Mthatha, formerly Umtata, is the main town of the King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality and is most famously associated with Nelson Mandela.
A branch of the University of Fort Hare was established in the town, and after the "independence" of the Transkei in 1977 under the apartheid government. It subsequently became the University of Transkei, and is now called the Walter Sisulu University for Technology and Science.
Many of South Africa's black leaders — including Walter Sisulu, Bantu Holomisa, and Nelson Mandela — come from this area.
Mthatha is the home of one of the three Nelson Mandela Museums: the Bunga Building which underwent extensive renovation and re-opened in 2013. The Bunga Building is the story of the "Long Walk to Freedom" and features an exhibition of the many gifts received by Nelson Mandela on behalf of the South African people.
The town was founded in 1883, on the banks of the Mthatha River. Mthatha became the leading administrative centre of that western region of the Eastern Cape, having both Anglican and Catholic cathedrals. It also became the seat of the traditional authorities and a parliament building for this purpose, known as the Bunga, was erected.
From 1976 to 1994, Mthatha served as the capital of the Transkei bantustan, under the name of Umtata. On 2 March 2004 it was officially renamed Mthatha.
