Fort Beaufort, officially renamed KwaMaqoma, is a town situated at the intersection of R63 and R67 Provincial Routes in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The Xhosa name for the town is iBhofolo.
The town lies at the confluence of the Kat River and Brak River between the Keiskamma and Great Fish Rivers.
KwaMaqoma serves as a mini-‘dormitory’ for academic staff and students of the University of Fort Hare, based in the nearby town of Alice, and is also close to Sulphur Springs.
The town is the birthplace of South African politician and anti-apartheid activist, who is also the first Premier of the Eastern Cape, Raymond Mphakamisi Mhlaba, and his former first wife Joyce Meke.
Fort Beaufort has three governmental hospitals, namely Fort Beaufort Provincial Hospital, Tower Psychiatric Hospital, and Winterberg TB (previously SANTA) Hospital.
KwaMaqoma (formerly Fort Beaufort) falls within the Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality and the Amathole District Municipality. KwaMaqoma is the main town and administrative centre/seat of the Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality.
History
The roots of Fort Beaufort lie in a mission station that the Reverend Joseph Williams of the London Missionary Society established in 1816.
In 1822, Colonel Maurice Scott of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment constructed a blockhouse about three miles from the mission station as a military frontier post and stronghold against raids by the Xhosa under their chief, Maqoma. The British named the martial structure Fort Beaufort in honour of the Duke of Beaufort, father of Lord Charles Henry Somerset, Governor of the Cape Colony (1814 to 1826).
After the 6th Xhosa War (1834–1835), Governor Sir Benjamin d’Urban authorised construction of a fort at the site of the original blockhouse. The new buildings included a military hospital, guard houses, infantry barracks, and officers’ quarters.
In 1839, the British commenced work on what is probably the world’s only inland Martello tower, a small, circular Napoleonic-era design hitherto used only in coastal defences. The tower was completed in 1846. Today, the original howitzer remains mounted on the roof on a traversing carriage that gives it a 360-degree field of fire. The tower has been restored after having served for some time as a public latrine.
In 1840, Fort Beaufort became a town. Around this time, Andrew Geddes Bain built the first road, including the Ecca Pass, linking Makhanda (formerly known as Grahamstown) and Fort Beaufort.
During the 8th Xhosa War (1850–53), also known as the War of Mlanjeni, anti-British forces unsuccessfully attacked the town. Harmanus Matroos, alias Ngxukumeshe, was a half-Khoikhoi and half-Xhosa. He started the war on 30 December 1850 by capturing a small outpost near Fort Beaufort. Matroos had served the British in the 7th Xhosa War (1846–47), also known as the War of the Axe. Matroos fell on 8 January 1851 during his third attack on Fort Beaufort.
British troops continued to be stationed in the town until 1870.
In 1949, the first congregation of the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church) seceded from Alice due to demographic changes.
