{{Short description|Capital of the Eastern Cape, South Africa}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} {{EngvarB|date=July 2016}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Bhisho | other_name = Bisho | image_skyline = Bisho Massacre Memorial Site.jpg | image_caption = Bisho Massacre Memorial Site | pushpin_map = South Africa Eastern Cape#South Africa#Africa | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Eastern Cape, South Africa | coordinates = {{coord|32|50|58|S|27|26|17|E|region:ZA|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = South Africa | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = Eastern Cape | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_type3 = Municipality | subdivision_name3 = Buffalo City | subdivision_type4 = Main Place | established_title = Established | leader_title = Councillor | area_footnotes = <ref name="census2011">{{cite web |url=http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/260032 |title = Main Place Bhisho |work=Census 2011}}</ref> | area_total_km2 = 8.08 | elevation_m = 435 | population_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | population_total = 11192 | population_as_of = 2011 | population_density_km2 = auto <!-- demographics (section 1) --> | demographics_type1 = Racial makeup (2011) | demographics1_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | demographics1_title1 = Black African | demographics1_info1 = 98.3% | demographics1_title2 = Coloured | demographics1_info2 = 1.0% | demographics1_title3 = Indian/Asian | demographics1_info3 = 0.2% | demographics1_title4 = White | demographics1_info4 = 0.2% | demographics1_title5 = Other | demographics1_info5 = 0.2% <!-- demographics (section 2) --> | demographics_type2 = First languages (2011) | demographics2_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | demographics2_title1 = Xhosa | demographics2_info1 = 92.0% | demographics2_title2 = English | demographics2_info2 = 4.0% | demographics2_title3 = | demographics2_info3 = | demographics2_title4 = | demographics2_info4 = | demographics2_title5 = Other | demographics2_info5 = 4.1% <!-- blank fields (section 2) --> <!-- Other information --> | timezone1 = SAST | utc_offset1 = +2 | postal_code_type = Postal code (street) | postal_code = 5605 | postal2_code_type = PO box | postal2_code = 5605 | area_code_type = Area code | area_code = 040 }} '''Bhisho''', formerly '''Bisho''',<ref>{{Citation | first = Elwyn | last = Jenkins | title = Falling into place: the story of modern South African place names | publisher = David Philip Publishers | year = 2007 | page = 75 }}</ref> is the capital of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The Office of the Premier, Provincial Legislature and many other government departments are headquartered in the town. The town, three kilometres from Qonce and 70 kilometres from East London, is also part of Buffalo City.
==History== 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.<ref name="SA">{{cite web | title= Bisho and King Williams Town, Eastern Cape, South Africa | publisher= southafrica.co.za | url= http://www.southafrica.co.za/south-africa-travel-bisho-king-williams-town.html | access-date= 27 July 2017 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170804132055/http://www.southafrica.co.za/south-africa-travel-bisho-king-williams-town.html | archive-date= 4 August 2017 | url-status= dead }}</ref> 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.<ref name="ucPressPseudoEthnicity"/>
===Capital of Ciskei=== {{Further|Ciskei}} When the bantustan of Ciskei was nominally granted independence in 1981, although this was never recognised outside South Africa, Bisho served as its capital city. During the early 1980s under the leadership of Lennox Sebe, Bisho underwent a period of intense development.
Its location six kilometres north of King William's Town on the main road linking the Cape to the Transkei and Natal has been described as the result of the Ciskei government wanting to place an "economic stranglehold" upon the white community of King William's Town<ref name="SAHistoryOnline">{{cite web| title= BISHO: A Post-mordernist Mirage | publisher= South African History Online| url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/franco/architecture-general-bisho.html | access-date=27 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727115008/https://www.sahistory.org.za/franco/architecture-general-bisho.html|archive-date=27 July 2018}}</ref> who united across political lines against incorporation into the homeland, in the face of a 1979 recommendation by the South African government.<ref name="ucPressPseudoEthnicity">{{Cite web|url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft158004rs&chunk.id=d0e9953&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e9714&brand=ucpress|title = The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa}}</ref>
In 1983 Bisho signed a sister-city agreement with the settlement of Ariel in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.<ref>Sasha Polakow-Suransky, ''The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa'', (New York: Pantheon Books), 2010, p. 157.</ref> This saw the construction of two hospitals (one on a floodplain)<ref name="SAHistoryOnline"/> including Bisho Hospital and up to 10 firms around the capital by Israeli entrepreneurs and technicians. In 1985, when Bisho ended its relationship with the West Bank, there were 200 Israelis in the Ciskei.<ref name="Israeli">{{cite book|author=Jane Haapiseva-Hunter |title= Israel and Africa: The Problematic Friendship | publisher= British Academic Press| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_edpSrtACq0C&q=bisho+israeli+government&pg=PA74 | access-date=27 July 2017|isbn= 9780896082854 |year= 1987 }}</ref>
===Bisho Massacre=== {{Main|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.<ref name="CAP">{{cite conference|first=Pakima |last=Siyongwana |title=The selection of the capital city of the Eastern Cape province & The fall of a former capital city : Umtata. |conference=Benoˆıt Antheaume, Fr´ed´eric Giraut et Brij Maharaj. Rencontres scientifiques franco-Sud-Africaines de l’innovation territoriale |date=January 2002 |location=Grenoble-Avignon, France |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00766816/document |access-date=27 July 2017}}</ref>
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==
Bhisho's major structures include the Eastern Cape government offices (including office of the Premier), a branch of the University of Fort Hare, Bhisho Hospital, Bisho massacre Memorial, Bhisho Stadium and an SABC radio station known as trufm. Bhisho is dependent on the nearby Qonce (formerly King William's Town) and East London. The majority of the town's population who are employed are public service workers.<ref name="SA"/>
== Climate == Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies Bhisho's climate as cool semi-arid (''BSk''), although it borders closely on both a hot semi-arid climate (''BSh'') and a humid subtropical climate (''Cfa'').
{{Weather box |metric first=yes |single line=yes |location=Bhisho |width = auto |Jan high C=26.4 |Feb high C=26.6 |Mar high C=25.5 |Apr high C=23.9 |May high C=22.1 |Jun high C=20.4 |Jul high C=20.0 |Aug high C=20.9 |Sep high C=21.7 |Oct high C=22.3 |Nov high C=23.5 |Dec high C=25.3 |Jan mean C=21.1 |Feb mean C=21.3 |Mar mean C=20.3 |Apr mean C=18.2 |May mean C=15.8 |Jun mean C=13.9 |Jul mean C=13.4 |Aug mean C=14.2 |Sep mean C=15.4 |Oct mean C=16.7 |Nov mean C=18.1 |Dec mean C=19.8 |Jan low C=15.8 |Feb low C=16.1 |Mar low C=15.1 |Apr low C=12.5 |May low C=9.6 |Jun low C=7.4 |Jul low C=6.9 |Aug low C=7.5 |Sep low C=9.2 |Oct low C=11.2 |Nov low C=12.8 |Dec low C=14.4 |rain colour = green |Jan rain mm=65 |Feb rain mm=71 |Mar rain mm=72 |Apr rain mm=43 |May rain mm=22 |Jun rain mm=19 |Jul rain mm=17 |Aug rain mm=28 |Sep rain mm=47 |Oct rain mm=80 |Nov rain mm=76 |Dec rain mm=70 | source 1 = ''Climate-Data.org''<ref>{{cite web|title=Climate: Bhisho – Climate graph, Temperature graph, Climate table|url=http://en.climate-data.org/location/26883/|publisher=Climate-Data.org|access-date=23 August 2013}}</ref> }}
==Notable people== *Ma Nala (born 1994) - singer-songwriter *Masande Ntshanga (born 1986) - novelist
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality}} {{Provincial capitals of South Africa}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Provincial capitals in South Africa Category:Populated places in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality Category:Capitals of former countries