in the foreground and the
Drakensberg mountains in the distance by
Caesar Carl Hans Henkel The settlement existed in the 1870s as a buffer-zone, in response to reported tensions between
Mpondo and neighbouring Thembu groups, and in 1875 a magistrate's office was opened. The first magistrate, appointed that year, was a man named J F Boyes. The settlement developed during the next few years, becoming a military post for the British colonial forces in 1882. The town itself was founded in 1883, along the banks of the
Mthatha River. Nearly a century later, the
Mthatha Dam was constructed about eight kilometers upstream of the town. Mthatha became the leading administrative centre of the area, having both
Anglican and
Catholic cathedrals. The town became the headquarters of the Transkeian Territories General Council (known as the Bunga), and the building which served as a parliament was erected in 1903. This was followed by the construction of the town hall in 1908. A branch of the
University of Fort Hare was established in the town, and after the independence of the
Transkei in 1977 it became the
University of Transkei. In 2005, the University of Transkei with the Border Technikon and Eastern Cape Technikon were merged to form the
Walter Sisulu University for Technology and Science. The campus was the base for the region's first community radio station, UCRFM, which started in 1996 and has become a significant community broadcaster. On 1 August 1973, Mthatha High Court was opened. In 1973, a summit meeting of the black homeland leaders was held at Umtata, when they decided to federate their respective states after independence. In 1976,
Transkei was granted independence as a bantustan, a nominally independent state not recognised outside South Africa. Mthatha served as the capital under the name "Umtata". Under the Transkei regime, an airport named after the then ruler of Transkei
KD Matanzima was built. On 21 May 2012, the airport was formally handed over to
Lindiwe Sisulu, then Minister of Defence, by
Noxolo Kiviet, then
Premier of the Eastern Cape. However, the
South African National Defence Force relinquished its control of the airport in 2013. The airport was renamed
Mthatha Airport. Many of South Africa's black leaders – including
Walter Sisulu,
Sabelo Phama,
Bantu Holomisa and
Nelson Mandela — come from this area, and Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela lived out his retirement in his home village of
Qunu, a few kilometres south of Mthatha. Mthatha is a focal point of the Nelson Mandela Route which celebrates the life of Nelson Mandela. There are three Nelson Mandela Museums. Spread across three sites, they collect, interpret and exhibit key aspects of the story of the life and times of Nelson Mandela. The three historical sites of the museum are at Mvezo, Qunu and the Bunga Building in Mthatha. In the Bunga Building is the story of the
Long Walk to Freedom and an exhibition of the many gifts received by Nelson Mandela. On 2 March 2004, Umtata was renamed "Mthatha". ==Business==