Bhisho is the capital of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. The Office of the Premier, Provincial Legislature and many other government departments are headquartered in the town. The town situated 3 kilometres away from King Williams Town and 70 kilometres away from East London is part of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality of the Eastern Cape.HistoryBhisho derives its name from the Xhosa word for buffalo, which is also the name of the river (Buffalo River) that runs through this town. Bhisho was named after the song by Ben Tyazashe, who wrote of his longing for his home, Bisho, his name for King Williams Town. The department of Arts and Culture published a correction of spelling of Bisho to Bhisho in their government notice No. 830 of Gazette No. 26552 on 16 July 2004. When the bantustan of Ciskei was nominally granted independence in 1981, although this was never recognised outside South Africa, Bhisho served as its capital city. During the early 1980s under the leadership of Lennox Sebe Bhisho underwent a period of intense development. In describing the rise of Bhisho, Franco Frescura and Stephanie Volpe must be viewed in context of the fact that the town lies some six kilometres north of King William's Town on the main road linking the Cape to the Transkei and Natal. Its location was dictated by a wish on the part of the Ciskei to place an economic stranglehold upon the white community of King William's Town who, Prog, Nat and HNP, stand united against incorporation into the homeland." In 1983,at the height Ciskei government, Bhisho signed a sister-city agreement with the settlement of Ariel in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. This saw the construction of two hospitals including Bhisho Hospital and up to 10 firms around the capital by Israeli entrepreneurs and technicians. In 1985, when Bhisho ended its relationship with the West Bank, there were 200 Israelis in the Ciskei.
