Bhiso

Bhiso, formerly known as Bisho, is the capital of the Eastern Cape Province. a town in South Africa.

The Provincial legislature and many other government departments are headquartered in this fast-growing part of South-Eastern South Africa. It lies just north of the former provincial capital King William's Town and is a post-modern 'boom' town, a logical consequence of the huge redevelopment that has taken hold in the area since the fall of apartheid in 1994.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} The town of Bhiso is also host to the longest international airport runway in Southern Africa.

Bhiso is the Xhosa word for buffalo, which is also the name of the river that runs through this town.

Former capital of the Ciskei

Under its former name of Bisho, it was the capital of the former bantustan of Ciskei. Ciskei was nominally granted independence in 1981, although this was never recognised outside South Africa, and was reincorporated into South Africa in 1994.

Bisho massacre

See: Bhiso massacre

On 7 September 1992, this small town became the scene of what is known as the Bisho Massacre, when about 100 000 people marched on Bisho protesting for the removal of Ciskei leader Brigadier Oupa Gqozo. The Ciskei Defence Force opened fire, shooting dead 29 civilians. The massacre came at a critical time and threatend to halt negotiations towards democracy.

External links

* Mapping from [Multimap] or [GlobalGuide]
* Aerial image from [TerraServer]
* Satellite image from [WikiMapia] or [Google Maps]

Provincial capitals of South Africa

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