Balfour is a town in Raymond Mhlaba Municipality,

Amathole District Municipality Amathole is one of the 7 districts of Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The seat of Amathole is East London. Over 90% of its 892,637 people speak Xhosa (2011 Census). The district code is DC12. "Amathole" means calves, the name of the mou ...

, in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

province of South Africa. The village, which lies at the foot of the

Katberg Katberg is a hamlet high up in Raymond Mhlaba Municipality, Amathole District Municipality, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. ...

, was established as a mission station of the

Glasgow Missionary Society Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1828 by John Ross and

McDiarmid McDiarmid, also MacDiarmid, is an Irish surname originating from a high king of Ireland circa 657 AD, popular in Scotland. People Notable people with this surname include: McDiarmid * Archie McDiarmid (1881–1957), Scottish-born Canadian tra ...

, and named after Robert Balfour, first Secretary of the Society. Throughout the nine Frontier Wars, the town experienced some heavy fighting. Today, tobacco, citrus, wool and beef farming are practised in the area.

References

Populated places in the Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality {{EasternCape-geo-stub