Bhisho derives its name from the
Xhosa word for
buffalo, which is also the name of the river (
Buffalo River) that runs near this town. Bhisho was named after the song by Ben Tyazashe, who wrote of his longing for his home, Bisho, his name for
King William's Town. However, it has also been claimed that the name was invented by
Ciskei leader
Lennox Sebe, after his unsuccessful bid to incorporate
King William's Town into Ciskei, as
Qonce (the Xhosa version of the
Khoikhoi name for the Buffalo River; it means “buffalo”) was already used as the native name for King William's Town. who united across political lines against incorporation into the homeland, in the face of a 1979 recommendation by the South African government. In 1983 Bisho signed a sister-city agreement with the settlement of
Ariel in the Israeli-occupied
West Bank. This saw the construction of two hospitals (one on a floodplain)
Bisho Massacre On 7 September 1992, Bisho became the scene of what is known as the
Bisho massacre, when about 80–100,000 people marched on Bisho calling for the dismantling of Ciskei, which still maintained a measure of independence, and removal of the homeland's leader
Brigadier Oupa Gqozo. The
Ciskei Defence Force opened fire, shooting dead 28 or 29 people, and wounding 100. The massacre came at a critical time when negotiations towards democracy were underway.
Post-Apartheid Era Bisho was reincorporated into South Africa on 12 August 1994, following the
first democratic elections in the country in April the same year. In October 1994, the then Eastern Cape Premier Raymond Mhlaba announced that Bisho had been selected as the capital city of the Eastern Cape due to its infrastructure, accessibility to major roads and space for further development. The department of Arts and Culture published a correction of spelling of Bisho to Bhisho in their government notice No. 830 of Gazette No. 26552 on 16 July 2004. ==Bhisho today==