Whittlesea, Eastern Cape


Whittlesea is a semi-rural town situated in the Hewu district, 37 km south of Queenstown, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The town is made up townships of Ekuphumleni, Bhede, Extension 4, Extension 5 and Sada. The town falls under the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality which is under the Chris Hani District Municipality. Surrounding Whittlesea are 36 villages which make up the Hewu district.

History

Founded in 1849, Whittlesea was as a military outpost created to protect white settlers during the Frontier War of 1850–1853. The town was named after Whittlesea in Cambridgeshire, birthplace of Sir Harry Smith, Governor of the Cape Colony from 1847 to 1852. A British officer fortified five houses during the War of Mlanjeni, when the Xhosas besieged the settlement. One of these, which now forms part of the Post Office Complex,is still standing. Between 1948- 1994, at the height of the apartheid regime in South Africa, Whittlesea belonged to the former Ciskei, a bantustan/ homeland established in 1961 under the Promotion of Self-Government Act of 1959. Until 1994, there was no formal political organisation in Whittlesea. The Department of Internal Affairs facilitated decisions around land use, services and rates in the townships through township managers. After South Africa's first democratic election, Whittlesea became governed by a council. Nowadays the town is under the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality which covers areas such as Tarkastad & Queenstown

Landmarks

Whittlesea functions as a central town, providing services and shopping facilities to the surrounding villages. The inhabitants of the town rely on the neighbouring town of Queenstown for their economic needs. Due to the failure of the factories built by the Taiwanese in Sada in the 1990s, the underutilisation of small business complexes, a lack of funding and a lack of natural resources, Whittlesea has become a source of migrant labour. However, projects started by The South African National Roads Agency Ltd and Expanded Public Works Programmes have brought hope to the area.

Demographics

The following statistics describing Whittlesea are from the 2011 census.
GenderPopulation%
Male6,77445.91
Female7,98254.09

RacePopulation%
Coloured270.18
Black African14,62199.09
White160.11
Indian or Asian350.24
Other570.39

First languagePopulation%
Afrikaans640.44
isiXhosa1366693.27
English3692.52
Sesotho800.55
Setswana190.13
Sign language1180.81
isiZulu530.36
isiNdebele490.33
Xitsonga170.12
Sepedi310.21
Tshivenda190.13
siSwati60.04
Other1621.11
Not applicable104

Villages

Some of the villages surrounding Whittlesea include;