Everything about Port Elizabeth totally explained
Port Elizabeth (; colloquial )or known as Madiba Bay is a city in
South Africa, situated in the
Eastern Cape Province at, 770km east of
Cape Town. The city, often shortened to
PE and nicknamed "The Friendly City" or "The Windy City", stretches for 16km along
Algoa Bay, and is one of the major
seaports in South Africa.
Port Elizabeth was founded as a town in
1820 to house
British settlers as a way of strengthening the border region between the
Cape Colony and the warlike
Xhosa tribe. It now forms part of the
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality which has a population of over 1 million. The city is in a friendship partnership with the
Swedish City of
Gothenburg and is a
sister city to the
American cities of
Jacksonville, Florida and
Palm Desert, California.
History
The area around what is now called
Algoa Bay was first settled by indigenous tribes countless centuries ago. It is said that the
San and
Khoisan people were amongst the first inhabitants, and the
Xhosa tribe came later. However, little is known as no written records are believed to exist from that time.
The first Europeans to have visited the area were
Bartolomeu Dias, who landed on St Croix Island in Algoa Bay in
1488, and
Vasco da Gama who noted the nearby
Bird Island in
1497. For centuries, the area was simply marked on navigation charts as "a landing place with fresh water".
The area was part of the
Cape Colony, which had a turbulent
history between its founding by the
Dutch East India Company in
1652 and the formation of the
Union of South Africa in
1910.
In
1799, during the first British occupation of the Colony during the
Napoleonic Wars, a stone Fort was built, named
Fort Frederick after the then
Duke of York. This fort, built to protect against a possible landing of French Troops, overlooked the site of what later became Port Elizabeth and is now a monument.. In
1861 the town was granted the status of autonomous municipality.
During the
Second Boer War, the
British built a
concentration camp here to house
Boer women and children. Following that war, the
Horse Memorial was erected to honour the tens of thousands of horses and mules which died during the conflict.
The effects of the
apartheid regime were not lost on Port Elizabeth. Forced relocation of the non-white population under the
Group Areas Act began in
1962, causing various townships to be built. The whole of the
South End district, being a prime real estate location, was forcibly depopulated and flattened in
1965; relocations continued until
1975.
Since the free elections of
1994, Port Elizabeth has faced the same problems as the rest of
South Africa, including
HIV/
AIDS and a surge in violent, often drug-related, crime. However, thanks to the booming tourism and real estate industries, development continues apace both in the city and nearby, for example in the new Industrial Development Zone at
Coega.
In
2001, the
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality was formed as an administrative area covering Port Elizabeth, the neighbouring towns of
Uitenhage and Despatch and the surrounding agricultural areas. The name was chosen to honour
Nelson Mandela; there's little to no historical connection between him and the region. The combined metropolitan area has a population estimated at around 1.3 million as of 2006.
The Port Elizabeth harbour, waterfront and city centre are in the process of being upgraded before the
2010 Football World Cup, and are expected to rival the popular
Cape Town waterfront. The city is one of the venues for World Cup games, and many more visitors are expected. To this end, there are calls for
Port Elizabeth Airport to be upgraded, to ease the journey time and effort both for World Cup teams and spectators, and also more generally for tourists.
During the 1960's and 1970's the character of Port Elizabeth was changed and its face marred by two projects. The university was removed from the historical and picturesque old part of Port Elizabeth on a hill overlooking the city centre and harbour to a sandy area on the outskirts of town. At that time students were seen as a potential source of subversive activity. Since this removal the old centre of Port Elizabeth has seen a slow decline. This decline was augmented by a second project, namely the building of a series of highways, viaducts and interchanges directly along the coast and over the roof of the central station thereby severing the old town from the station and harbour, destroying much of its history, integrity, allure and safety. The same system of highways also added to the damage already done by industries to the beautiful and fragile wetland area of the Swartkops estuary, one of Port Elizabeth's main natural assets.
Trade and Industry
Home of South Africa's
motor vehicle industry, Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage host
General Motors,
Volkswagen,
Ford,
Continental Tyres and many more automotive companies. Most other industries in the NMMM are geared towards the motor vehicle industry, providing parts such as
wiring harnesses,
catalytic converters,
batteries and
tyres to the
vehicle manufacturers.
Port Elizabeth is also a major seaport, with the most significant
ore loading facilities in the southern hemisphere. As part of the ongoing development, a new Industrial Development Zone with expanded port facilities is being built at
Coega.
Transport
Road and Rail
Port Elizabeth lies on the
N2 road. To the west the road travels the picturesque
Garden Route to
George and
Cape Town; to the east, the road runs through the so-called Border Country through
Grahamstown, to
East London then on to
Durban, finally terminating in
Ermelo in
Mpumalanga. Regional roads also connect PE with the
Transkei.
The city has a bus station, in Market Square.
Port Elizabeth is also served by South Africa's rail network. Local commuter services are operated by
Metrorail, while the
Shosholoza Meyl long-distance passenger service links PE with
Johannesburg via
Bloemfontein where it's possible to connect with other long-distance routes.
Air
Port Elizabeth Airport (
IATA airport code PLZ,
ICAO airport code FAPE) serves the city for both passenger and cargo traffic.
International visitors to the city must currently fly to either
Johannesburg or
Cape Town and then take a domestic flight to Port Elizabeth. An upgrade to the terminal building, completed in
2004, created the necessary facilities to handle international flights although none are scheduled as yet.
In preparation for the
2010 FIFA World Cup the runway is being extended with a view to accommodating international flights.
The
general aviation sector is well represented in PE, with a number of facilities on-field able to provide aircraft charter and rental, handling, maintenance and training to commercial level. There are also a few smaller airfields in the vicinity.
Sea
Port Elizabeth has a harbour in Algoa Bay, and construction of a second
seaport is underway. The newer international
harbour at
Coega will support an increase in the size of the city's industries and the addition of new industries.
Geography and climate
Sport
The city has a wealth of fine sporting facilities, catering for
cricket,
rugby union,
association football,
hockey and many other sports. Its coastal location also makes it a base for many watersports.
Port Elizabeth is the location of the
St George’s Park cricket ground, which holds
test cricket matches. St George's Park is also the oldest cricket ground in South Africa. Its official name is now Sahara Oval St George's.
The headquarters of the controversial
Southern Spears rugby franchise are in Port Elizabeth.
Tourism
Located at the end of the picturesque
Garden Route along the Cape, the city is one of
South Africa's major destinations for tourists, many of whom come simply to enjoy the many fine beaches in and near the city.
The area surrounding the
CBD has a number of historic attractions, many of which are linked by the
Donkin Heritage Trail. These include the Campanile (bell tower), built in
1923 to commemorate the arrival of the
1820 Settlers and offering a great viewpoint over the city; the city hall (
1862); the
Donkin Reserve park and monument; and the old stone
Fort Frederick itself (
1799).
Other attractions include the gardens at
St George's Park, the
King George VI Art Gallery, the museum and oceanography room at Humewood, and the new
Boardwalk waterfront complex.
The wider area surrounding PE also features a number of game viewing opportunities, including the famous Addo Elephant Park, 72km to the north near the Zuurberg mountain range and National Park.
Port Elizabeth is known commonly as the watersports capital of South Africa and boasts an ever increasing number of watersports events annually. Algoa bay is home to scuba diving, game fishing charters, surfing, windsurfing, kiteboarding to name but a few. There are many cruises offered from the harbour from sunset cruises to view dolphins to whale watching tours.
Education
The
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) was formed in
2005 by the amalgamation of the
University of Port Elizabeth,
Vista University and the
Port Elizabeth Technikon. It is the largest university in the Eastern and Southern Cape, with around 20,000 students in seven faculties spread over eight campuses.
As well as government-funded schools, PE and the surrounding area also offer a number of private schooling opportunities.
Government
Port Elizabeth forms part of the
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality, and serves as the seat for the surrounding
Cacadu District Municipality.
Port Elizabeth is a seat of the
High Court of South Africa, as well as a
Magistrates Office. As a result of the presence of a High Court, several other related organs of state such as a Masters Office and a Director of Public Prosecutions are present in the city.
A few other Government (mostly provincial) departments maintain branches or other offices in Port Elizabeth.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2001, there are 1,005,776 people and 260,798 households in the
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality.
In that same census, 58.90% of respondents described themselves as
Black African, 23.48%
Coloured, 16.51%
White and 1.12%
Indian/
Asia.
The largest religious groupings are
Christian (89.4% of residents),
No Religion (6.1%),
Muslim (1.5%),
Jewish (0.4%) and
Hindu (0.3%).
57.3% of the residents speak
IsiXhosa as their
mother tongue.
Afrikaans is the mother tongue of 29.7%, and
English, 12.1%.
- 16.0% of all households are single-person.
- The average household size is 3.86.
- The median age is 26 years.
- For every 100 females there are 91.2 males.
- 28.2% of the population aged 15–65 is unemployed.
- The median annual income of working adults aged 15–65 is ZAR 21 837 ($3,282).
Further Information
Get more info on 'Port Elizabeth'.
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