Whittlesea is a semi-rural town situated along the R67 Provincial Route in the Hewu district, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, approximately 40 km south of Komani (formerly known as Queenstown).
The town comprises the townships Bhede, Ekuphumleni, Ndlambe, Extension 4, Extension 5, and Sada. Surrounding Whittlesea are 36 villages which make up the Hewu (meaning “flat land’ in Xhosa) district.
Whittlesea falls within the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality and the Chris Hani District Municipality.
Whittlesea functions as a central town, providing services and shopping facilities to the surrounding villages.
Residents of Whittlesea rely on the neighbouring town of Komani (formerly Queenstown) for their economic needs.
Due to the failure of factories built by the Taiwanese in Sada in the 1990s, the under-utilisation of small business complexes, a lack of funding, and inadequate natural resources, Whittlesea has become a source of migrant labour. However, projects started by the South African National Roads Agency Ltd (SANRAL) and Expanded Public Works Programmes have brought hope to the area.
History
Founded in 1849, Whittlesea was a military outpost created to protect white settlers during the Frontier War of 1850–1853.
The town was named after Whittlesea in Cambridgeshire, birthplace of Sir Harry Smith (1787-1860), Governor of the Cape Colony from 1847 to 1852. A British officer fortified five houses during the War of Mlanjeni (1850 to 1853), when the Xhosas besieged the settlement. One of these, which now forms part of the Post Office Complex, is still standing.
Between 1948 and 1994, at the height of the apartheid regime in South Africa, Whittlesea belonged to the former Ciskei, a bantustan/homeland established in 1961 under the Promotion of Self-Government Act of 1959.
Until 1994, there was no formal political organisation in Whittlesea. The Department of Internal Affairs facilitated decisions around land use, services, and rates in the townships through township managers. Following South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994, Whittlesea became governed by a council.
Villages
Some of the villages surrounding Whittlesea include;
- Oxton village
- Haytor Clinic(Sibonile)
- Diphala
- Peter
- Nyana
- Lower Didimana
- Upper Didimana
- Kamastone
- Bulhoek (Ntabelanga, Qhwabhi, Stratweni)
- Romanslaagte
- Tsitsikama
- KuzaNgqokwe
- Phelandaba
- McBright
- Mcewula
- KwaSemi
- Ensaam
- Thornhill
- EZola
- Lower Hukuwa
- Upper Hukuwa
- Ekuphumleni (Dongwe)
- Sada
- Tambo
- Cimezile
- Ngcamnga
- Mtha
- KuNdlambe
- Bede
- Nkwankwankwa
- Muswa
- Mthwakazi
- Hekeni (Hackney)
- Zweledinga
- Yonda
- Dyamala
- eMabheleni
- Mbekweni
- Gallawater
- Long dry
- Ngojini
- Qawukeni
- Upper Lahlangubo
- eChibini
- Sihlabeni
- Zangqokhwe
- Lower Lahlangubo
