About PE
Port Elizabeth (Xhosa: Ebhayi; colloquial Afrikaans: ‘Die Baai’) is one of the largest cities in South Africa, situated in the Eastern Cape Province, 770 km east of Cape Town. The city, often shortened to PE and nicknamed “The Friendly City” or “The Windy City”, stretches for 16 km along Algoa Bay, and is one of the major seaports in South Africa. It is also referred to as Africa’s Watersport Capital.
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The first Europeans to have visited the area were Portuguese explorers Bartolomeu Dias, who landed on St Croix Island in Algoa Bay in 1488, and Vasco da Gama who noted the nearby Bird Island in 1497. For centuries, the area was simply marked on navigation charts as “a landing place with fresh water”.
The area was part of the Cape Colony, which had a turbulent history between its founding by the Dutch East India Company in 1652 and the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910.
Fort Frederick
In 1799, during the first British occupation of the Colony during the Napoleonic Wars, a stone Fort was built, named Fort Frederick after the then Duke of York. This fort, built to protect against a possible landing of French Troops, overlooked the site of what later became Port Elizabeth and is now a monument.
In 1804 the town of Uitenhage was founded along the Swartkops River, a short distance inland from its estuary at Algoa Bay. Uitenhage formed part of the district of Graaff-Reinet at that time. The city of Uitenhage was incorporated in the new Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality together with Port Elizabeth and the town of Despatch in 2001.
From 1814 to 1821 the Strandfontein farm, which later became the Summerstrand beach suburb of Port Elizabeth, was in possession of Piet Retief, who later became a Voortrekker leader and was killed in 1837 by Zulu king Dingane during negotiations about land. An estimated 500 men, woman and children of his party were massacred. After Retief the Strandfontein farm was owned by Frederik Korsten after whom another suburb of Port Elizabeth is named today.
In 1820 a party of 4,000 British settlers arrived by sea, encouraged by the government of the Cape Colony as a settlement would strengthen the border region between the Cape Colony and the warlike Xhosa tribe. At this time the seaport town was founded by Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin, the Acting Governor of the Cape Colony, who named it after his late wife, Elizabeth. The town expanded, building a diverse community comprising European, Cape Malay and other immigrants, and particularly rapidly so after 1873 when the railway to Kimberley was built. The Apostolic Vicariate of Cape of Good Hope, Eastern District, was established in the city in 1847. In 1861 the town was granted the status of autonomous municipality.
Horse Memorial
During the Second Boer War, the port was an important transit point for soldiers, horses and materials headed to the front by railway. While the city itself did not see any conflict, many refugees from the war moved into the city. These included Boer women and children interned by the British in a concentration camp. Following that war, the Horse Memorial was erected to honour the tens of thousands of horses and mules that died during the conflict.
In 2001, the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality was formed as an administrative area covering Port Elizabeth, the neighbouring towns of Uitenhage and Despatch and the surrounding agricultural areas. The name was chosen to honour former President Nelson Mandela. The combined metropolitan area has a population estimated at around 1.3 million as of 2006.
The Port Elizabeth harbour, waterfront and city centre are in the process of being upgraded before the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and are expected to rival the popular Cape Town waterfront. The city is one of the venues for World Cup games, and many more visitors are expected. To this end, there are calls for Port Elizabeth Airport to be upgraded, to ease the journey time and effort both for World Cup teams and spectators, and also more generally for tourists.[citation needed]
During the 1960s and 1970s the character of Port Elizabeth was changed and its face marred by two projects. The university was removed from the historical and picturesque old part of Port Elizabeth on a hill overlooking the city centre and harbour to a sandy area on the outskirts of town. The campus in town was completely inadequate. Since this removal, the old centre of Port Elizabeth has seen a slow decline. This decline was augmented by a second project, namely the building of a series of highways, viaducts and interchanges directly along the coast and over the roof of the central station thereby severing the old town from the station and harbour, destroying much of its history, integrity, allure and safety. The same system of highways also added to the damage already done by industries to the beautiful and fragile wetland area of the Swartkops estuary, one of Port Elizabeth’s main natural assets.
Port Elizabeth is also a major seaport, with the most significant ore loading facilities in the southern hemisphere. As part of the ongoing development, a new Industrial Development Zone with expanded port facilities is being built at Coega.
Port Elizabeth lies on the N2 road. To the west the road travels the picturesque Garden Route to George and Cape Town; to the east, the road runs through the so-called Border Country through Grahamstown, to East London then on to Durban, finally terminating in Ermelo in Mpumalanga. Regional roads also connect PE with the Transkei.
The city’s main bus station is in Market Square. The public bus service is run by The Algoa Bus Company.
The city is in the proccess of builing a bus rapid transport system for the 2010 FIFA world cup.
Railway
Port Elizabeth railway station is served by South Africa’s rail network. Local commuter services are operated by Metrorail, while the Shosholoza Meyl long-distance passenger service links PE with Johannesburg via Bloemfontein where it is possible to connect with other long-distance routes.
The Apple Express narrow-gauge tourist train to Avontuur operates from the separate station in Humewood Road near King’s Beach. It departs regularly for Thornhill Village via Van Stadens River bridge, the highest narrow-gauge rail bridge in the world.
Air
Port Elizabeth Airport (IATA airport code PLZ, ICAO airport code FAPE) serves the city for both passenger and cargo traffic. It is the fourth busiest airport in South Africa after Johannesburg International, Durban International and Cape Town International.
International visitors to the city must currently fly to either Johannesburg or Cape Town and then take a domestic flight to Port Elizabeth. An upgrade to the terminal building, completed in 2004, created the necessary facilities to handle international flights although none are scheduled as yet.
In preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup the runway is being extended with a view to accommodating international flights.
The general aviation sector is well represented in PE, with a number of facilities on-field able to provide aircraft charter and rental, handling, maintenance and training to commercial level. There are also a few smaller airfields in the vicinity. Port Elizabeth has one of the best flight schools in Africa.
Sea
Port Elizabeth has a harbour in Algoa Bay, and construction of a second seaport is underway. The newer international harbour at Coega will support an increase in the size of the city’s industries and the addition of new industries.
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Port Elizabeth is the location of the St George’s Park cricket ground, which holds test cricket matches. St George’s Park is also the oldest cricket ground in South Africa. Its official name is now Sahara Oval St George’s. The Chevrolet Warriors, a top Cricket Team in South Africa, is based in Port Elizabeth.
The headquarters of the controversial Southern Spears rugby franchise was in Port Elizabeth. The long-standing Eastern Province Rugby Union, now usually known as the Mighty Elephants , has been based in the city’s EPRFU Stadium and would form the basis of the Spears franchise together with East London’s Border Bulldogs.
The city is also home to PSL club Bay United, they currently play their home games at the EPRFU Stadium. The new FIFA World Cup stadium Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, is also being built in the city. This will serve as Bay United’s new home from 2009 onwards.
The Algoa Bay Yacht Club is operated out of Port Elizabeth harbour.
The area surrounding the CBD has a number of historic attractions, many of which are linked by the Donkin Heritage Trail. These include the Campanile (bell tower), built in 1923 to commemorate the arrival of the 1820 Settlers and offering a great viewpoint over the city; the city hall (1862); the Donkin Reserve park and monument; and the old stone Fort Frederick itself (1799). The CBD also boasts the towering Eastern Cape post office headquarters.
Other attractions include the gardens at St George’s Park, the King George VI Art Gallery, the museum and oceanography room at Humewood, and the new Boardwalk waterfront complex.
The wider area surrounding PE also features a number of game viewing opportunities, including the famous Addo Elephant Park, 72 km to the north near the Zuurberg mountain range and National Park.
Port Elizabeth is known commonly as the watersports capital of South Africa and boasts an ever increasing number of watersports events annually. Algoa bay is home to scuba diving, game fishing charters, surfing, windsurfing, kiteboarding to name but a few. There are many cruises offered from the harbour from sunset cruises to view dolphins to whale watching tours.
Herbert Hurd Primary School is a co-educational primary school in Newton Park, Port Elizabeth. The school caters to English-speaking pupils from grades 1–7. The school is named after Herbert Hurd, a member of the P.E. School board. Hurd donated the land to the education authorities to build the school. The school was officially opened in January 1954. The first principal was Martin Emmerick.
As well as government-funded schools, PE and the surrounding area also offer a number of private schooling opportunities, including Grey High School, which is one of the top schools in Africa.
Rfer to Wikipedia
