Ngcobo, alternatively rendered Engcobo, 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 ...

. Ngcobo is the main town of the Engcobo Local Municipality, which falls within the Chris Hani District Municipality of the Eastern Cape. It is situated in the western part of the former

bantustan A Bantustan (also known as a Bantu peoples, Bantu homeland, a Black people, black homeland, a Khoisan, black state or simply known as a homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party (South Africa), National Party administration of the ...

Transkei Transkei ( , meaning ''the area beyond Great Kei River, he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei (), was an list of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa f ...

. Ngcobo is along R61 surrounded by the towns of Cofimvaba, Dutywa, Mthatha, Elliot and Cala. The villages in Ngcobo include Gqaga, Nkwenkwana, Bhokileni, Tshaphile, Mnyolo, Mhlophekazi, Yawa, Sandile, Nkondlo, Clarkebury, Gqobonco, Manzana, Mkhanzi, Qitsi, Mqonci, Xonya, Sigubudwini, All Saints, Mjanyana, Deberha, Mbhekeni, Quthubeni, Cefane, Ntibaneni, Nxamagela, Ngxogi, Zabasa, Sinqumeni, Gqaqhala, Sundwane, Gubenxe, Luhewini, Kalinyanga, Sixholosini, Thorha, Ntsinga, Goboti and Ntibaneni. Mbashe River separates Ngcobo from Mthatha. Durbame used gor peasants

History

On 1 November 1859, a day known in the Christian calendar as

All Saints' Day All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the Church, whether they are know ...

, Chief Fubu of the amaQwathi met with Archdeacon Waters and the Rev John Gordon of the

Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG) is a United Kingdom-based charitable organisation (registered charity no. 234518). It was first incorporated under Royal Charter in 1701 as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Pa ...

(SPG). As a result, they were granted a stretch of land in the Xuka valley, and soon thereafter the All Saints mission station was founded on the site under the leadership of the Rev Gordon. Today All Saints Parish is a cathedral. In 1876 Walter Stanford arrived at the station to take up his appointment as Resident Magistrate to the amaQwathi. He established the seat of his magistracy some 8 km from the station on a site known locally as Engcobo, a Xhosa term meaning "a green place next to a stream". In 1879 the amaQwathi rose in rebellion and, during the ensuing hostilities, both the mission and the magistracy were burnt to the ground, forcing their residents to flee. Following the surrender of the amaQwathi, the magistracy was re-established at Engcobo in 1881. The town was previously located in Mjanyana, well known as aleper institution. Traditionally known as emaQwathini (the land of the Qwathi people), the town of Ngcobo has evolved to accommodate many nationalities. Recently, this town is a home to many Chinese, Pakistani, North African traders and more. The first non Xhosa professionals to settle in this area were Indian doctors working at All Saints Hospital and Ghanaian teachers who flooded the whole of the Transkei in the 1980s. For many years Ngcobo was the biggest town in the region serving many smaller towns like Cofimvaba, Tsomo, and Cala and this gave rise to a popular Xhosa saying "INgcobo yidolophu" meaning "Don't take it for granted, Ngcobo is a big town". Ngcobo has two government hospitals: All Saints General Hospital and Mjanyana TB Hospital Eastern Cape Dept of Health official website
/ref> Ngcobo is the birthplace of former ANC presiden
Alfred Bathini Xuma
ANC stalwar
Walter Sisulu
UDF stalwar
Canon Mcebisi XunduMondli Gungubele
Ekurhuleni Mayor, former wife of Nelson Mandela

Evelyn Mase Evelyn Ntoko Mase (18 May 1922 – 30 April 2004), later named Evelyn Rakeepile, was the first wife of the South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and the future president Nelson Mandela, to whom she was married ...

and many who played a significant role in the history of South Africa. Xhosa brickmaker at kiln near Ngcobo

Notable people from Ngcobo

, nurse and first wife of the anti-apartheid activist and the future president

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 ...

* Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane (Eastern Cape ANC Provincial Chairperson and 7th Premier) * Clarkebury on the banks of Mbhashe River was home to

at high school level * Qaqamba Gubanca, social worker and activist * Mbombini Molteno Sihele, Xhosa Councillor and national poet (''"imbongi"'') *

Walter Sisulu Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (18 May 1912 – 5 May 2003) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC ...

, anti-

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

activist and Secretary General 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 ...

(ANC) * Dr Xuma

Location

References

{{Chris Hani District Municipality Populated places in the Engcobo Local Municipality Populated places established in 1881