Libode is a small town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, situated on the R61 Provincial Route, approximately 29 km east of Mthatha (formerly Umtata) and 63 km west of Port St. Johns.
Libode falls within the Nyandeni Local Municipality, which forms part of the OR Tambo District Municipality. Libode is the main town and administrative centre/seat of the Nyandeni Local Municipality.
As a small infrastructural hub for the surrounding rural area, Libode features a hospital funded by the Provincial Government, the St Barnabas Hospital, and a community college.
The biggest attractions near Libode are the Hluleka Nature Reserve and Hluleka Beach (60 km away), as well as Presley Bay (68 km).
History
Libode is situated in an area formerly known as Pondoland. Mpondoland was annexed to the Cape Colony in 1894. In 1903, the Transkeian Territories General Council was established, and in 1911, the district of Libode was incorporated into the council.
In 1935, some land in the area of Libode was annexed by the Government of the Union of South Africa and the then Transkei government to develop the town of Libode and expand it. It was declared a Village Management area. Further land was dispossessed when the government implemented the Native Trust and Land Act of 1936. This was the subject of a successful land claim in 2009.
In 1940, some Catholic nuns from the Motherhouse St. Ursula in Brig, Switzerland, were sent to Libode, which is currently the Ursuline group’s main station in the region. Today, they still run a multi-racial boarding school.
On 15 December 1998, the City of Umtata was struck by a violent hail and thunderstorm that developed two tornado funnels that wreaked havoc across the city and surrounding rural areas. The tornado left 18 people dead, at least 184 injured, and property damage estimated at many millions of Rands. … President Mandela declared the Libode Magisterial district to be a disaster area in terms of the Fundraising Act 1978.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela opened Mngazi School in Libode in 2002.
