Bizana, also known by its official name Mbizana (since 2013), is a town in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is the seat of the

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Local Municipality Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Municipality (), formerly Mbizana Municipality, is a local municipality within the Alfred Nzo District Municipality, in the Wild Coast Region of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is named after Winnie Madi ...

Winnie Mandela Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist, second wife of Nelson Mandela. During ...

, ex-wife of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

, was born here in 1936. Oliver Reginald Tambo (popularly known as OR Tambo which the international airport in Johannesburg is named after) was also born and grew up in this town. The town has many surrounding villages.

Entertainment and nature

The Wild Coast Sun casino and hotel by Sun international group is in the Bizana District, situated 56,6 kilometres from the town. The Wild Coast Sun hosted Idols SA theatre week in 2016 and 2017. Bizana is in the Wild coast area and has beautiful beaches. One of them is Silver Beach, a beautiful and peaceful beach in the Xholobeni area, where a hotel complex is located. The controversial

Xolobeni mine The Xolobeni mine is a proposed titanium mine located in the Wild Coast region of the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The proposed mine has reserves amounting to 348.7 million tonnes of ore grading 5% titanium. The government decision to support ...

has been proposed to mine the area's titanium reserves. Bizana is on the border between

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

and the

. The population is predominantly

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

Hospitals

Bizana has a provincial hospital, the

Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Regional Hospital Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Regional Hospital, formerly St. Patrick's Hospital, is a Provincial government funded hospital in Bizana in the Alfred Nzo District of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The hospital departments include Emerg ...

. The Greenville hospital, in the eTyeni area of Imizizi Administrative area, was originally developed by the Roman Catholic church in 1900. Greenville has been the subject of community protests after years of neglect.

1986 bombing

On 18 April

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, two people were killed and several others injured when a bomb, set by Phumzile Mayaphi, exploded at the Wild Coast Casino near Bizana. Mayaphi, an MK operative, was charged and convicted of murder and sabotage, and was sentenced to death (some sources say to 18 years) on 12 May 1989. Mayaphi was released as a political prisoner in 1990.https://www.dailydispatch.co.za/politics/2018-09-26-former-umkhonto-wesizwe-operative-left-his-mark-on-sa/}

Culture

* Mbizana Cultural Village

Transport

The

R61 R61 may refer to: * R61 (South Africa) The R61 is a long provincial route in South Africa that connects Beaufort West with Port Shepstone via Graaff-Reinet, Komani (previously Queenstown), Mthatha and Port Edward. The R61 is co-signed with th ...

is the major route running through Mbizana, bypassing the town to the south. It runs roughly SE to S from Port Edward in

to Flagstaff.

Notable people

Babalo Madikizela Babalo Madikizela is a South African urban planner and politician who served as the Eastern Cape MEC for Public Works from May 2019 to July 2022 and as a Member of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature from November 2018 to August 2022. Madiki ...

– Eastern Cape MEC for Public Works *

Nandipha Magudumana Nandipha Magudumana (née Sekeleni; otherwise known as Dr Nandipha) is a South African medical practitioner and celebrity doctor born in Bizana, Eastern Cape, and raised in Port Edward, KwaZulu-Natal. She graduated from the University of the ...

– celebrity doctor *

Oliver Tambo Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo (27 October 191724 April 1993) was a South African anti-apartheid politician and activist who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991. Biography Childhood Oliver Tambo was ...

– Anti-Apartheid Movement activist & President of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

* Siphosakhe Ntiya-Ntiya – footballer *

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist, second wife of Nelson Mandela. During ...

– Anti-Apartheid Movement activist, president of the

African National Congress Women's League The African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) is an auxiliary women's political organization of the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa. This organization has its precedent in the Bantu Women's League, and it oscillated from ...

& former wife of

References

External links

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