Mount Frere
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Mount Frere is a small town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, about 100 km north east of Mthatha. The town is home to the Bhaca, Hlubi and Mpondo people, a division of the Xhosa, and is one of the most underdeveloped communities in South Africa .Surnames mostly common in Mount Frere are Makaula, Mvambi, Dabula. Notable people who have origins in this part of South Africa are Vuyolwethu "Vuyo" Mngambi (Father: Mzameni Evennett Mngambi, Mother: Lillian Nokwandisa Mngambi nee Jacisa) Siblings: 2 older brothers, Vangeli and Vukile Mngambi and kid sister Ntombovuyo Mngambi.
Mt Frere
Location
Mt Frere is situated on the eastern part of the Eastern Cape region. It falls under Umzimvubu Municipality, which is the part of the Alfred Ndzo Distric Municipalities. Mt Frere is a small town situated between Mt Ayliff and Qumbu towns along the N2 road. It contains about 222 villages and about 40% of them have got electricity. Near the towns there are squatter camps.
Population
The estimated population in Mt Frere is about 1 000 000. The place is over crowded, especially in town.
Climate
Mt Frere has a fair climate and the temperatures ranges between 10 and 35 degrees in summer. In winter temperatures are very cold. There is less rain in winter. Most areas are very dry.
Vegetation
Mt Frere has poor vegetation. Most areas are dry, as a result of that the vegetation is very poor. People grow maize and vegetables most of the time. Peach is the only fruit that is popular in that area.
Economy
The economy is very poor and this is worsened by crime levels. There are presently no investors interested to invest in this area. There are only two banks, which also serve other towns like Tabankulu, Qumbu and Mt Ayliff. There are two hotels whose standard seem low. There is a high rate of unemployment. The town is also less attractive to tourists.
Health
Health is a problem because there is only one hospital which has a poor service because of staff shortage and lack of facilities and resources. The hospital is dirty because of overcrowding.
Infrastructure
Roads are very bad and are not maintained. Even the N2 road between Mt Frere and Qumbu is in a bad state.
Mt Frere has got a few public schools. No private, special school, Technikon or University is available.
Level of education
The majority of people in this area, 29%, only have grades 4-7 of education, which has a link to their employment status, which means, their level of education has an effect on the kind of skills they have for employment. This can be seen in the following table on employment status.
Table 3.4: Employment status
Employments tatus Frequency % Pre-School 283 13.4 Scholar 1110 52.5 Student 81 3.8 Unemployed 339 16.0 Housewife 125 5.9 Part Time 47 2.2 Full Time 49 2.3 Informal 16 0.8 Pension 48 2.3 Medically Unfit 16 0.8 Total 2114 100.0
What is of significance from this table is its confirmation of Figure 3.2 and actually indicating that income is derived from pension at 2.3%, which is equal to those who are in full time employment. There are 2.2% employed on a part time basis and in addition 0.8% are earning in the informal sector. The combination of this income at 5.3% shows that the surveyed population experiences high rates of unemployment. According to the White Paper for Social Welfare (1997) illiteracy and poverty are major obstacles. Female unemployment is higher than that of males.
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