Joe Gqabi District Municipality is one of the seven districts of Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The seat of Joe Gqabi is Barkly East. The majority of its 349,768 people speak IsiXhosa (2011 census). Before 1 February 2010 it was known as the Ukhahlamba District Municipality; its name was changed in recognition of Joe Nzingo Gqabi (1929–1981), an African National Congress member who was a journalist for the New Age, a member of the Umkhonto we Sizwe, and one of the Pretoria Twelve.