History of Eastern Cape, South Africa - South African Information

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Eastern Cape Information > History

A Short History of the Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is the area where Xhosas, Afrikaners & the English encountered each other for the first time in the South African region. Xhosa groups were living inland in the area between Bushman's River and the Kei River when white settlements in the Eastern Cape started taking place. By the late 1700's the Xhosas where progressively being confronted by the Trek Boers approaching from the west.

Both being stock farmers, the inevitable competition for grazing led to confrontations between the groups. An attempt was made by the colonial government to subdue these confrontations by separating the white and black settlements with the Fish River as the border. This was only a temporary solution and by the middle of the 19th century all the land of the Xhosa was in the hands of the white settlers. The black settlers where eventually stripped of all rights when the South African Union was found in 1910 in which only the white population had the right to vote.

The Xhosa were not the first people to inhabit the area of South Africa what is today known as the Eastern Cape. The Bushmen were living in the Eastern Cape before the Nguni tribes moved South from the North-East of Africa. Evidence of the Bushmen in the Eastern Cape can be seen in the rock art found all over the province. Some of the best sights for viewing Bushman art can be found near Barkly-East in the North-Eastern part of the Eastern Cape.

Former president and South African icon, Nelson Mandela, was born in Mvezo in the Eastern Cape. But it was in Qunu in the Eastern Cape where Nelson Mandela spent most of his growing years. Today Qunu is a cluster of villages surrounded by open veld and rolling hills covered with lush green grass. Other famous political heroes originating from the Eastern Cape include Robert Sobukwe, Steve Biko, and Thabo Mbeki.

 

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