Barkly East (Afrikaans: Barkly-Oos) is a town in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, seat of the Joe Gqabi District Municipality, and 117 km by road E.S.E. of Aliwal North, lying in the mountainous area just south of Lesotho. The town lies at the southern tip of the Drakensberg on the Langkloofspruit, a tributary of the Kraai River which, in turn is a tributary of the Orange River at an elevation of 1 790 meter (5 873 foot) above sealevel. Barkly East is characterized by rugged mountains and green valleys. Snow falls in winter, and the hamlet of Rhodes is 60 km or an hour's drive from Barkly East on the R396. Both are within the boundaries of the Senqu Local Municipality. It has been one of the few areas in South Africa where winter sports are pursued, and in summer fly fishing for Rainbow trout and indigenous Smallmouth yellowfish, trail running, mountain biking, ancient rock-art, tennis and the magnificent scenery draw tourists to the district. A recent development is the mountainous terrain attracting off-road bikers who revel in traversing the numerous passes in the area. Even more recent is the opening of the winter fly fishing season on Wild Trout Association waters around Barkly East, Lady Grey, Rhodes and Wartrail. ulutsha luyaphela yi 777 Xhosa and Afrikaans are spoken by most of the inhabitants, while English and some Sotho are also spoken. The primary economic base of the district is sheep-farming, the pasturage being excellent. History Like Barkly West, the town is named after Sir Henry Barkly, governor of the Cape Colony from 1870 to 1877. On 14 December 1874 the then-Governor, Sir Henry Barkly proclaimed that a town could split from Wodehouse. Among the first families that settled in Barkly East were the Nels, Bothas, Oliviers, Murrays, Smits, Sephtons, Giddys, Isteds, Orpens, Nortons, Greyvensteins, Stapelbergs, Vorsters and the Jouberts and Cloetes of Constantia. But it was a Mr HS Nel who was the first white person that settled in this area. Mary Edith Robertson was the first woman to be elected the town's deputy mayor for two years and in 1988 she was the first citizen to be awarded the Freedom of the Town for her services to the community. She was the also the first woman town councilor in the Barkly East history and held this post for eight years. The area is well known for excellent trout