Maloti is a middle-class township of

Matatiele Local Municipality Matatiele Local Municipality is a Category B municipality located in the Alfred Nzo District Municipality, Alfred Nzo District of Eastern Cape in South Africa. It adjoins Lesotho to the north, Elundini Local Municipality, Elundini to the south-we ...

Alfred Nzo District Municipality Alfred Nzo is one of the 6 districts of Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The seat of Alfred Nzo is Mount Ayliff. The majority of its 801 344 people speak Xhosa. The district code is DC44. It is named after Alfred Baphethuxolo Nzo, a form ...

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 South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The spelling of the town's name was corrected from Maluti in 2015. Maloti, once a village, is now a rapidly developing township. The township comprises

Sotho Sotho may refer to: *Sotho people (or ''Basotho''), an African ethnic group principally resident in South Africa, Lesotho and southern Botswana * Sotho language (''Sesotho'' or ''Southern Sotho''), a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa, an off ...

, Hlubi,

Phuthi Phuthi (''Síphùthì'') is a Nguni Bantu language spoken in southern Lesotho and areas in South Africa adjacent to the same border. The closest substantial living relative of Phuthi is Swati (or ''Siswati''), spoken in Eswatini and the Mpumal ...

and small Xhosa groups. Most residents in the area are either bilingual or multilingual. The township comprises many sections, namely Tholang, Motsekoa, Ramohlakoana, Protea, Hardingberg, Malubaluba and Donald's Drift. Maloti is highly admired for the mountain ranges that surround it.

History

There is very little history recorded about Maloti. Maloti started as a small village that gradually grew during the Apartheid era when it was zoned to house the black inhabitants of

Matatiele Matatiele is a town located in the northern part of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. According to the South African National Census of 2011, its 12,466 residents (1,113.44 per km²) and 4,107 households (366.83 per km²) make Matatiel ...

Development

Maloti was already developing during Apartheid, but it saw even greater development in the 2000s. The township has facilities like a petrol station, hotels, shops, schools, a civic center, a hall, a library, a post office, a clinic, a police station, a magistrates court and municipal offices that make it self-sufficient and independent from Matatiele. Affluent black families send their children to the Model C schools in Matatiele. The township once had a fully functional university, the

University of Transkei The University of Transkei was a university in Umtata in the former bantustan of Transkei in South Africa. It was founded in 1976 as a branch of the University of Fort Hare and after the Transkei gained nominal independence in 1977, it became the ...

(which was colloquially known as Maluti College) The old university buildings have been converted into district offices.

Culture

Traditional culture is slowly phasing out within Maloti as it gentrifies. Maloti's culture is heavily influenced by Western culture, in line with the rest of South Africa.

References

{{Alfred Nzo District Municipality Populated places in the Matatiele Local Municipality