West Bank Location
1847 - 1848

When the 6th Frontier War (1834-5) had erupted, the Xhosa community at the mouth of the Buffalo River were regarded as the enemy by the marauding imperial army. During the War of the Axe (1846-7), on the other hand, the river people appeared to have taken a neutral stance. Indeed, in April 1847, when the imperial soldiers first arrived at the Buffalo River mouth and were ordered "to hut themselves", it was the amaXhosa who hastened to their assistance and showed them how to build the rondavel-shaped mud huts with thatched roofs.

In February 1848, the Collector of Customs (Charles Wolfe) who was stationed at what was now called East London, reported that there were a great number of amaXhosa near Fort Glamorgan, and many were employed in building the huts. Once the war was over, economic forces had come into play. Just as itinerant merchants moved into the war zone as camp followers, to enrich themselves through commerce with the military, so did the amaXhosa recognise the opportunity to prosper from the White's inexperience at hut-making.

Wolfe had actually bought one of these Xhosa-styled houses from a soldier for the sum of £15. He described it as a "small but well built hut, of wattle and daub". The frame-work, he said, consisted of "stakes and twigs covered with a kind of mud plaster and coated with yellow wash". He reported further that these huts, notwithstanding the apparent abundance of building material, could not be constructed at less than £20 to £30 each, while some of the more "aristocratic order" cost as much as £35 to £40 each. The amaXhosa would also have helped most of the merchants to build their wattle and daub houses.

Even while the War of the Axe was still in full swing, several of the merchants at East London opened up trading relations with the amaXhosa so that, as early as July 1847, the Graham's Town Journal was able to report the start of an export trade when a cargo of hides and horns was taken aboard the Conch, a small coasting vessel of about 85 tons. In March 1848, Wolfe reported that the amaXhosa were collecting and selling gum at East London, so that he hoped soon to be able to ship a few tons to Cape Town.

The Xhosa village was close to the White settlement, and official reports made it clear that Xhosa huts were also scattered in close proximity to the new "town". Population figures issued at the time indicate that there were 60 Xhosa men living in the area, together with their wives and children, although no approximation was given as to the total of Black residents in the village.

The population, however, was by no means static. Xhosa people also lived outside the official "rayon" that marked East London's boundary, and many of them came into the town regularly to supply the White community with milk. Moreover, whenever ships arrived at the port, the Black population temporarily increased as more labour was needed to unload the vessels.

It is probable that, during those early months, when both the military and the traders had to resort to Xhosa-style huts for accommodation, a partially integrated society had come into existence. It is certainly true that, as late as September 1857, sailors tended to take up lodgings in the Xhosa village. It might be argued that this indicates that prostitution had already started at East London, but it is more probable that the sailors simply could not afford accommodation in the White area. While the captains would have booked into the East London Tavern and Inn, the only hotel in the town, the much poorer sailors would have simply responded to hospitality offered within the Black village.

Nevertheless, it would be naive to argue that an idyllic integrated community could have survived. Given the nature of segregation that would arise throughout South Africa, it is certain that a separation of the races would eventually take place at East London.

See also: West Bank Location The township community East London

What was truly unexpected, however, was how soon segregation occurred. Indeed, in March 1848, the Special Commissioner for British Kaffraria had already given the order that all huts close to the town be pulled down, and a location be established. But that story is too long to tell here, and must be given a chapter on its own.

Dr Keith Tankard