Indwe


Indwe is a small town in Chris Hani District Municipality near Dordrecht in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
The town is situated between Dordrecht and Elliot on the R56 road. It was founded in 1896 as a centre for coal-mining activities which started in 1867, and attained municipal status in 1898. It takes its name from the Indwe River, named after the blue crane, which occurred there in great numbers.

History

Indwe was the fourth town after Johannesburg, Cape Town and Kimberley to have electricity. The “Indwe Railway Collieries and Land Company” was formed in Kimberley in late 1894. De Beers played a big part in it. The railway line was completed in March 1896. By 1899 the mine produced well over 100 000 tons of coal a year. By 1917 the coal mine closed down because meanwhile better quality coal had been discovered in the Transvaal. Indwe Railway station was one of the busiest stations in South Africa offering people from the rural Transkei a port of entry to Johannesburg and Cape Town up until 1994. Indwe compromises five townships Mavuya,Manyano,Mzamomhle,Phumlani and Sonwabile township. Mavuya is the biggest township in Indwe and one of the oldest townships in South Africa and is considered to be older than Langa and Alexandra.

Economy

Many people in indwe are self employed. People work in mines and sell the coal, brick Making in Indwe is popular and it is the main source of income were people make bricks and sell them in communitie ,Indwe resort is a popular spot in summer where people have fun and popular Djs are invited and the are invents that are host in the resort, some people work for the municipality to clean the roads and the are five school and one of the school is Siyakhula Primary School and it popular in sports.