Category: Towns

Mseleni is a small settlement in Umhlabuyalingana Maputaland, northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is situated not far away from the small town of Mbazwana. It is divided into 2 small izigodi namely KwaJobe and KwaNhlamvu, ruled under the Authority of Nkosi J Nxumalo of Mabaso Tribal Authority. Mseleni Hospital is a 184-bed hospital which is split into 6 wards (labour, female surgical, paediatrics, male, female medical and isolation wards). The hospital runs 8 clinics in a catchment area of 100 km x 30 km, with a population of about 12. It has an outpatients’ department, therapy department, a radiography department with x-ray and ultrasound machines, a pharmacy and a laboratory. Education is provided by Mseleni Lower Primary School, New Era School, Mzila School, Zenzeleni High School and Justice Nxumalo Technical High School which was named after Nkosi Justice Nxumalo of the Mabaso Tribal Authority. The local community development co-operative, Vuka Mabaso, provides a community hall, small business premises, market, library, and Internet café and computer training centre. Mseleni Children’s Home, provides a place of safety and education for around 30 children. Based at the Children’s Home, the AIDS orphan support programme Lulisandla Kumntwana (reach out to the child) is a church-based programme providing support to around 3000 orphans. Mseleni Children’s Home is a project of Serving In Mission. Mseleni is 3 km from Lake Sibhayi, a well known lake to everyone who grew up at Mseleni and to every young child living there, and it is 35 km from Sodwana Bay, a popular tourist destination. Source: Mseleni – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ingwavuma is a town in the Umkhanyakude District Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. It is unclear where the name of the town came from; one theory is that it was named after the Ngwavuma River while another is that there was a leader called Vuma, the name then meaning “Vuma’s place” in Zulu. Trees found on the river bank are also named Ngwavuma (Elaeodendron transvaalense or Bushveld Saffron) but it is unclear which entity was named after which (person, river, town or trees). It is over 700 metres above sea level in the Lebombo Mountains and boasts several highly scenic spots. The town is three kilometres from the country’s border with Swaziland and overlooks the plains of Maputaland to the East. It falls within the Mngomezulu Tribal Authority. History Zulu king Dingane was assassinated and buried in the nearby Hlatikhulu Forest in 1840. Ingwavuma was founded by Sir Charles Saunders of Eshowe in 1895 as a magistracy for the Ngwavuma region. During the Second Boer War in 1899 the settlement was razed to the ground by a Boer commando under the command of Joachim Ferrera. The serving magistrate, B. Colenbrander, escaped with his staff to the flats below and eventually found his way to Ubombo. Ingwavuma remained desolate until 1900 when it was re-established and the magistrate returned. In the 1980s the Apartheid government planned to transfer the town and surrounding magisterial district to Swaziland as part of a land deal to give Swaziland access to the sea. This move was opposed by the then KwaZulu government and the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelethini established a residence near the town. The transfer was never executed. The surviving historic buildings of the town include the residency (now the municipal buildings), the police station and the Old Gaol Building. HIV/AIDS The Ingwavuma Area has been decimated by HIV/AIDS since the 1990s. In 2002, in Jozini municipality, 57% of people were less than 19 years of age, one third of adults were thought to be HIV positive with uninfected adults having a 3% chance of contracting HIV in any particular year. Several Non-Governmental Organisations are addressing the problems caused by HIV/AIDS, led by Ingwavuma Orphan Care. A mobile voluntary counseling and testing unit (VCT) was started in 2008 by Ingwavuma Orphan Care. It tests around 5000 people a year, with its focus on youth. It found a prevalence rate of 8% among males and 18% among females. While antiretroviral treatment is now available through the government, there are already thousands of orphans who require support. The majority of these are cared for by their extended family with support from churches, NGOs and the government. Source: Ingwavuma – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Margate is a seaside resort town on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, just about 20 kilometres southwest of Port Shepstone. The river which flows into the sea at Margate is called “Nkhongweni” (place of entreaty) because the original inhabitants were reputed to be so mean that travellers had to beg for hospitality. In 1908, Henry Richardson, an English surveyor laid out the town and named it Margate after another seaside resort on the northern coast of the county of Kent, in the United Kingdom. It features attractive Blue Flag Beaches for swimming, snorkelling, and surfing. Many apartment buildings offer accommodation for residents and visitors. Complemented by a cosy shopping street and many restaurants, pubs, and nightclubs, Margate is a spot where many South Africans and foreign visitors spend their vacation. Margate is busiest during school and public holidays when inland residents travel to the coast. Christmas and Easter are especially busy times, with Margate’s main street often clogged with heavy traffic during these times. Margate hit the world headlines in 1922 (although this date is often disputed and stated as 1924) when an enormous, white, furry creature (dubbed “Trunko” due to it having an elephantine trunk) was washed up on the beach. Unfortunately the “Margate monster” was too decomposed to be identified accurately. Source: Margate, KwaZulu-Natal – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Manguzi or kwaNgwanase (formerly Kosi Bay town) is a rural community in Umkhanyakude District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. It is located some 15 km south of the Mozambique-South Africa border, and is situated near Kosi Bay. Healthcare Manguzi Hospital, founded by the Methodist Church in 1948, is a 280 bed District (level 1) hospital, managed by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health. Source: Kwangwanase – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ladysmith is a city in the Uthukela District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is 230 kilometres (140 mi) north-west of Durban and 365 kilometres (227 mi) south of Johannesburg. Important industries in the area include food processing, textile and tyre production. Tyres are produced by Dunlop in the nearby town of Steadville. It is also home to “The Plunger of Berea”(Formerly known as Dilona Somai) Ladysmith is the seat for both the Emnambithi-Ladysmith Local Municipality and the Uthukela District Municipality. History In 1847 after buying land from the Zulu king Mpande, a number of Boers settled in the area and called it the Republic of Klip River with Andries Spies as their commandant. The republic was annexed by the British in the same year and on 20 June 1850 was proclaimed a township called Windsor. On 11 October 1850 the name was changed to Ladysmith after Juana María de los Dolores de León Smith also known as “Lady Smith,” the Spanish wife of Sir Harry Smith, the Governor of the Cape Colony. Sir Harry Smith was the British general governor of Cape Colony and high commissioner in South Africa from 1847 to 1852. A fort was built in 1860 to protect the villagers from the Zulu. The Second Boer War Battle of Ladysmith During the Second Boer War British commander Lieutenant General Sir George White made Ladysmith his centre of operations for the protection of Natal against the Boer forces. Starting on 29 October 1899 a number of short lived battles were fought for control of the town, but after suffering heavy casualties the British forces retreated to Ladysmith and the Boer forces did not make use of the opportunity to follow up the attack and take control of the town. Siege of Ladysmith Following the Battle of Ladysmith, whilst British forces under Lieutenant General Sir George White regrouped in the town, Boer forces surrounded Ladysmith. The siege lasted 118 days, from 2 November 1899 to 28 February 1900, during the most crucial stage of the war. Approximately 3,000 British soldiers died during the siege. Relief of Ladysmith Three attempts by General Sir Redvers Buller to break the siege resulted in defeat for the British forces at the battles of Colenso, Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz. On 6 January 1900 the Boer forces of Commandant-General Piet Joubert attempted to end the siege by taking the town before the British could launch another attempt to break the siege. This led to the battle of Platrand (or Wagon Hill) south of the town. Buller finally broke the siege on 28 February 1900 after defeating the Boers by using close cooperation between his infantry and artillery. Sir Winston Churchill, then a young war correspondent for The Morning Post (London), was present at the Relief of Ladysmith after having been taken prisoner (between Ladysmith and Colenso) and escaping earlier during the war. Mohandas Gandhi and the stretcher-bearing corps that he established earlier during the war was involved in a number of actions that took place in and around Ladysmith during the Relief. Geography Ladysmith is located on the banks of the Klip River (“stone river”), with the central business district and a large part of the residential areas located within the flood basin of the river. It is on the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains, about 26 km from the Van Reenen pass. Flooding Since it was established the town has suffered severely from flooding of the Klip River. During the 110 years up to 1997 with the completion of the Qedusizi Dam, 29 serious floods have occurred. Minor flooding occurred almost every year. The worst flooding in 30 years occurred in 1996 leading to R500 million in damages and the evacuation of 400 families. Efforts to control the flooding date back to the 1940s. In 1949 the Windsor Dam was completed, but this dam silted up very fast and was not an effective means of flood control. Climate Ladysmith has a subtropical highland climate (Cwb, according to the Köppen climate classification), with warm summers and cool, dry winters. It borders on a humid subtropical climate (Cwa). The average annual precipitation is 639 mm (25 in), with most rainfall occurring mainly during summer. Society and culture Media The only sold local newspaper in Ladysmith is the Ladysmith Gazette. The Ladysmith Gazette is just over a century old, and is believed to have been established in 1902. The Ladysmith Gazette is part of the Caxton Group of newspapers. One of two free local newspapers is the Ladysmith Herald. The other free newspaper is the Times of Ladysmith. Museums, monuments and memorials The Second Boer War A large number of the Second Boer War Battlefields around Ladysmith have been preserved as memorial sites. Monuments and memorials to those who died during the battles have been erected at most of them. Siege museum Located next to the town hall there is a small museum detailing the battles and history at the time of the Siege. The museum was opened in 1985 and holds around 60,000 documents related to the Siege and Boer War. Platrand/Wagon Hill Located just south of the town, this area saw action during the Relief of Ladysmith. The Burgher Memorial on Wagon Hill was erected in honour of Boer forces killed during the siege and relief of Ladysmith. On Platrand these is a memorial to the Imperial Light Horse, the Devonshire Regiment, the Earl of Ava and a number of others. Castor and Pollux Two RML 6.3 inch Howitzers used by the British during the Siege stand in front of the Town Hall. Mohandas Gandhi statue A statue of Mohandas Gandhi can be seen at the Lord Vishnu Temple. Music Ladysmith is the hometown of Joseph Shabalala, founder of the group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Source: Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Howick is a town located in the uMgungundlovu District of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. The town is 1050 m above sea level, and about 88 kilometres from the port city of Durban. It enjoys warm summers and cool dry winters. A snappy chill descends upon Howick when snow falls on the nearby Drakensberg. The town is located on the N3 freeway, connecting it with the rest of South Africa. The town is the location of Howick Falls, which is a large waterfall that occurs when the Umgeni River falls 95 metres (311 feet) over dolerite cliffs on its way to the Indian Ocean. The waterfall was known as kwaNogqaza or “The Place of the Tall One” by the original Zulu inhabitants. There are several other waterfalls in the vicinity and all of them have claimed human lives. Near Howick are Cascade Falls (25 m) and Shelter Falls (37 m), while Karkloof Falls (105 m) is 16 km to the east. There are also a number of schools in Howick, including Howick High School. History During the 1840s travellers moving north from Pietermaritzburg crossed the Umgeni River just west of present day Howick at the Alleman’s Drift. In 1849, the Wesleyan Missionary James Archbell bought three farms above the northern bank of the Umgeni River. Title deeds of the original plots simply named the area “The Village on the Umgeni Waterfall”. In 1850, the river crossing was moved to the dangerous but more convenient spot at the top of the Falls. This was less than 200 metres from where the river plunged over the cliff’s edge. It was a treacherous spot, and many travellers and wagons were swept over the falls. With the increase in traffic to the north, the Government decided to establish a village at the crossing, and purchased part of James Archbell’s farm. In November 1850, a proclamation appeared in the Natal Government Gazette, offering 36 village allotments on the Umgeni Waterfall Drift for sale. This marked the beginning of the town. In choosing a name for the new town, Government officials decided to honour their Secretary of State for the Colonies in London. He was Earl Grey, and had recently acquired the title of Lord Howick. The name derived from his ancestral home of Howick Hall in Northumberland, England. Two other towns were named “Howick” at the same time: one in New Zealand, and the other in Ontario, Canada. During the Anglo-Boer War from 1899 to 1902, the British established a concentration camp on the outskirts of the village. A monument to the women and children who died during their incarceration in the camp marks the location. A little known fact about Howick (and nearby Karkloof) is that it is possibly the location of the first manned flight in the world.  Evidence exists that a John Goodman Household flew a self made glider in 1871 and again in 1875 on the outskirts of Howick, close to Karkloof. The actual distance flown and altitude achieved differs from source to source (some sources say the distance was 80 metres) but what can be verified is that the distance flown was further, and the duration also longer, than either of the flights made by Lilienthal or the Wright brothers. Today there exists a memorial to Household’s achievement at Curry’s Post, also a small distance outside Howick. The Umgeni Valley Ranch or Nature Reserve was established in the 1970s on the then outskirts of Howick by the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa(WESSA). The nature reserve consists largely of the deep valley cut by the Mngeni River below the Howick Falls into the surrounding sandstone. WESSA reintroduced game into the area, such as zebra and wildebeest (gnu), and established a number of huts for overnight accommodation. In December 1996 Nelson Mandela was awarded “The Freedom of Howick”. This followed his arrest some 34 years before, on 5 August 1962, on the main Durban-Johannesburg road, as it was then — more particularly, between Howick and Lidgetton West. A small monument showing the site where he was arrested by the Security Police may be seen on the southern road side of the R102 in a dip in the road. In recent years Howick has expanded significantly following the establishment of a number of major retirement villages, such as Amberfield, Amberglen, Amber Valley, Amber Ridge and Amber Lakes, that flank the Karkloof Falls Road. Source: Howick, KwaZulu-Natal – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia