Port Elizabeth’splace in history

South Africa’s rich history and tough struggle against apartheid is firmly etched on Port Elizabeth, writes FERDINAND MWONGELA

Port Elizabeth. It sounds old, like the kind of place you would go for a quiet time.

Port Elizabeth is a part of the wider Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan area with nicknames like the friendly city, windy city or even Africa’s water sport capital; it is a fascinating destination in itself.

Forget the fast pace and clinical feel of Johannesburg, or the quietly posh look of South Africa’s other well-known city, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth has its own feel.

Landing here was not quite in the traditional way. Docking early in the morning by ship eager to get to shore and explore, or something pretty close, sounds almost like the characters from Robert Luis Stevenson’s book Treasure Island. Only there were no pirates here, just chaps eager to set foot on solid ground after a couple of days out at sea.

Oh and the relief. Not that I minded. The city is also quite easily accessible by air or road.

Once on shore, our little band was raring to go and to take us out to the city on a bus screaming “hakuna matata”, we really sold that brand; I guess we export more than tea and coffee. But that is a topic for another day.

There is always something about a beautiful city by the sea. It is relaxing and attractively calm. South Africa’s coast along the southern most tip of the continent stretching from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean means she has more than her fair share of coastal destinations to play with. Port Elizabeth is one of these.

The first stop was the Red Location Museum. As museums go I must say I am usually impressed, or a little jittery depending on whatever ferocious stuffed animal they have got in there. This museum, however, is a refreshing approach to the whole thing.

The museum situated in New Brighton Township is a factory styled structure with an interesting play on interactivity and use of space. What probably sets it apart from a lot of other museums is that its centre of focus is the struggle against apartheid.

The area itself played a significant role in this time of South African history and the nation remembers its heroes here. The first branch of Umkhonto we Sizwe (which translates to ‘spear of the nation’ the armed wing of the African National Congress) was started here.

The name Red Location is itself derived from a series of corrugated iron barrack building, which were part of a Boer Concentration camp in Uitenhage, also part of Nelson Mandela Bay. The buildings were moved in 1900 to Red Location and the first black families settled here in 1903.
Images of historic events, tragic and momentous at the same time, immortalise those who stood up to be counted.

big lessons

By the time we walked out of there, I almost felt chastised. Humbled yet optimistic. Seeing the folly of man and the strength of man merge to create the rainbow nation. I couldn’t help reflecting on a message I encountered  here. “Red Location Museum seeks … to depict the notion on memory, portraying both the horrors of institutionalised racism and the heroic efforts of the anti-apartheid movement.”

The museum offers free entrance to pensioners and the unemployed, quite honestly a first for me. I never got to find out how they determined the unemployed though.

Out here, the feel is not that of being in a city. None of the bustle, not so flashy either. It is a place with its own pace. Big cities have managed to disengage the human aspect, but Port Elizabeth made me feel almost at home, never mind I was born in the near arid parts of Kenya.

It almost has a rural feel. That is if you can have a rural setting with a massive port and bustling city economy around it.

Headed back to Port Elizabeth proper is the Nelson Mandela Stadium. This is part of the legacy the country acquired in hosting  the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

big landmark

The stadium is hard to miss whenever you are on a raised ground around the city, its sunflower-like structure draws your eyes to it. From a vantage point, it almost looks as if the city is built around the stadium, hardly would you know it is a much later addition.

Port Elizabeth is however not just about this, as I soon learnt. Overlooking the harbour on one end is Fort Frederick. It was built towards the end of 1799 during a war with France.

The fort was to protect against the landing of French forces during the Napoleonic wars. A plaque says the fort was built as a “permanent military base overlooking the only safe anchorage on the South East coast.” It goes ahead to claim that the fort was garrisoned up to the 1860s but no shot was ever fired in anger from here.

The choice of the fort’s location is itself quite plain to see. Its aged canons lined up perfectly with the harbour as it operates today. From its high ground it would have been easy to control entry into the harbour, just like our very own Fort Jesus.

 Quite small in size, Fort Frederick provides a nice view to kick back or view the section of Port Elizabeth visible from this point.

By now the historical significance of Port Elizabeth had dawned.  Wherever you looked had reminders of the role this city played. Every step this nation has taken is etched into its being.

My adventure was fast turning into a lesson rather than the bored dreamy eyes of a tourist. Information I would otherwise have glanced over, seemed to spring into life. It did not seem possible to learn so much from a place, but I was fast learning how wrong that assumption would be.

Nelson Mandela Bay also boasts of hosting the world’s only big seven reserve. The other two, in addition to the traditional big five, being the great white shark and the southern right whale.

The city is quite prepared and aware of its tourism potential. The Nelson Mandela Bay pass, a smart access card, easily provides one with free admission to various attraction in the Nelson Mandela Bay area that includes Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Despatch.

The story of Port Elizabeth itself is intriguing. A story of love and loss. The Acting Governor of the Cape in 1820, Sir Rufane Donkin named it after his wife, Elizabeth Frances Lady Donken, who had died in India two years earlier.

in memory

The bereaved husband built her a monument that stands today not far from Fort Frederick and a must visit for a visitor here. It is a place that captures the spirit of the city.

Around it are grounds you can quietly take time at or listen to the guides explain the history and the passion of that man in 1820 who named a city after his wife.

By the time my tour of Port Elizabeth was over and it was time to head out, I was captivated. This is a place I would gladly take time to visit again at a more sedentary pace.