Xuxuwa, Eastern Cape

Xuxuwa the Railroad Siding, Eastern Cape, is 9 km West of Fort Beaufort and 7 km East-Northeast of Brakfontein. It takes its name from a Tributary of the Kat River. Its estimate terrain elevation, above seal level is 590 metres. Variant forms of spelling for Xuxuwa or in other languages is Xhuxhuwa.  

The Tributary takes its name, from what is said to be that of a former chief, Xoxo. Who was the Brother of Tyali and half-brother Sandile, injured in a skirmish, which led to the Frontier War of 1835. Some authorities argue that the name predates the chief, who would of been to young in 1809, when the place name was recorded, to have it named after him. The name is said to mean 'frog' or 'toad' perhaps derived from the Khoikhoi. There is also a Tributary of the Kat River which rises West of Fort Beaufort and flows South East to join the Main Stream. Both of these Locations fall under the Amathole District Municipality. Which is a second-order Administrative division,Eastern Cape, South Africa. With a Population of 940441 Habitants. The estimate terrain of the Municipality is, elevation above seal level, 814 metres.

 

A great interpretation and much research has been done about coloniasim in the Old Cape Colony and a brilliant book has subsequently been published; The Borders of Race in Colonial South Africa by Robert Ross. This book provides a detailed narrative of the Kat River Settlement in the Eastern Cape of South Africa during the nineteenth century. The settlement was created by the British to use the Khoekhoe as a living barrier between the Cape Colony and the amaXhosa. It was fought over with some regularity, however, and finally broken up after some of the Khoekhoe joined the amaXhosa in their war against the colony. Nevertheless, in the time that the settlement existed, the Khoekhoe both created a fertile landscape in the valley and developed a political theology of great importance for the evolution of South Africa. They were also the subjects of - and participants in - the major debates leading to the introduction of a liberal constitution for the Cape in 1853. The history of the settlement is thus crucial in understanding the development of both colonial racism and the creation of the colony's non-racial democracy.Nowdays this area falls under the Supervision of the Amathole District Municipality.