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Tourism Information Centre
The main aim of the centre is to present the activities of tourism industry within the municipality, to provide information for visitors to the Mnquma region, to encourage engagement from local stakeholders and to ensure a positive and enjoyable experience for all visitors and also to outline the day to day operations of the TIC.
32 Geach Street, Butterworth
047 050 1311 | 072 074 6735
Mnquma Tourism Overview
The area around Butterworth was populated by Khoi San people. However they were gradually absorbed into the Xhosa people who arrived from further North through means of force.
The town of Butterworth was first established as a Wesleyan Mission station in 1827 north of the Great Kei River in what was then called British Kaffraria. It was named after Joseph Butterworth. The mission station and white settlement of Butterworth was burnt down three times during the Cape Frontier Wars. Nonetheless, it is one of the oldest white settlements in the Eastern Cape. When the British seized the Cape of Good Hope, many of the Boers trekked North to establish their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) in South Africa spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjugation of the native inhabitants. The town was close to the seat of Hintsa ka Khawuta, chief of the Gcaleka people of the Xhosa tribe. It was then, of great strategic importance.
Around that time, a young girl, Nongqawuse, had a vision that her would help her forebears, the Xhosa, to defeat the Boers. The disastrous result weakened the Xhosa. The Ninth Frontier War spelled the end of the Xhosa and the Transkei area was incorporated into the Cape Colony. But it was never quiet. There were raids between settlers and Xhosa, and turf wars between different Xhosa groups.
Missions were established here and there to try to bring Christianity to the local people, with limited success. This is where historiographer and travel journalist Vuyo Bengu Makasi comes from. It is also the birthplace of Marmaduke Pattie, the highest scoring RAF ace of World War 2.
At the end of the Frontier Wars in 1878, traders began to settle here and the town grew into a small industrial centre. Butterworth became a municipality of the Cape Colony in 1904. The town was incorporated into the former Transkei bantustan during the apartheid years. It is one of the fastest growing towns in terms of the economy and the population.
Heritage Sites
Maholwana Ntlangwini
He is the founder of the village called Maholwana. Interpreter, praise singer for Captain Matthew T. Blyth, the first chief magistrate of the former Transkei, Maholwana had 12 wives and thereby providing though his own sons and daughters a large number of the early residents of the townships.
Battle of Centane Heroes Monument
On the 7th February 1878, a Gcaleka force commanded by Khiva and Sigcawu, attacked the British soldiers from the south and they were attacked by with guns and rifles. This war left approximately 400 Xhosa warrior dead.
Govan Mbeki's home in Nyili
Govan Archibald Mvunyelwa Mbeki, the father of former South African president Thabo Mbeki, is an expolitical prisoner who spend time alongside the global anti-apartheid stalwart Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela on Robben Island. He was born on July 8, 1910 in Mpukane Location, Ngqamakhwe. In 1955 he moved to Port Elizabeth as local editor of New Age, a left wing newspaper.
Blythswood Institution
The 147-year-otd school, one of eight missionary schools in the province, was unique in that it was started as ajoint effort by the Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the Fingo community, which collected 1500 Franks, a large amount of money at that time for a very poor rural area. The school was established in 1877.
King Phalo's Monument
Phato, the son of Tshiwo ruled from 1700 to 1775. He was the last king of an independent and united Xhosa nation. When Phato came to the throne, white people were virtually unknown in Xhosa /and and it is probably that Phato only ever saw one white man in his life, the elephant hunter Hubner, who visited him in 1736. He was buried under the trees in Tongwana.
Rev. Tiyo Soga’s Monument
He was the first African minister to be ordained into the ministry of the Presbyterian Church in South Africa. He was born in Gwali in 1829, at the time that Chief Maqoma was expetted from the Kat River. He died in 12August 1871 and his grave is in Tutura Uniting Presbyterian Church (Centane).
WK Tamsanqa's Grave
One of the most prolific Xhosa authors and literary giants, W. K. Tamsanqa produced a number of books which to this day are widely used in school syllabi, including lnzata ka Mtungisi, Buzani kuBawo, lmitha Yetanga, Ukuba Ndandazite, lthemba Liyaphi/isa, Nyana Wam, Nyana Wam and uTamsanqa /gorha Lokwenene.
Bawa Falls
Located in Bawa location, they have a drop of 103 metres and are a natural heritage site. Tradition holds that there used to be an execution stone at these falls that was used by the King to behead people believed to be witches.
Nongqawuse's Pool
Nongqawuse was the teenage prophetess who triggered the Xhosa cattle-killings of 1857-1858. Nongqawuse’s prophesy, said to have been delivered by spirits of the ancestors in a pool of water, required the Xhosa people to destroy their cattle and burn their crops.
Caves and Bushmen Paintings
The rock-art exhibits the work of the Khoisan who once lived in the areas of Nqamakwe and are found in areas such as Blythswood A/A, Mthwaku A/Al, Nyili A/A, Bongithole A/A, NyululaAIA etc. The interaction between the Khoisan and the Xhosas in the area led to cross-cultural influences which can be seen from the similar clicking sounds in both languages. Some of these sites can be reached by means of a fairly lengthy walk.
