Port St. Johns

Port St. Johns (or Port Saint Johns) in Transkei, is a town of about 5000 people on the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated at the mouth of the Umzimvubu River, 220 kilometres (140 mi) northeast of East London and 70 kilometres (40 mi) east of Mthatha.

This town is thought to have been named after a Portuguese ship (the São João), which was actually wrecked at Port Edward. Later seafarers mistakenly identified the mouth of the Umzimvubu River as the site of this wreck.

The town was established in the 1880s by the British, after negotiations with local Pondo chiefs for rights to the banks of the river and adjacent territories. The river mouth was used as a port, however this activity was abandoned in the 1940s due to siltation, which caused the river to become too shallow for vessels.

These stamps and the special cover were issued to commemorate the establishment of Port St. Johns by the British. The stamps were released on 6.2.1986 at Port St. Johns.

The 12c stamp depicts a street scene during the early days of this port. The 20c stamp shows a picture of the coaster “Umzimvubu”. The 25c stamp depicts wagons off-loading at the jetty. And, finally the 30c stamp gives a lovely view of the town as it looked like at the end of the 1800’s.

Thank you Maria for this lovely FDC.