Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n continent. Along with the city of

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, So ...

and the small town of Despatch, it forms the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality.

History

Uitenhage was founded on 25 April 1804 by '' landdrost'' (district magistrate)

Jacob Glen Cuyler Jacob Glen Cuyler (1773-April 14, 1854) was an American of Dutch origin who was an important character in the settlement of the British 1820 Settlers to the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Early life Jacob Glen Cuyler was born in 1773 to Abraham Cuy ...

and named in honour of the Cape's Commissioner-General Jacob Abraham Uitenhage de Mist by the Dutch Cape Colony governor,

Jan Willem Janssens Jonkheer Jan Willem Janssens GCMWO (12 October 1762 – 23 May 1838) was a Dutch nobleman, soldier and statesman who served both as the governor of the Dutch Cape Colony and governor-general of the Dutch East Indies. Early life Born in Nijme ...

. Uitenhage formed part of the district of Graaff Reinet (shortly after its short-lived secession). The

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with ...

received a degree of independence when " Responsible Government" was declared in 1872. In 1875, the Cape government of

John Molteno Sir John Charles Molteno (5 June 1814 – 1 September 1886) was a soldier, businessman, champion of responsible government and the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. Early life Born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family, Molten ...

took over the rudimentary Uitenhage railway site, incorporated it into the

Cape Government Railways The Cape Government Railways (CGR) was the government-owned railway operator in the Cape Colony from 1874 until the creation of the South African Railways (SAR) in 1910. History Private railways The first railways at the Cape were privately ow ...

(CGR), and began construction of the lines connecting Uitenhage to

and the

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...

n interior. Two years later in

1877 Events January–March * January 1 – Queen Victoria is proclaimed ''Empress of India'' by the ''Royal Titles Act 1876'', introduced by Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom . * January 8 – Great ...

, Uitenhage was declared a municipality. 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 Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

it was incorporated with Port Elizabeth and Despatch into the

Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality ( af, Nelson Mandelabaai Metropolitaanse Munisipaliteit; xh, uMasipala wase Nelson Mandela Bay or ''uMasipala waseBhayi'') is one of eight metropolitan municipalities (also called Category A municipalities) in S ...

. On 23 February 2021,

Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture The Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture is a Minister in the Cabinet of South Africa. The minister is responsible for sport, recreation Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for rec ...

Nathi Mthethwa Emmanuel Nkosinathi "Nathi" Mthethwa is a South African politician who has served as Minister of Arts and Culture since February 2014. He was appointed again in 2019 for his second term, taking also the portfolio of Sport under his wing. He also ...

approved and gazetted the decision to rename Uitenhage to Kariega along with the neighbouring city of Port Elizabeth which was changed to Gqeberha.

Geography

Uitenhage is located 30 km north-west of

. Its neighbouring town of Despatch and township KwaNobuhle, the city of Port Elizabeth and other surrounding areas form the

. Uitenhage is also located at the beginning of the Mohair Route which stretches to Graaff-Reinet (considered the centre for mohair farming) via

Jansenville Jansenville is a town in Sarah Baartman District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Town on the Sundays River, 87 km south of Graaff-Reinet. Laid out on the farm Vergenoegd in 1854, it was proclaimed in 1855 and b ...

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.

Transport

Uitenhage is at the junction of regional and metropolitan routes and has access to many roads. * The R75 links to Despatch and

in the south and

and Graaff-Reinet in the north. * The M19 links to Despatch, Ibhayi and

Swartkops Swartkops is a village in Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The location is on the Swartkops River, 11 km north of Port Elizabeth and 1,6 km from the Indian Ocean. ''Swartkops'' means "black hills" in Afr ...

in the east. * The R334 links to

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lana ...

and Coega to the east and KwaNobuhle and the R102 (which also connects to the N2 to Humansdorp and

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

) in the south-west. * The M10 links to Despatch, Bethelsdorp and Port Elizabeth in the south.

Notable people

* Loyiso Bala, South African R&B singer; part of Bala Brothers ground and

TKZee TKZee is a South African kwaito music group formed in 1990s by three school friends, Tokollo Tshabalala, Kabelo Mabalane, and Zwai Bala. The group shot to prominence in late 1997 and early 1998 with their chart-topping singles "Phalafala" and ...

Mihlali Mosi Mihlali Mosi (born ) is a South African rugby union player for the . His regular position is flanker or number 8. Mosi was named in the squad for the 2021 Currie Cup Premier Division. He made his debut for the in Round 2 of the 2021 Currie C ...

, professional Rugby Player from Muir College Boys' High School * Zikhona Bali, actress acts as Asanda on DiepCity * Linky Boshoff, South African tennis player from Riebeek College Girls' High School *

Okkert Brits Okkert Brits (born 22 August 1973, in Uitenhage) is a former South African track and field athlete who specialised in the pole vault. He was the silver medallist at the World Championships in Athletics in 2003. He was a four-time champion at th ...

, Olympic pole vaulter * Joseph Petrus Hendrik Crowe,

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

officer who was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previousl ...

* Annatjie van Deventer, netball * Deshun Deysel, international business coach and mountaineer * Heloise Ferreira, Van Wyk - netball * Carel Fourie, Springbok rugby wing; from Die Brandwag Hoërskool * Marie Hayes, netball * Nantie Hayward, South African cricketer who now plays in the Indian Cricket League * Allan Hendrickse, preacher-teacher-politician from apartheid politics * Mcebisi Jonas, former deputy Finance Minister, active member of ANC's Uitenhage branch * Deon Kayser, rugby player * Johann van der Merwe, Springbok rugby centre 1969/70 British tour; from Die Brandwag Hoërskool * Bicks Ndoni, former mayor of Uitenhage and ANC politician * Smuts Ngonyama, ANC National Spokesman during Thabo Mbeki's Era. Recently appointed South African Ambassador to Spain * Anrich Nortje, South African cricketer * Charles Robert Redcliffe, Labour Party politician, community leader and anti-apartheid activist * Christo van Rensburg, South African tennis player, ATP-ranked *

Enoch Sontonga Enoch Mankayi Sontonga ( – 18 April 1905) was a South African composer, who is best known for writing the Xhosa hymn "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" (), which, in abbreviated version, has been sung as the first half of the national anthem of South A ...

, composer of '' Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika'' which is now part of the national anthem * James Wide, double leg amputee railway signalman and owner of Jack the signal- baboon * Garth Wright, Springbok

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

scrum-half from Muir College * Lee-Roy Wright, South African actor and television presenter

Notable animals

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

Notable buildings

* Masjid al-Qudama (1849), is one of the oldest

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

s in the country. * Cuyler Manor, historic house museum

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.Pama, C. (1965) ''Lions and Virgins''. The British authorities discontinued the drostdy seals in 1814, and replaced them with the royal coat of arms.''Cape Town Gazette'' 418 (15 January 1814). 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.The arms were depicted on
cigarette card
issued in 1931. The arms were registered with the Cape Provincial Administration in September 1956Cape of Good Hope ''Official Gazette'' 2833 (28 September 1956). and at the Bureau of Heraldry in June 1994. 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 1968Cape of Good Hope ''Official Gazette'' 3470 (9 August 1968). and registered at the Bureau of Heraldry in June 1972. On the arms were stated: "Or, a triple crowned

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

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 The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bon ...

flag wrapped around it. The crest was an

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantida ...

, and the motto ''Per laborem ad honorem''.

References

Bibliography

External links

{{Authority control Populated places in Nelson Mandela Bay Populated places established in 1804