Uitenhage
Kariega
Victoria Tower
Victoria Tower
Uitenhage is located in Eastern Cape
Uitenhage
Uitenhage
Uitenhage is located in South Africa
Uitenhage
Uitenhage
Uitenhage is located in Africa
Uitenhage
Uitenhage
Coordinates: 33°46′S 25°24′E / 33.767°S 25.400°E / -33.767; 25.400
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceEastern Cape
MunicipalityNelson Mandela Bay
Established1804[1]
Area
[2]
 • Total75.35 km2 (29.09 sq mi)
Elevation
103 m (338 ft)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total103,639
 • Density1,400/km2 (3,600/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
[2]
 • Black African23.8%
 • Coloured54.7%
 • Indian/Asian1.2%
 • White18.4%
 • Other1.8%
First languages (2011)
[2]
 • Afrikaans68.9%
 • Xhosa17.9%
 • English10.4%
 • Other2.9%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)
6229
PO box
6230
Area code041

Uitenhage (/ˈjuːtənheɪɡ/ YOO-tən-hayg;[3] Afrikaans: [œitənˈɦɑːχə]), officially renamed Kariega,[4] is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port Elizabeth and the small town of Despatch, it forms the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.

History

Uitenhage was founded on 25 April 1804 by landdrost (district magistrate) Jacob Glen Cuyler and named in honour of the Cape's Commissioner-General Jacob Abraham Uitenhage de Mist by the Dutch Cape Colony governor, Jan Willem Janssens.[5] Uitenhage formed part of the district of Graaff Reinet (shortly after its short-lived secession).

The Cape Colony received a degree of independence when "Responsible Government" was declared in 1872. In 1875, the Cape government of John Molteno took over the rudimentary Uitenhage railway site, incorporated it into the Cape Government Railways (CGR), and began construction of the lines connecting Uitenhage to Port Elizabeth and the Southern African interior. Two years later in 1877, Uitenhage was declared a municipality.[6]

Nearly a hundred years later, as part of the Republic of South Africa, Uitenhage became a centre for resistance against apartheid. In 1985, police opened fire on a funeral procession in Uitenhage, killing a number of unarmed people, in an event that became notorious as an example of police oppression in South Africa under apartheid.[7][8]

In 2001 it was incorporated with Port Elizabeth and Despatch into the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality. On 23 February 2021, Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa approved and gazetted the decision to rename Uitenhage to Kariega along with the neighbouring city of Port Elizabeth, which was renamed Gqeberha.[9]

Geography

Uitenhage is situated on the banks of the Swartkops River, approximately 30 kilometres (18.6 miles) north-west of Port Elizabeth. Uitenhage, along with the city of Port Elizabeth, the neighbouring town of Despatch, the adjoining township of KwaNobuhle and surrounding areas, form the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.[10][11]

Uitenhage also lies at the start of the Mohair Route which leads along Route 75 towards Graaff-Reinet (the centre for mohair farming in South Africa), 228 kilometres to the northwest via Jansenville on Route 75.

Industries

Uitenhage is known for the large industries situated there. The largest of these industries are the Volkswagen of South Africa and Goodyear factories. An automotive supplier park, Alexander Park Industrial, has also been created directly next to the Volkswagen factory, thus allowing automotive component manufacturers to construct their manufacturing plants close by. Other industries of note are the food processing giant, Sovereign Foods, located in Kruisrivier industrial area and The Nelson Mandela Bay Logistics Park which hosts several other industries, including Fauricia. These industries are heavily interlinked.

Transport

The R75 highway, also known as Route 75, skirts Uitenhage to the east leading northwards to Jansenville and Graaff-Reinet and southwards to iBhayi and Port Elizabeth with access at the M19, M6, R334 and Graaff-Reinet Road. The R334 enters Uitenhage from the north-east and runs through the central business district (CBD) leading from Coega to the east towards KwaNobuhle and the R102 near Van Stadens Pass to the south-west.

The M6 route leads eastwards from the R334 intersection in the CBD to Despatch as Caledon Street and Union Avenue; the M10 route leads south-eastwards to Bethelsdorp as Durban Street and Algoa Road; the M19 route leads from the M10 intersection just outside Uitenhage to Despatch as Botha Street and the M22 route leads from the M6 intersection just west of Uitenhage to KwaNobuhle as Marconi Street and Mel Brooks Avenue.

The main streets through the CBD, known as Uitenhage Central, include Cuyler Street, Caledon Street in Upper Central and Durban Street in Lower Central.

Notable people

Notable animals

  • Jack – a chacma baboon trained to assist signalman James Wide, who had both legs amputated.

Notable buildings

Coats of arms

Drostdy — In 1804, the Cape colonial government assigned the shield of Jacob Abraham Uitenhage de Mist's arms to the new Uitenhage drostdy. The arms were Sable, a cross moline Argent, i.e. a silver cross moline on a black shield. An anchor was placed behind the shield.[23] The British authorities discontinued the drostdy seals in 1814, and replaced them with the royal coat of arms.[24]

Municipality — In 1881, the Uitenhage municipal council adopted the De Mist arms, complete with a crest consisting of a cross moline issuing from a gold coronet.[25] The arms were registered with the Cape Provincial Administration in September 1956[26] and at the Bureau of Heraldry in June 1994.[27]

Divisional council — The Uitenhage divisional council (the local authority for the rural areas outside the town) assumed a coat of arms in 1968. The arms were granted by the provincial administrator in August 1968[28] and registered at the Bureau of Heraldry in June 1972.[27]

On the arms were stated: "Or, a triple crowned tree Vert, the trunk entwined with the Batavian tricolour; on a chief wavy Sable a cross moline between dexter a pickaxe and hammer in saltire, handles downwards and sinister two scrolls in saltire, Argent." In layman's terms, the design was a golden shield displaying, from top to bottom, a crossed pickaxe and hammer, a cross moline and two crossed scrolls on a black horizontal strip with a wavy edge, and a triple-crowned tree with a Batavian Republic flag wrapped around it.

The crest was an elephant, and the motto Per laborem ad honorem.

References

  1. ↑ Robson, Linda Gillian (2011). "Annexure A". The Royal Engineers and Settlement Planning in the Cape Colony 1806–1872: Approach, Methodology and Impact (PhD thesis). University of Pretoria. pp. xlv–lii. hdl:2263/26503., based on Floyd (1960:20–26)
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Main Place Uitenhage". Census 2011.
  3. ↑ Lass, Roger (1990), "A 'standard' South African vowel system", in Ramsaran, Susan (ed.), Studies in the Pronunciation of English: A Commemorative Volume in Honour of A.C. Gimson, Routledge, p. 283, ISBN 978-0-41507180-2
  4. ↑ "Two SA airports – and Port Elizabeth – just got official new names". BusinessInsider. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  5. ↑ "Uitenhage is founded". sahistory. Archived from the original on 15 October 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
  6. ↑ Burman, Jose (1984), Early Railways at the Cape. Cape Town: Human & Rousseau, p.66. ISBN 0-7981-1760-5
  7. ↑ Thornton, R. J. (1990). "The Shooting at Uitenhage, South Africa, 1985: The Context and Interpretation of Violence". American Ethnologist. 17 (2): 217–236. doi:10.1525/ae.1990.17.2.02a00020. JSTOR 645077. S2CID 73539066.
  8. ↑ "Justice/Home".
  9. ↑ "It is Official, Port Elizabeth Has a New Name — Gqeberha". HeraldLIVE. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  10. ↑ "Distance Port-Elizabeth, Nelson-Mandela-Bay, Eastern-Cape, ZAF > Uitenhage, Nelson-Mandela-Bay-Metropolitan-Municipality, Eastern-Cape, ZAF - Air line, driving route, midpoint". www.distance.to. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  11. ↑ "Port Elizabeth Map | South Africa Google Satellite Maps". www.maplandia.com. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  12. ↑ "Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality : Loyiso Bala". nelsonmandelabay.gov.za.
  13. ↑ Combrinck, Heilie (30 June 2016). "First local TEDx conference hosts famous guests". UD News. Uitenhage. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  14. ↑ McGregor, Liz (21 March 2005). "Obituary: The Rev Allan Hendrickse". UD News. Uitenhage. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  15. ↑ Reporter, Citizen. "Details: How Mcebisi Jonas could make his political comeback". The Citizen. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  16. ↑ Biyela, Lunga (3 April 2014). "Kayser happy to share". The Witness. Durban. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  17. ↑ Moonda, Firdose. "Anrich Nortje". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Sports Media Limited. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  18. ↑ "Players | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  19. ↑ Illustrated Guide to the Southern African Coast, AA the Motorist Publications, 1988, page 164
  20. ↑ "The Captain's Table: Panel: Garth Wright".
  21. ↑ "Lee-Roy Wright". tvsa.co.za.
  22. ↑ Schalk, le Roux (June 2007). "The First Mosque: Caledon Street, Uitenhage" (PDF). Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Kultuurgeskiedenis (South African Journal of Cultural History). 21 (1): 59. Retrieved 24 June 2017. it is deduced that the mosque in Caledon Street was a completed building by March 1849
  23. ↑ Pama, C. (1965) Lions and Virgins.
  24. ↑ Cape Town Gazette 418 (15 January 1814).
  25. ↑ The arms were depicted on a cigarette card issued in 1931.
  26. ↑ Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette 2833 (28 September 1956).
  27. 1 2 "National Archives of South Africa (NASA) Database Selection". www.national.archsrch.gov.za.
  28. ↑ Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette 3470 (9 August 1968).

Bibliography

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