Dikeni, formerly known as Alice, is a small town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, situated at the intersection of the R63 Provincial Route and R345 Regional Route and adjacent to the Tyhume River.
In 1824, the town was settled by British Colonists who named it Alice after Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, the second daughter of the British Queen Victoria.
Dikeni falls within the Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality and the Amathole District Municipality.
Alice (officially renamed Dikeni) is home to the University of Fort Hare, where several current political leaders in South Africa were educated, including former president Nelson Mandela.
Alice is also home to Victoria Hospital, one of the oldest sites in the area. This large district hospital on the outskirts of Alice was reconstructed and upgraded by the Eastern Cape Provincial Government between 2006 and 2011.
History
The location was named Lovedale by European missionaries who settled there in 1824. It lies on the southwestern bank of the Tyhume River, west-northwest of East London, at an elevation of 1,720 (524m). It was named after John Love of the Glasgow Missionary Society. During the Frontier War, it was abandoned, and the mission was resettled on the west bank of the Tyhume River.
On the east bank, a fort was built, called Fort Hare, after Major-General John Hare, who was lieutenant-governor of the Eastern Cape and acting governor of the Cape Colony.
In 1847, it was named Alice by Sir Peregrine Maitland after Princess Alice, the second daughter of Queen Victoria. Municipal status was attained in 1852.
Alice was the administrative and magisterial capital of the old district of Victoria East.
The town celebrated its 200th birthday in 2024.
