Qonce

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title: "Qonce" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["qonce", "populated-places-established-in-1835", "populated-places-in-buffalo-city-metropolitan-municipality"] topic_path: "general/qonce" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qonce" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
nameQonce
other_nameKing William's Town
image_skylineKing William's Town straattoneel.jpg
image_captionStreet scene
pushpin_mapSouth Africa Eastern Cape#South Africa#Africa
coordinates
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameSouth Africa
subdivision_type1Province
subdivision_name1Eastern Cape
subdivision_type2District
subdivision_name2Buffalo City
subdivision_type3Municipality
subdivision_name3Buffalo City
subdivision_type4Main Place
established_titleEstablished
established_date1835
leader_titleCouncillor
area_footnotes
area_total_km265.52
elevation_m398
population_footnotes
population_total34019
population_as_of2011
population_density_km2auto
demographics_type1Racial makeup (2011)
demographics1_footnotes
demographics1_title1Black African
demographics1_info165.3%
demographics1_title2Coloured
demographics1_info225.6%
demographics1_title3Indian/Asian
demographics1_info32.5%
demographics1_title4White
demographics1_info45.6%
demographics1_title5Other
demographics1_info50.9%
demographics_type2First languages (2011)
demographics2_footnotes
demographics2_title1Xhosa
demographics2_info154.5%
demographics2_title2Afrikaans
demographics2_info227.3%
demographics2_title3English
demographics2_info313.7%
demographics2_title5Other
demographics2_info54.4%
timezone1SAST
utc_offset1+2
postal_code_typePostal code (street)
postal_code5601
postal2_code_typePO box
postal2_code5600
area_code_typeArea code
area_code043
::

| name = Qonce | other_name = King William's Town | image_skyline = King William's Town straattoneel.jpg | image_caption = Street scene | pushpin_map = South Africa Eastern Cape#South Africa#Africa | coordinates = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = South Africa | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = Eastern Cape | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Buffalo City | subdivision_type3 = Municipality | subdivision_name3 = Buffalo City | subdivision_type4 = Main Place | established_title = Established | established_date = 1835 | leader_title = Councillor | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 65.52 | elevation_m = 398 | population_footnotes = | population_total = 34019 | population_as_of = 2011 | population_density_km2 = auto | demographics_type1 = Racial makeup (2011) | demographics1_footnotes = | demographics1_title1 = Black African | demographics1_info1 = 65.3% | demographics1_title2 = Coloured | demographics1_info2 = 25.6% | demographics1_title3 = Indian/Asian | demographics1_info3 = 2.5% | demographics1_title4 = White | demographics1_info4 = 5.6% | demographics1_title5 = Other | demographics1_info5 = 0.9% | demographics_type2 = First languages (2011) | demographics2_footnotes = | demographics2_title1 = Xhosa | demographics2_info1 = 54.5% | demographics2_title2 = Afrikaans | demographics2_info2 = 27.3% | demographics2_title3 = English | demographics2_info3 = 13.7% | demographics2_title4 = | demographics2_info4 = | demographics2_title5 = Other | demographics2_info5 = 4.4% | timezone1 = SAST | utc_offset1 = +2 | postal_code_type = Postal code (street) | postal_code = 5601 | postal2_code_type = PO box | postal2_code = 5600 | area_code_type = Area code | area_code = 043

Qonce, formerly King William's Town, is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The town is about 60 km northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London. It has a population of around 35,000 inhabitants and forms part of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality.

The town lies 389 m above sea level at the foot of the Amathole Mountains in an area known for its agriculture. The town has one of the oldest post offices in the country developed by missionaries led by Charles Brownlee.

History

For thousands of years, the area was roamed by Bushman bands, and then was used as grazing by the nomadic Khoikhoi, who called the Buffalo River Qonce. Xhosa people lived alongside the Khoikhoi eventually taking over the land after Queen Hoho lost the war with King Ngqika kaMlawu.

King William's Town was founded by Sir Benjamin d’Urban in May 1835 during the Xhosa War of that year. The town stands on the site of the kraal of the minor chief Dyani Tyatyu and was named after William IV. It was abandoned in December 1836, but was reoccupied in 1846 and was the capital of British Kaffraria from its creation in 1847 to its incorporation in 1865 with the Cape Colony. Uniquely in the Cape Colony, its local government was styled a borough, rather than a municipality. Many of the colonists in the neighbouring districts are descendants of members of the British German Legion disbanded after the Crimean War and provided with homes in the Cape Colony; hence such names as Berlin, Braunschweig, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Potsdam and Stutterheim given to settlements in this part of the country.

It was declared the provincial capital of the surrounding Queen Adelaide's Province in the 1830s. On 5 May 1877, the Cape Government of Prime Minister John Molteno opened the first railway, connecting the town to East London on the coast and to the Xhosa lands inland and further east. With its direct railway communication, the town became an important entrepôt for trade with the Xhosa people throughout Kaffraria.

In 1973, a 108 hectare piece of protected land was established on the outskirts of town called the King William's Town Nature Reserve.

The area's economy depended on cattle and sheep ranching, and the town itself has a large industrial base producing textiles, soap, candles, sweets, cartons and clothing. Its proximity to the new provincial capital city of Bhisho has brought much development to the area since the end of apartheid in 1994.

In September 2020 the Eastern Cape government announced plans to give the town a new name as part of what it described as a programme aimed at transforming the country's geographic landscape to be more representative of its people. The city officially became Qonce on 21 February 2021.

The town is also home to Huberta, one of the farthest-travelling hippopotami in South Africa. It is displayed in the Amathole Museum in the CBD.

Notable people

References

References

  1. Robson, Linda Gillian. (2011). "The Royal Engineers and settlement planning in the Cape Colony 1806–1872: Approach, methodology and impact". University of Pretoria.
  2. "Main Place King William's Town". Census 2011.
  3. (23 February 2021). "Two SA airports – and Port Elizabeth – just got official new names".
  4. "King William's Town – Steeped in History".
  5. Wells, Julia C.. (2012). "The Return of MaKhanda: Exploring the legend". University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.
  6. {{EB1911
  7. Burman, Jose (1984), ''Early Railways at the Cape''. Cape Town: Human & Rousseau, p. 83. {{ISBN. 0-7981-1760-5
  8. "King William’s Town Nature Reserve".
  9. (3 September 2020). "Name changes planned for East London and other Eastern Cape towns".
  10. (24 February 2021). "South African city of Port Elizabeth becomes Gqeberha".
  11. "Huberta the Hippo".

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