Mthatha - Umtata- Cape Travel Guides - Accommodation, Safaris, Adventure

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Province: Eastern Cape
Region:
Town: Mthatha - Umtata

MTHATHA
Mthatha, (formerly spelt Umtata), is the head town of the King Sabata Danilyebo Municipality, (pop 89464), and was the capital of the formerly independent Bantustan of Transkei. King Sabata Danilyebo was the traditional leader of the AmaThembu people and was a prominent anti apartheid activist. Many of South Africa’s leaders, including President Nelson Mandela come from this area.

Mthatha is situated along the N2 180 kilometres from East London and 280 kms from Durban, was founded as a military post by the colonial forces in 1882, and the town was founded in 1883. The city was founded along the banks of the Mthatha River. The name derives from an ancient, now discontinued custom of the local people, who would dispose of their dead by placing the remains in the river, imploring the river to “Mtathe bawo” or “take him, Father”.

Mthatha became the leading centre administrative centre of the area, and grew to be a sizeable area, having both an Anglican and Catholic cathedrals. The town became the seat of the traditional authorities and a parliament building for this purpose known as the Bunga, was erected. A branch of the University of Fort Hare was established in the town after the “independence” of the Transkei in 1977 it became the University of Transkei and is now part of the Walter Sisulu Technological University. Walter Sisulu was one of the most prominent anti apartheid campaigners who was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island along with Nelson Mandela and the other Rivonia trialists. He was released a few months before Mandela, and also hailed from the area.

Mthatha has many sites of interest. The village of Qunu outside the town was the childhood home of Nelson Mandela and the old Bunga building is now the Nelson Mandela Museum. The town is the main centre on route to the Wild Coast resorts of Coffee Bay and Port St Johns and is an important commercial centre for the region with a fascinating history.

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