Mount Frere

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Mount Frere KwaBhaca
Main street of Mount Frere
Mount Frere Show map of Eastern Cape Mount Frere Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 30°55′S 28°59′E / 30.917°S 28.983°E / -30.917; 28.983Coordinates: 30°55′S 28°59′E / 30.917°S 28.983°E / -30.917; 28.983
Country	South Africa
Province	Eastern Cape
District	Alfred Nzo
Municipality	Umzimvubu
Established	1876
• Councillor	(ANC)
Area [1]
• Total	3.53 km2 (1.36 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	5,252
• Density	1,500/km2 (3,900/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	96.1%
• Coloured	1.2%
• Indian/Asian	0.8%
• White	0.8%
• Other	1.1%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Xhosa	86.6%
• English	6.0%
• Other	5.7%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	5090
PO box	5090
Area code	039 255

Mount Frere, officially KwaBhaca,^[2] is a town located in the Eastern Cape province, previously known as the Transkei region, of South Africa. Its name in Xhosa is KwaBhaca, or "village of the Bhaca chiefdom", which was established here with the approval of the Paramount, King Hintsa.

Mount Frere is situated between Kokstad and Mthatha along the N2 road about 100 km north east of Mthatha. It is administered by the Alfred Nzo District Municipality and the villages are ruled by the Tribal chief with intermediary borders.

History[]

Mount Frere was founded in the 17th century and named after Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere. In February 2016, Mount Frere was renamed KwaBhaca.^[2]

Economy[]

There is one major street in Mount Frere and it is the Main street on the N2 road. It has many restaurants, shops and public services including the Police Station, Post Office, Municipal offices and the newly built Madzikane Ka Zulu Memorial Hospital. Most of the businesses and shops are situated along the Main street, there are only a few outside this area.

There are a lot of farmers in and around Mount Frere and most of the people rely on subsistence farming for their basic needs. Peaches, pears, oranges and maize meal are the most popular fruits and vegetables in Mount Frere and recently there has been involvement from the Municipal to change these Subsistence farmers into Commercial farmers.

Demographics[]

Mount Frere has a population of over 5,000 although this might appear as crowded, the town in fact, has the smallest population, as most people are from the surrounding rural villages. The closest village is Lubhacweni which is located north of the town.

Rural villages surrounding the town still lack basic services like proper roads, electricity and water. Villages include , Kumahamane, Mbondleni, Mtwana, Mtshazi, Mvuzi, Toleni, Mhlanganisweni, Qoqa, Lugangeni and others.

Local nation living in KwaBhaca are the amaBhaca, amaHlubi, , AmaMpondo and people. All of the above mentioned nations have their own Kingships, unique culture and customs.

The South African law classifies all these nations as Xhosa speaking. This is the same classification that was used by British colonial government. However, all local people know that they do not belong to AmaXhosa and do not share most customs and cultural practices with AmaXhosa. With exception for AmaMphondo and AmaMphondomise. But, the fundamental fact amongst these nations is that they are all Nguni nation. AmaHlubi, AmaBhaca and amaZizi do not have constitutionally recongsed Kingships, and are still waging court battles with the South African government.

Mount Frere is underdeveloped in terms of infrastructure and sanitation. There are few proper public roads and most of the roads are gravel roads. Most people who do not have water tanks still make use river water, most of the villages are also still without electricity.

There is rarely any skills development in the area and as a result most of the youth have moved to the cities and more developed towns like Mthatha, Gauteng, Cape Town and Kokstad. Most of the people in Mount Frere are the elderly as this is mostly accelerated by the staggering unemployment rate and lack of essential services, like proper infrastructure and skills development.^{[citation needed]}

Religion[]

The majority of Mount Frere's inhabitants are of Christian and Traditional African religion. There are minute populations of Islamic and, mostly the foreign shopkeepers in rural villages.

The most prominent churches are the Methodist and Anglican churches and the Assemblies of God. Most of the people who live in Mount Frere are , there is a very small percentage (less than 1%) of white, Indian and foreign populations in Mount Frere.^{[citation needed]}

Culture[]

There are Primary and Secondary Schools known as Jolobe Junior Secondary School, Mount Frere High School and Ingwe Further Education and a Training College. The Madzikane Ka Zulu Memorial Hospital (previously known as Mary Theresa Hospital) is situated along the N2 main road, a few kilometer east out of town. It is one of the largest hospitals in the province and a landmark in the area.

List of villages surrounding Mount Frere[]

Mount Frere has many villages that are under the control of traditional leaders and chiefs. Below are the villages, some established as early as 1820:

References[]

External links[]

• Bhaca| AmaBhaca