Port Elizabeth is one of two main cities in the Eastern Cape – the other being East London - and forms part of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan municipality. Some people call it the Windy City, others the Friendly City, but most just call it PE.
The city is approximately 750km from Cape Town to the West and 900 km (driving distance) from Durban to the East. We say driving time as the distance is far shorter “as the crow flies”, but the winding nature of the roads through all the river passes, makes it much longer. With a population of approximately 1.1 million, Port Elizabeth is the 5th largest city in terms of population and the 2nd largest in area in South Africa.
The city is dominated by the sweeping Algoa Bay, which has Cape Recife as its westerly point and Cape Padrone to the east.
Port Elizabeth has a large manufacturing sector, and with two ports, Port Elizabeth itself and the newly-constructed Kouga, is considered a vital transport nucleus in the country. The metro even houses three major car manufacturers namely Volkswagen, General Motors and Ford and many of the cars are exported around the world. If you drive a right-handed vehicle of these makes, the chances are quite good it came from PE.
The city is also home to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University which accommodates some 27 000 students. The main campus is situated in Summerstrand near one of the most popular beaches and surf spots in the city. Wonder how anyone gets any studying done!
- Fantastic weather
- Kragga Kamma Game Park
- Van Staden's Gorge and Reserve
- Donkin Reserve
- Urban based route 67
Port Elizabeth has an interesting history. Archaeological findings in the area have been dated as far back as 70 000 years and these early humans are considered the ancestral forefathers of the Khoi who populated the Southern African coastline.
The first Europeans arrived in Algoa Bay in 1488 when Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias landed on St Croix Island. The area was not considered of great interest as all the explorers were trying to find a passage to the east and the lucrative spice trade. In fact, up until the late 1700s, the area was marked on navigational charts as a “landing place for fresh water”.
It was only during the Napoleonic wars in 1799 that the British built a fort overlooking what is today Port Elizabeth harbour. Named Fort Frederick after the then Duke of York, the building still stands guard over Algoa Bay and can be visited daily.
Given the conflict between European settlers and the amaXhosa (the various Frontier Wars as they are known), the Acting Governor of the Cape Colony, Rufane Shaw Donkin, decided to increase the number of Europeans in the area and in 1820, some 4 000 British settlers landed at Algoa Bay. It was then that Port Elizabeth was officially founded and named after Donkin's wife, Elizabeth.
