Uitenhage
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 Gqeberha and the small town of Despatch, it forms the Nelson Mandela 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. Kariega is located 30 km north-west of Gqeberha. Its neighbouring town of Despatch and township KwaNobuhle, the city of  Gqeberha and other surrounding areas form the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality. Kariega is also located at the beginning of the Mohair Route which stretches to Graaff-Reinet (considered the centre for mohair farming) via Jansenville on Route 75. Industries. Kariega 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. Transport. Kariega is at the junction of regional  and metropolitan routes and has access to many roads. Notable buildings. Masjid al-Qudama (1849), is one of the oldest mosques in the country. Coats of arms. Drostdy — In 1804, the Cape colonial government assigned the shield of Jacob Abraham Uitenhage de Mist's arms to the new Uitenhage drostdy. The arms were "Sable, a cross moline Argent", i.e. a silver cross moline on a black shield. An anchor was placed behind the shield. The British authorities discontinued the drostdy seals in 1814, and replaced them with the royal coat of arms. Municipality — In 1881, the Uitenhage municipal council adopted  the De Mist arms, complete with a crest consisting of a cross moline issuing from a gold coronet. The arms were registered with the Cape Provincial Administration in September 1956 and at the Bureau of Heraldry in June 1994. Divisional council — The Uitenhage divisional council (the local authority for the rural areas outside the town) assumed a coat of arms in 1968. The arms were granted by the provincial administrator in August 1968 and registered at the Bureau of Heraldry in June 1972. On the arms were stated: "Or, a triple crowned tree Vert, the trunk entwined with the Batavian  tricolour; on a chief wavy Sable a cross moline between dexter a pickaxe and hammer in saltire, handles downwards and sinister two scrolls in saltire, Argent." In layman's terms, the design was a golden shield displaying, from top to bottom, a crossed pickaxe and hammer, a cross moline and two crossed scrolls on a black horizontal strip with a wavy edge, and a triple-crowned tree with a Batavian Republic flag wrapped around it. The crest was an elephant, and the motto "Per laborem ad honorem".