Makhanda, Eastern Cape


Makhanda previously known as Grahamstown is a town of about 70,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London. Makhanda is the largest town in the Makana Local Municipality, and the seat of the municipal council. It also hosts Rhodes University, the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court, The South African Library for the Blind and a diocese of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa and 6 South African Infantry Battalion.
The town's name change from Grahamstown to Makhanda was officially gazetted on 29 June 2018. The town was officially renamed to Makhanda in memory of Xhosa warrior and prophet Makhanda ka Nxele.

History

Makhanda was founded as Grahamstown in 1812 as a military outpost by Lieutenant-Colonel John Graham as part of the effort to secure the eastern frontier of British influence in the Cape Colony against the Xhosa, who had been forcibly pushed out to the lands that lay just to the east on the Fish River. The brutal expulsion of some 20,000 Xhosa people, including their leader Ndlambe ka Rharhabe, from the Zuurveld and the adoption of a "scorched earth" tactic by Graham and his forces to destroy Xhosa crops to prevent their return was part of the 4th "Frontier" War.

Egazini, Battle of Grahamstown

On 22 April 1819, a large number of Xhosa warriors, under the leadership of Nxele, launched an attack against the British colonial forces. The Xhosas had warned Colonel Willshire, the commanding officer, of their planned attack on Grahamstown. It was one of countless attacks launched on the nascent colony by the Xhosas. During the course of the battle, the British were running low on ammunition. A woman, by the name of Elizabeth Salt, risked her life by walking into the battle carrying weapons and ammunition to the British troops. She disguised the weapons and ammunition as an infant whom she was cradling. The Xhosa warriors were reluctant to attack a woman and child and so allowed her to pass and resupply the troops. The Xhosas, with a force of 10,000 troops under the overall command of Ndlambe's warrior son Mdushane, were unable to overpower the colonial garrison of some 300 men. Nxele surrendered, was taken captive and imprisoned on Robben Island. On Christmas Day, 1819 he tried to escape, and drowned.

Growth

Grahamstown grew during the 1820s as many 1820 Settlers and their families left farming to establish themselves in more secure trades. In 1833, Grahamstown was described as having "two or three English merchants of considerable wealth, but scarcely any society in the ordinary sense of the word. The Public Library is a wretched affair". As of 1833, it was estimated that the population of Grahamstown was approximately 6,000. In a few decades it became the Cape Colony's largest town after Cape Town. It became a bishopric in 1852. It was traditionally the capital and cultural centre of the Albany area, a former traditionally English-speaking district with a distinctive local culture.
In 1872, the Cape Government Railways began construction of the railway line linking Grahamstown to Port Alfred on the coast, and to the developing national railway network inland. That was completed and opened on 3 September 1879.
Grahamstown was the location of the testing of the first diamond find by Henry Carter Galpin.
In 1904, Rhodes University College was established in Grahamstown through a grant from the Rhodes Trust. In 1951 it became a fully-fledged University, Rhodes University.

Name change

Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa announced the name change from Grahamstown in the Government Gazette no. 641 of 29 June 2018. The purpose of gazetting was to publicise the Minister's decision for objections or comments by 28 July 2018.
Prompted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendation that geographic features, including geographical names, be renamed as a "symbolic reparation" to address an unjust past, it is proposed that the town be renamed after Makhanda, the prophet, philosopher and military man, who led a failed attack against the British garrison in Grahamstown in 1819. On 2 October 2018, Grahamstown was officially renamed to Makhanda in memory of Makhanda ka Nxele.

Religion

is the seat of the Anglican Diocese of Grahamstown. Makhanda also has Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Ethiopian Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist, Pinkster Protestante, Dutch Reformed, Charismatic, Apostolic and Pentecostal churches. There are also meeting places for Hindus, Scientologists, Quakers, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Muslims.
The city is home to more than forty religious buildings and is nicknamed the "City of Saints". According to one story recorded by H. V. Morton, Makhanda earned its nickname from Royal Engineers stationed in Grahamstown in 1846 who were in need of building tools. They sent a message to Cape Town requesting a vice to be forwarded to them from the Ordnance Stores. A reply came back, 'Buy vice locally'. The response was, "No vice in Grahamstown".

Demographics

According to the 2011 census the population of Makhanda was 67,264, of whom 78.9% described themselves as "Black African", 11.3% as "Coloured" and 8.4% as "White". Since 1994, there has been a considerable influx of Black people from the former Ciskei Xhosa homeland, which lies just to the east. The first language of 72.2% of the population is Xhosa, while 13.7% speak Afrikaans and 10.8% speak English

Education, arts and culture

Makhanda is home to Rhodes University, the South African National Library for the Blind, the National English Literary Museum, the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, the International Library of African Music, the Albany Museum, and the Institute for the Study of English in Africa.
The legacy of disparate education during Apartheid still echoes in the provision of secondary education in this former frontier town, where significant discrepancies in matric pass rates and general quality of education exist. Addressing this problem is one of the town's greatest challenges.
In March 1984, the City of Grahamstown adopted a flag, one of six designs prepared by heraldic expert Prof. Hugh Smith, of Rhodes University.
which amateur astronomer Galpin inscribed on the floor of the Meridian Room

Clock towers in the town

The following is a list of tower clocks in Makhanda, with their location and if they are in working order.
Two large festivals take place annually in Makhanda: the National Arts Festival in June/July and SciFest Africa in the first term of the year and attracts some 50,000 people. The National Arts Festival is the largest Arts festival in Africa and sees some of the leading talent on the South African and international art scene arriving in Makhanda for a celebration of culture and artistic expression. South Africa's National Science Festival, was established in 1996 to promote the public awareness, understanding and appreciation of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and innovation. Makhanda is also host to the Puku Story Festival since 2013 presented by the Puku Children's Literature Foundation. The festival was created in partnership with the National Arts Festival and the African Studies Department at Rhodes University with the aim to facilitate access to literature and educational/recreational materials in Xhosa.

Schools

SchoolYear FoundedDenominationLanguageGradesGenderPrivate/Public
St Andrew's College1855AnglicanEnglish8–12Single sex malePrivate
Graeme College 1873Non-denominationalEnglish0–12Single sex malePublic
Diocesan School for Girls 1874AnglicanEnglish4–12Single sex femalePrivate
St Aidan's College1876 JesuitEnglish?–12Single sex malePrivate
St. Andrew's Preparatory School1885AnglicanEnglish0–7Single sex male Private
Good Shepherd School1884AnglicanEnglish1–7co-educationalPrivate/public partnership
Kingswood College1894MethodistEnglish0–12Co-educationalPrivate
Victoria Girls' High School1897Non-denominationalEnglish8–12Single sex femalePublic
Victoria Girls' Primary1945Non-denominationalEnglish0–7Single sex femalePublic
Oatlands Preparatory1949Non-denominationalEnglish0–7Co-educationalPublic
P.J. Olivier1956Non-denominationalAfrikaans0–12Co-educationalPublic

Press

Makhanda is home to the oldest surviving independent newspaper in South Africa. Grocott's Mail was founded in 1870 by the Grocott family, and bought out a newspaper called the Grahamstown Journal, which was founded in 1831. Robert Godlonton, a previous owner of the Journal had used it and his other papers to oppose Andries Stockenström's treaty system and advocated seizing more land from the Xhosa. It is now a local newspaper operated by the Rhodes University School of Journalism and Media Studies, and still retains its name.
As a major centre for journalism training, Rhodes University also hosts two student newspapers, Activate, established in 1947, and The Oppidan Press, a student initiative launched in 2007 that caters mainly to the student population living off-campus.

Government

With the establishment of the Union of South Africa the Grahamstown High Court became a Local Division of the newly formed Supreme Court of South Africa. On 28 June 1957, the Eastern Districts Court, under the name Eastern Cape Division, became a provincial division. In certain other areas of provincial government Grahamstown similarly served as a centre for the Eastern Cape.
In 1994 Grahamstown became part of the newly established Eastern Cape Province, while Bhisho was chosen as the provincial capital.
It is the seat of the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court, as well as the Magistrate's Court for the Albany District. As a result of the presence of a High Court, several other related organs of state such as a Masters Office and a Director of Public Prosecutions are present in the town.
A few other Government departments maintain branches or other offices in Makhanda.
Grahamstown was the only settlement outside Cape Town to host a sitting of the Cape Colony legislature.

Municipal government

Grahamstown had its own municipality until 2000. Since then, it has formed part of the Makana Local Municipality in the Cacadu District.
From 2012 the Makana Local Municipality was unable to reliably provide water to its citizens The crisis continued to grow during 2013.
In 2013 South Africa's minister of water Edna Molewa was tasked with restoring the water supply of Grahamstown following protests over a nine-day water outage. Causes for the outage include financial mismanagement, with under-spending on infrastructure. The task force established by Molewa had not solved the problem by 2014.

Social issues

In October 2015 more than 500 people were displaced and more than 300 shops looted during a wave of xenophobic violence.
Some people use traditional African medicine because it is believed to be effective. There are some plants which are popular with the people of Makhanda.

Coat of arms

Municipality — The first arms were assumed in September 1862. They quartered an incorrect version of the arms of Graham of Fintry with those of Jan van Riebeeck, with an ostrich as a crest. The supporters were a leopard and a giraffe, and the motto was Virtute et opera.
Municipality — In response to a call by the Cape Provincial Administration for municipalities to have their coats of arms checked and, if necessary, re-designed, the city council had a new coat of arms designed by Ivan Mitford-Barberton and H. Ellis Tomlinson in 1950. It was granted by the College of Arms on 20 July 1950, and registered at the Bureau of Heraldry in September 1994.
The new arms were : Or, on a pile Gules, three annulets placed 2 and 1 Or; on a chief Sable, three escallops Or. The crest was changed to a plume of ostrich feathers issuing from a golden mural crown, and the supporters were differenced by placing an escallop on each shoulder.

Social movements

In 2017, Makana Revive! an independent civil society organisation was formed. During the first quarter of 2018, Makana Revive made national news when it spearheaded an initiative to repair failing infrastructure and improve the security and hygiene in the CBD. Donations were received from both local and international citizens and alumni.
The South African Unemployed Peoples' Movement has a strong presence in Makhanda.

Notable people