East London, Südafrika - Rathaus - Kap der Guten Hoffnung Briefmarke, 1904

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Town Hall, East London [South Africa] 
• Publisher: none seen
• Postally used: yes
• Stamp:  Cape of Good Hope Edward VII 1d red
• Postmark(s): unclear but has been dated 1904 on card bu sender (top right on front)
• Sent to:  Miss G. Walker, 8 William Street, Booth Street, Handsworth, Birmingham, England
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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East London (Xhosa: eMonti; Afrikaans: Oos-Londen) is a city on the southeast coast of South Africa[3] in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality of the Eastern Cape province. The city lies on the Indian Ocean coast, largely between the Buffalo River and the Nahoon River, and hosts the country's only river port. As of 2011, East London had a population of over 267,000 with over 755,000 in the metropolitan area.[4]

History

Early history

John Bailie, one of the 1820 Settlers, surveyed the Buffalo River mouth and founded the town in 1836. There is a memorial on Signal Hill commemorating the event.[5] The city formed around the only river port in South Africa and was originally known as Port Rex. Later it was renamed London in honour of the capital city of the United Kingdom, hence the name East London. This settlement on the West Bank was the nucleus of the town of East London, which was elevated to city status in 1914.[citation needed]

During the early to mid-19th century frontier wars between the British settlers and the local Xhosa inhabitants, East London served as a supply port to service the military headquarters[citation needed] at nearby King William's Town, about 50 km (31 mi) away. A British fort, Fort Glamorgan, was built on the West Bank in 1847, and annexed to the Cape Colony that same year. This fort is one of a series of British-built forts, including Fort Murray, Fort White, Fort Cox, Fort Hare, Fort Jackson and Fort Beaufort, in the border area that became known as British Kaffraria.

With later development of the port came the settlement of permanent residents, including German settlers, most of whom were bachelors. These settlers were responsible for German names of some towns in the vicinity of East London such as Stutterheim and Berlin. Today, German surnames such as Gehring, Salzwedel and Peinke are still common in East London, but the descendants of the settlers rapidly became Anglicised.[citation needed]

The existing port, in the mouth of the Buffalo River, adjoining the Indian Ocean, began operating in 1870. In 1872, the Cape Colony, under the leadership of its first Prime Minister John Molteno, attained a degree of independence from Britain. The new government merged the three neighbouring settlements of East London, East London East and Panmure in 1873, forming the core of the current municipality, and in 1876 it began construction on the region's railway lines, commencing on the river's east bank. At the same time, it began construction of the East London harbour. This new infrastructure rapidly accelerated development of the area into today's thriving city of East London.[6][7]

East London City Hall on Oxford Street

The unusual double-decker bridge over the Buffalo River was completed in 1935, and to this day is the only bridge of its type in South Africa. Modern day attractions include the Gately House, City Hall, Cape Railways, Nahoon Museum, East London Museum housing the coelacanth, a prehistoric fish, thought to be extinct, discovered live at the Chalumna River mouth near East London by fishermen in 1938,[8] and numerous memorial statues.

Apartheid era

In 1948, the National Party came to power in South Africa, and began to implement the policy of apartheid. Apartheid as a doctrine envisaged the total segregation of races in South Africa, and East London was no different. In 1950, the Group Areas Act was placed upon the statute books making absolute segregation in all urban areas mandatory. In 1951, the Land Tenure Advisory Board, the boy created to enforce the act, conducted initial investigations into the reallocation of space along racial lines in East London. Residential segregation had long been practised in East London prior to the advent of apartheid. In 1941, the East London Municipality moved residents from East Bank townships to the newly built township of Duncan Village.[9]

In 1951, all inter-racial property exchanges were prohibited in East London. In 1955, the Amalinda area was zoned as a White Group Area by Government Gazette Proclamation number 21. This meant that the municipality's plans to extend the area in order to accommodate the Black African population were abandoned.[9] In 1953, residents in the East Bank were forcibly moved to the new township of Mdantsane.[10] In February 1966, the South African government defined Mdantsane as a separate homeland township. In 1956, Prime Minister Henrik Verwoerd, who was the architect of apartheid, forbade the East London municipality from extending the existing Duncan Village township and sanctioned the building of Mdantsane.[9]

In 1961, these plans provided for the allocation of a distinct wedge of the city for Asian and Coloured residence, which "incorporated the areas of North End and the recently proclaimed Buffalo Flats location. This plan occasioned tremendous resentment in the city prompting petitions and letters of complaint from numerous organisations including the Black Sash, trade unions and various Black community groups. In 1967, the East London Municipality proclaimed the majority of the city an area for White occupancy, with the exception of a broad sector of land encompassing the Parkside, Parkridge and Buffalo Flats areas which was zoned for Coloured residence. Certain parts of Duncan Village were abolished and its African residents removed, new coloured and Asian locations were built and proclaimed upon land in 1973. In the same year, the newly constructed location of Braelynn was proclaimed an Indian area while Buffalo Flats Extension and Pefferville were proclaimed as Coloured areas. The construction/ extension of Coloured areas and the Duncan Village were suspended in 1983.[9]

Post-apartheid

At the end of apartheid in 1994, East London became part of the province of Eastern Cape. In 2000, East London became part of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, also consisting of Qonce, Bhisho and Mdantsane and is the seat of the Metro.