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Queenstown Komani | |
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Clockwise from Top: Queenstown City Hall, Dutch Reformed Church, St Michael Anglican Church. | |
Nickname: Rose Capital of South Africa | |
Coordinates: 31°54′S26°53′E / 31.900°S 26.883°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Eastern Cape |
District | Chris Hani |
Municipality | Enoch Mgijima |
Established | 1853 |
Government | |
• Mayor | Madoda Pipiyana [ citation needed ] |
Area | |
• Total | 71.3 km2 (27.5 sq mi) |
Population (2011) [1] | |
• Total | 68,872 |
• Density | 970/km2 (2,500/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011) | |
• Black African | 81.8% |
• Coloured | 10.0% |
• Indian/Asian | 1.1% |
• White | 6.5% |
• Other | 0.6% |
First languages (2011) | |
• Xhosa | 75.2% |
• Afrikaans | 13.8% |
• English | 7.3% |
• Other | 3.7% |
Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Postal code (street) | 5320 |
PO box | 5319 |
Area code | 045 |
Queenstown, officially Komani, [2] is a town in the middle of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, roughly halfway between the smaller towns of Cathcart and Sterkstroom on the N6 National Route. The town was established in 1853 and is currently the commercial, administrative, and educational centre of the surrounding farming district.
Queenstown was founded in early 1853 under the direction of Sir George Cathcart, who named the settlement, and then fort, after Queen Victoria. Work on its railway connection to East London on the coast was begun by the Cape government of John Molteno in 1876, and the line was officially opened on 19 May 1880. [3]
The town war memorial was designed by Sir Robert Lorimer in 1922 with its sculpture by Alice Meredith Williams. [4]
The town prospered from its founding up to the worldwide depression of the 1930s, and again thereafter. In the 1960s, the majority of the Black population were moved east to the township of Ezibeleni, as part of the attempt to move African people to so-called "homelands".
The area has in the past had very severe weather problems, luckily, often only affecting the surrounding areas. In 2002, heavy snowfall around Queenstown caused a severe disaster, especially since the area was not funded or ready for such a disaster. [5] Then, in 2004, the surrounding areas of the Eastern Cape were affected by strong winds and heavy rainfall, [6] although Queenstown once again escaped much flooding and some wind damage, power shortages soon followed. Other natural disasters include droughts [7] and wildfires. [8]
In February 2016, the government changed the official name for the town from "Queenstown" to "Komani". [2]
The following high schools serve the town and surrounding areas:
Primary schools in the area include:
Tertiary education institutions in Queenstown include
The city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Queenstown, centred at the Cathedral of Christ the King. It is also the seat of the Anglican Church's Diocese of Ukhahlamba, whose imposing Cathedral Church of St. Michael and All Angels stands adjacent to the town's public gardens. [9] Churches of all faith denominations are to be found in and around the town.
The town lies on the Komani River which forms part of the Great Kei system of rivers and has a plentiful water supply from the surrounding rugged mountains. The water is collected in the Bongolo Dam, set in the hills, used extensively for recreation and watersports. Each year, around the beginning of June, the town holds an art exhibition with the emphasis on paintings and sculpture.
The layout of the town reflects its original objective as a defensive stronghold for the frontier area and has a most unusual design. There is a central hexagonal area where canon or rifle fire could be directed down six thoroughfares radiating from the centre. The canon sites have now been replaced with gardens and a central fountain. An abstract sculpture replaced the fountain as part of the town's 150th anniversary. The hexagon still exists, with the outer road surrounding it named Robinson Road, which encircles it. Surrounding the Hexagon to the east and west lies more commercial and administrative facilities.
Currently, formerly 'white suburbs' (Sandringham, Kingsway, Windsor, Bergsig, Blue rise, Balmoral, Madeira Park and a new suburb of Komani Park) surround the hexagon to the north, east and west, however, one of the city's great townships (and squatter camps) lies to the south. It is a collection of black and coloured townships named Mlungisi, Aloevale, a new township, Victoria Park has been built to the south-east of the city. East of the town lies the much larger Ezibeleni township, which although roughly the same surface area as the main town, has by far a larger population.
Queenstown has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSk), that borders on a subtropical highland climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfb), and a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfa).
Climate data for Queenstown | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 40.6 (105.1) | 40.0 (104.0) | 37.2 (99.0) | 34.0 (93.2) | 31.1 (88.0) | 26.1 (79.0) | 26.4 (79.5) | 31.1 (88.0) | 35.0 (95.0) | 37.8 (100.0) | 38.1 (100.6) | 40.0 (104.0) | 40.6 (105.1) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.3 (84.7) | 28.7 (83.7) | 27.0 (80.6) | 23.9 (75.0) | 20.6 (69.1) | 18.3 (64.9) | 18.2 (64.8) | 20.2 (68.4) | 22.9 (73.2) | 24.7 (76.5) | 26.4 (79.5) | 28.6 (83.5) | 24.2 (75.6) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 21.9 (71.4) | 21.7 (71.1) | 20.1 (68.2) | 16.6 (61.9) | 13.3 (55.9) | 10.6 (51.1) | 10.6 (51.1) | 12.4 (54.3) | 15.1 (59.2) | 17.1 (62.8) | 19.0 (66.2) | 21.1 (70.0) | 16.7 (62.1) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 14.5 (58.1) | 14.7 (58.5) | 13.3 (55.9) | 9.4 (48.9) | 6.0 (42.8) | 3.0 (37.4) | 2.9 (37.2) | 4.6 (40.3) | 7.3 (45.1) | 9.5 (49.1) | 11.6 (52.9) | 13.5 (56.3) | 9.2 (48.6) |
Record low °C (°F) | 3.9 (39.0) | 3.9 (39.0) | 1.5 (34.7) | −1.1 (30.0) | −5.5 (22.1) | −6.7 (19.9) | −7.5 (18.5) | −6.7 (19.9) | −3.8 (25.2) | −1.7 (28.9) | 0.1 (32.2) | 3.0 (37.4) | −7.5 (18.5) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 77 (3.0) | 88 (3.5) | 83 (3.3) | 40 (1.6) | 24 (0.9) | 14 (0.6) | 13 (0.5) | 16 (0.6) | 26 (1.0) | 40 (1.6) | 58 (2.3) | 72 (2.8) | 551 (21.7) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 10.6 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 7.3 | 5.4 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 8.2 | 8.6 | 9.0 | 85.2 |
Average relative humidity (%) | 64 | 68 | 68 | 66 | 62 | 58 | 54 | 52 | 56 | 61 | 64 | 62 | 61 |
Source: Deutscher Wetterdienst [10] |
The Queenstown area is in the Burgersdorp Formation of the Tarkastad subgroup, in the upper Beaufort Group Triassic in age in the karoo supergroup. The lithology is red mudstone 1 to 10 m rich layers and sub-ordinate 1 to 2 m rich sandstone layers deposited by meandering rivers in the flood plain in an oxidising environment gradually filling the Karoo basin. The formation reaches a thickness of 600 m in the Komani (Queenstown) and Lady Frere area. Numerous dolerite dykes and ring structures intruded the area creating localities for groundwater exploration.
The town has two newspapers, The Representative and The Express. It has a community radio station, Lukhanji FM. The Eastern Cape newspaper, Daily Dispatch , is widely read in the area.
The Queenstown municipal council assumed a pseudo-heraldic coat of arms in October 1902. [11] The shield was quartered and depicted the Union Jack, a landscape with Hangklip mountain in the background, a landscape with a mimosa tree in the foreground, and a portrait of King Edward VII. The crest was a demi-antelope, and the motto Unity is strength. [12] The council later assumed a new coat of arms. The new shield displayed a golden royal coronet on a red background. The crest was the same as before, but the motto was translated into Latin as Ex unitate vires. [13]
Queenstown has produced 2 Olympians and a plethora of musicians, sportsmen(national and international) and more. Some notable names hailing from the town are:
East London is a city on the southeastern coast of South Africa, in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Eastern Cape Province. The city lies on the Indian Ocean coast, largely between the Buffalo River and the Nahoon River, and hosts the country's only river port. As of 2011, East London had a population of over 267,000 with over 755,000 in the surrounding metropolitan area.
The Eastern Cape is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. Due to its climate and nineteenth century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also known for being home to many anti-apartheid activists, the most famous being Nelson Mandela hailing from the province.
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The following lists events that happened during 1985 in South Africa.
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Walter Sisulu University (WSU) is a university of technology and science located in Mthatha, East London, Butterworth and Komani (Queenstown) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, which came into existence on 1 July 2005 as a result of a merger between Border Technikon, Eastern Cape Technikon and the University of Transkei. The university is named after Walter Sisulu, a prominent figure in the struggle against apartheid.
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Cathcart is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, named after Sir George Cathcart, governor of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope 1852–1853. The town is situated on the N6, 48 kilometres (30 mi) north of Stutterheim en route to Komani. It is the Biltong capital of South Africa.
Tarkastad is a Karoo semi-urban settlement situated on the banks of Tarka River in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Tarkastad is on a plain to the north of the Winterberg mountain range on the R61 between Cradock and Komani and only three hours from Gqeberha. The name Tarkastad is believed to come from the Khoi-Khoi word Traka or the Celtic word Tarka and the Afrikaans word Stad. The fact that the town is overlooked by Martha and Mary; two peaks which look like two women resting after a hard day's work, also lends to the name.
Todd Tozama Matshikiza OMSS was a South African jazz pianist, composer and journalist. As a journalist, he was a contributor to the innovative South African magazine Drum, in which he wrote in a unique style that came to be known as "Matshikese". He is also known for his book "Chocolates for my Wife", an autobiographical account of his experiences in South Africa and England. As a musician, Matshikiza is celebrated for composing the score of the jazz musical King Kong, as well as numerous choral works in South African traditional style, notably "Hamba Kahle". His legacy was celebrated as a Google Doodle on 25 September 2023.
Whittlesea is a semi-rural town situated on the R67 road in the Hewu district, 37 km south of Komani, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The town is made up of the townships Ekuphumleni, Bhede, Ndlambe, Extension 4, Extension 5 and Sada. The town falls under the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality which is under the Chris Hani District Municipality. Surrounding Whittlesea are 36 villages which make up the Hewu district.
The N6 is a national route in South Africa that connects East London with Bloemfontein, via Komani and Maletswai. It runs roughly from north to south, connecting the N1 with the N2.
Ezibeleni is a township in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It was established in the 1960s and officially recognised in 1974, when black South Africans were not allowed to live, but only to work, in the white-dominated Queenstown. In order to pursue the policy of separate development, the apartheid-era government of the time dictated that, due to its location on the map and the predominant Xhosa ethnicity of its people, Ezibeleni would belong to Transkei, one of ten fragmented batustans, or homelands, scattered across South Africa.
Sada is a semi-rural settlement, situated 3 km away from Whittlesea, 30 km north of Seymour and 40 km south of Queenstown, Eastern Cape Province. The word Sada means "finally" or "at last" in isiXhosa because the first settlers struggled to find a place before they settled in the area in 1964.
Enoch Mgijima Municipality is a local municipality within the Chris Hani District Municipality, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It was established after the August 2016 local elections by merging the Tsolwana, Inkwanca, and Lukhanji local municipalities.
On 17 November 1985, 2000 residents from Mlungisi township in Queenstown, Eastern Cape, gathered in Nonzwakazi Methodist Church to hear back from the Local Residents Association, who, in early November, had met with the Department of Education and Training, the Queenstown municipality, the Eastern Cape Development Board, and the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce to discuss the end of the consumer boycott. The meeting was short-lived as members of the Queenstown branch of the South African Police stormed into the meeting and opened fire on the residents. In the ensuing conflict between police and residents, 14 people were shot dead and 22 were injured. This incident is known as the 1985 Queenstown Massacre.