Herschel, Eastern Cape

Province

Herschel is a village in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province. It is located in the municipality Senqu Joe Gqabi district.

The town is located 19 km north of Lady Grey, east of Aliwal North and near the border with Lesotho. In 2011, he had 2,189 inhabitants. It was founded in 1879 and named after the astronomer Sir John Herschel, who lived in the Cape Colony 1834-1838. Until 1994, it was located in a enclave of the nominally independent homelands Transkei.

Herschel is on the road R392 that connects Lady Grey with Sterkspruit.

Personalities

• Zakes Mda ( b. 1948 ), South African author and playwright, was born in Herschel