With the advent of these two innovations, the speed of communication surged by leaps and bounds. The first to make its mark was the telegraph in 1861 which enabled long distance communication for the first time albeit in written form. Nonetheless the telegraph reduced the speed of transmission of a message to Cape Town from a week to several minutes. The introduction of the telephone in 1882 to the residents of Port Elizabeth would initially only benefit the local residents but that drawback too would be overcome when inter town telephone lines were laid.

Main picture: South Africa’s first telephone exchange switchboard was installed in Port Elizabeth during 1882. The telephone exchange was later transferred to Queenstown in the 1920s or ’30s, and was in use there until 1979.

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