Makhanda, South Africa
Makhanda
Grahamstown | |
|---|---|
Clockwise from top: Makhanda seen from Fort Selwyn, City Hall, St Andrews College Tower, High Street, Cathedral of St Michael and St George | |
| Coordinates: 33°18′36″S 26°31′36″E / 33.31000°S 26.52667°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Eastern Cape |
| District | Sarah Baartman |
| Municipality | Makana |
| Established | 1812 |
| Area | |
• Total | 65.1 km2 (25.1 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 580 m (1,900 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 67,264 |
| • Density | 1,000/km2 (2,700/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 78.9% |
| • Coloured | 11.3% |
| • White | 8.4% |
| • Indian/Asian | 0.7% |
| • Other | 0.6% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Xhosa | 72.2% |
| • Afrikaans | 13.7% |
| • English | 10.8% |
| • Other | 3.4% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal code (street) | 6139 |
| PO box | 6140 |
| Area code | 046 |
Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about 125 kilometres (80 mi) northeast of Gqeberha and 160 kilometres (100 mi) southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Municipality, and the seat of the municipal council. It also hosts Rhodes University, the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court, the South African Library for the Blind (SALB), a diocese of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, and 6 South African Infantry Battalion. Furthermore, located approximately 3 km south-east of the town lies Waterloo Farm, the only estuarine fossil site in the world from 360 million years ago with exceptional soft-tissue preservation.
The town's name-change from Grahamstown to Makhanda was officially gazetted on 29 June 2018. The town was officially renamed to Makhanda in memory of Xhosa warrior and prophet Makhanda ka Nxele.
In 2025, the city was listed as the country's worst-performing municipality, with levels of infrastructural collapse that "harms its citizens", and the South African Human Rights Commission began investigating service delivery failures in the ANC-run municipality.