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Bhisho Bisho
Bhisho Location in the Eastern Cape
Bhisho
Coordinates: 32°50′58″S 27°26′17″E / 32.84944°S 27.43806°E / -32.84944; 27.43806Coordinates: 32°50′58″S 27°26′17″E / 32.84944°S 27.43806°E / -32.84944; 27.43806
Country	South Africa
Province	Eastern Cape
Municipality	Buffalo City
Area[1]
• Total	5.76 km2 (2.22 sq mi)
Population (2001)[1]
• Total	6,479
• Density	1,100/km2 (2,900/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2001)[1]
• Black African	98.1%
• Coloured	1.1%
• Indian/Asian	0.3%
• White	0.5%
First languages (2001)[1]
• Xhosa	95.2%
• English	2.5%
• Afrikaans	1.2%
• Other	1.1%
Time zone	SAST (UTC+2)

Bhisho (formerly Bisho)^[2] is the capital of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. The Provincial legislature and many other government departments are headquartered in the town.

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

The town is part of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality of the Eastern Cape, the urban agglomeration around East London.

On 16 July 2004, the town was officially renamed from Bisho to Bhisho.^[3][4]

Former capital of the Ciskei[link]

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 on 12 August 1994.

During its time as a bantustan capital, Bisho signed a sister-city agreement with the settlement of Ariel in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.^[5]

Bisho massacre[link]

On 7 September 1992, this small town became the scene of what is known as the Bisho Massacre, when about 80–100,000 people marched on Bisho protesting for the dismantling of the Ciskei, which still maintained a measure of independence, and removal of Ciskei leader Brigadier Oupa Gqozo. The Ciskei Defence Force opened fire, shooting dead 28 or 29 people, and wounding 100. The massacre came at a critical time when negotiations towards democracy were underway.

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Main Place Bhisho". Census 2001. http://census.adrianfrith.com/place/21408. 
2. ^ Jenkins, Elwyn (2007), Falling into place: the story of modern South African place names, David Philip Publishers, p. 75 
3. ^ "Place Name Search". Department of Arts and Culture, South Africa. http://sagns.dac.gov.za/PlaceNameSearch.aspx. Retrieved 6 March 2012. 
4. ^ "Old Place Names". Department of Arts and Culture, South Africa. Archived from the original on 6 February 2010. http://web.archive.org/web/20100206122925/http://sagns.dac.gov.za/Public/OldPlaceNames.aspx?. Retrieved 6 March 2012. 
5. ^ Sasha Polakow-Suransky, The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa, (New York: Pantheon Books), 2010, p. 157.

Links to related articles v t e Province of Eastern Cape, South Africa Provincial capital: Bhisho Major cities and towns Aliwal North Butterworth Cradock Despatch Dimbaza East London Fort Beaufort Graaff-Reinet Grahamstown Humansdorp Jeffreys Bay King William's Town Mdantsane Middelburg Motherwell Mthatha Port Alfred Port Elizabeth Queenstown Stutterheim Uitenhage Zwelitsha Metropolitan municipalities Buffalo City Nelson Mandela Bay District and local municipalities Cacadu Camdeboo Blue Crane Route Ikwezi Makana Ndlambe Sunday's River Valley Baviaans Kouga Kou-Kamma Amathole Mbhashe Mnquma Great Kei Amahlathi Ngqushwa Nkonkobe Nxuba Chris Hani Inxuba Yethemba Tsolwana Inkwanca Lukhanji Intsika Emalahleni Engcobo Sakhisizwe Joe Gqabi Elundini Senqu Maletswai Gariep O.R. Tambo Ngquza Hill Port St Johns Nyandeni Mhlontlo King Sabata Dalindyebo Alfred Nzo Mbizana Ntabankulu Matatiele Umzimvubu v t e Provincial capitals of South Africa Bhisho (Eastern Cape) Bloemfontein (Free State) Cape Town (Western Cape) Johannesburg (Gauteng) Kimberley (Northern Cape) Mafikeng (North West) Nelspruit (Mpumalanga) Pietermaritzburg (KwaZulu-Natal) Polokwane (Limpopo)

Narendra Chanchal is an Indian musician who specializes in Punjabi bhentein. He was born to a religious Punjabi family in Namak Mandi, Amritsar. He has received several awards including the 1973 "Filmfare Best Male Playback Award" for his first song "Beshak Mandir Masjid Todo," the "Bobby Award" for his number "Beshak Mandir Masjid Todo" in the film "Bobby" by Raj Kapoor, and the "Raj Kapoor Memorial Award." He was recently made an honorary citizen of the US state of Georgia.

References[link]

• About Narendra Chanchal
• Narendra Chanchal as playback singer on IMDB

Narendra Chanchal has recently released the book on his life, struggles and hardships he had to face, to achieve what he is today, what he thinks about Mata Rani and what is his dreams and aim yet to achieve.Indeeed a good read. The Name of the Book is Midnight Singer.

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