Idutywa is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, near Butterworth.
Idutywa became a municipality in 1913, after being established as a town in 1884. Idutywa today falls under the control of the Mbhashe Local Municipality and the Amatole District Municipality.
Idutywa is an isiXhosa name, meaning "Place of Disorder", because of tribal wars that took place in the Idutywa area.
The N2 road leading to Idutywa and down the Wild Coast, about 100km inland from the coast, is tarred and in very good condition. But the secondary and terciary roads in the Idutywa area are mostly in poor condition. The poor roads hamper development in the area, but ensures that Idutywa remains a quiet, unspoilt region.
The Desa Nature Reserve and the Cwebe Nature Reserve are both accessed from Idutywa. The road to Desa Nature Reserve leads from Idutywa to Qora Mouth and the resort of Kob Inn, with the turn-off to the north just before Kob Inn. The road is in poor condition, with sudden, teeth-rattling gullies across the road in some places. Cwebe is only a few kilometres away from the Desa Nature Reserve, but to get there requires a long detour, because the winding Mbashe River can only be crossed in a few places.
Many inhabitants of Idutywa came to live in or near the town after being forced to move away from the big cities to the "homeland areas" of the apartheid era.
President Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki was born in Idutywa on 18 June 1942, as one of four children born to Govan and Epainette Mbeki (née Moerane).
Govan and Epainette came to live in Mbewuleni, in the Idutywa district, after meeting and getting married in Durban, where they both worked as school teachers. The Mbeki family earned a livelyhood from the trading store they established near Idutywa.
