Uitenhage, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

🇿🇦 Uitenhage officially renamed Kariega is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port Elizabeth and the small town of Despatch, it forms the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.

History Uitenhage was founded on 25 April 1804 by landdrost (district magistrate) Jacob Glen Cuyler and named in honour of the Cape's Commissioner-General Jacob Abraham Uitenhage de Mist by the Dutch Cape Colony governor, Jan Willem Janssens. Uitenhage formed part of the district of Graaff Reinet (shortly after its short-lived secession).

The Cape Colony received a degree of independence when "Responsible Government" was declared in 1872. In 1875, the Cape government of John Molteno took over the rudimentary Uitenhage railway site, incorporated it into the Cape Government Railways (CGR), and began construction of the lines connecting Uitenhage to Port Elizabeth and the Southern African interior. Two years later in 1877, Uitenhage was declared a municipality.

Nearly a hundred years later, as part of the Republic of South Africa, Uitenhage became a centre for resistance against apartheid. In 1985, police opened fire on a funeral procession in Uitenhage, killing a number of unarmed people, in an event that became notorious as an example of police oppression in South Africa under apartheid.

In 2001 it was incorporated with Port Elizabeth and Despatch into the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality. On 23 February 2021, Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa approved and gazetted the decision to rename Uitenhage to Kariega along with the neighbouring city of Port Elizabeth which was changed to Gqeberha.

Geography Uitenhage is situated on the banks of the Swartkops River, approximately 30 km (18.6 miles) north-west of Port Elizabeth. Uitenhage, along with the city of Port Elizabeth, the neighbouring town of Despatch, the adjoining township of KwaNobuhle and surrounding areas form the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.

Uitenhage also lies at the start of the Mohair Route which leads along Route 75 towards Graaff-Reinet (the centre for mohair farming in South Africa), 228 km to the north-west via Jansenville on Route 75.

Industries Uitenhage is known for the large industries situated there. The largest of these industries are the Volkswagen of South Africa and Goodyear factories. An automotive supplier park, Alexander Park Industrial, has also been created directly next to the Volkswagen factory, thus allowing automotive component manufacturers to construct their manufacturing plants close by.Other industries of note are the food processing giant,Sovereign foods located in Kruisrivier industrial area and The Nelson Mandela Bay Logistics Park which hosts several other industries including Fauricia.These industries are heavily interlinked.

Transport The R75 highway, also known as Route 75, skirts Uitenhage to the east leading northwards to Jansenville and Graaff-Reinet and southwards to iBhayi and Port Elizabeth with access at the M19, M6, R334 and Graaff-Reinet Road. The R334 enters Uitenhage from the north-east and runs through the central business district (CBD) leading from Coega to the east towards KwaNobuhle and the R102 near Van Stadens Pass to the south-west.

The M6 route leads eastwards from the R334 intersection in the CBD to Despatch as Caledon Street and Union Avenue; the M10 route leads south-eastwards to Bethelsdorp as Durban Street and Algoa Road; the M19 route leads from the M10 intersection just outside Uitenhage to Despatch as Botha Street and the M22 route leads from the M6 intersection just west of Uitenhage to KwaNobuhle as Marconi Street and Mel Brooks Avenue.

The main streets through CBD known as Uitenhage Central include Cuyler Street, Caledon Street in the Upper Central and Durban Street in the Lower Central.

Notable buildings[edit] • Masjid al-Qudama (1849), is one of the oldest mosques in the country.[22] • Cuyler Manor, historic house museum.