xhosa people, located in the southeast of South Africa. It covered an area of , almost entirely surrounded b ...

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

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

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 birthplace of anti-apartheid activist Wilton Mkwayi and advocate Bulelani Ngcuka.

References

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