Durban
Durban (
Zulu:
eThekwini (
IPA: ) is the second most populous city in
South Africa, forming part of the
metropolitan municipality of
eThekwini. It is the largest city in
KwaZulu-Natal. Durban is famous as the busiest
port in South Africa and a centre of
tourism due to the city's warm climate and
beaches. Durban is one of the most popular South African destinations for international
tourists.
Durban started as a small British settlement, but grew around its
sugar cane plantations. The large number of
Indian residents in the city, the descendants of
coolies brought to work on the plantations, gives the city a unique character. The city developed its tourism facilities, particularly during the
1970s which saw a
skyscraper construction boom along the beach front. During the
1980s and early
1990s, the region saw violent fighting between the
Inkatha Freedom Party and the
African National Congress, the two leading anti-
apartheid parties. Today, Durban remains a major tourism centre.
According to the
2001 Census, the city has a population of 3.2 million.
Durban's land area of 2,292 km² is comparatively larger than other South African cities, resulting in a comparatively lower population density of 1,460/km².
Durban is
twinned with
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil;
Eilat,
Israel; and
Leeds,
United Kingdom.
The first known inhabitants of the Durban area arrived from the north around
100,000 BC, according to
carbon dating of
rock art found in
caves in the
Drakensberg. These people were living in the central plains of KwaZulu-Natal until the
expansion of Bantu people from the north sometime during the last millennium. Little is known of the history of the first residents, as there is no written history of the area before it was first mentioned by
Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, who discovered the KwaZulu-Natal coast while searching for a route from Europe to India. He landed on the KwaZulu-Natal coast on
Christmas in
1497, and thus named the area "Natal", or Christmas in
Portuguese.
The modern city of Durban dates from
1824, when a party of 25 men under
British Lieutenant F. G. Farewell arrived from the
Cape Colony and established a settlement on the northern shore of the
Bay of Natal, near today's
Farewell Square. Accompanying Farewell was an adventurer named
Henry Fynn. Fynn was able to befriend the
Zulu King Shaka by helping him to recover from a stab wound he suffered in battle. As a token of Shaka's gratitude, he granted Fynn a "25-mile strip of coast a hundred miles in depth." During a meeting of 35 white residents in Fynn's territory on
June 23,
1835, it was decided to build a capital town and name it "d'Urban" after
Sir Benjamin d'Urban, then governor of the Cape Colony.
Voortrekkers established the
Republic of Natalia in
1838 just north of Durban, and established a capital at
Pietermaritzburg. Fierce conflict with the Zulu population led to the evacuation of Durban, and eventually the
Afrikaners accepted British annexation in
1844 under military pressure. A British governor was appointed to the region and many settlers emigrated from Europe and the Cape Colony. The British established a
sugar cane industry in the
1860s. Farm owners had a difficult time attracting Zulu labourers to work on their
plantations, so the British brought thousands of
indentured labourers from
India on five-year contracts. As a result of the importation of Indian labourers, Durban became the largest
Asian community in South Africa.
In 1948, the
National Party was elected on a platform of
racial segregation laws, which later came to be collectively known by the
Afrikaans word
apartheid. As a consequence of the
Group Areas Act, which classified all areas of the country and city according to race, formerly multi-racial suburbs were either purged of unlawful residents or destroyed. Many Zulu men migrated to
Johannesburg to work in
gold and
diamond mines, and a nominally-independent
homeland for Zulus,
KwaZulu, was established in
1977 around
Zululand. This created tension between the two largest anti-apartheid parties, the Zulu-dominated
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the
Xhosa-dominated
African National Congress (ANC).
Terrorism and
necklacing continued throughout the province in the
1980s as both parties competed for dominance. Political violence grew exponentially in the early
1990s during the downfall of the apartheid system. Large
massacres became frequent on both sides. Fortunately, the successful
multi-racial elections in
1994 eased tensions dramatically, particularly after the ANC made the IFP leader,
Mangosuthu Buthelezi, minister of Home Affairs.
Today, Durban is the busiest container
port in South Africa and a popular tourist destination. The
Golden Mile, developed as a welcoming tourist destination in the 1970s, as well as Durban at large, provide ample tourist attractions, particularly for people on vacation from Johannesburg. It lost its holiday pre-eminence to Cape Town in the 1990s, but it remains a popular location.
Election results
Election results for eThekwini in the
South African general election, 2004:
* Population 18 and over: 2 046 814 [66.24% of total population]
* Total votes: 978 383 [31.66% of total population]
* Voting % estimate: 47.80% votes as a % of population 18 and over
|
Geographical distribution of home languages in Durban. |
According to the
South African National Census of 2001, the population of Durban is 3,090,117 people, who live in 786,745 formal households, of which 68.9 percent have a flush or chemical
toilet, and 85.4 percent have
refuse removed by the municipality at least once a week. 72.0 percent of households use
electricity as the main source of energy. 16.1 percent of households are headed by one person.
s account for 68.30 percent of the population, followed by
Asians or Indians at 19.90 percent,
Whites at 8.98 percent, and
Coloureds at 2.82 percent. 48.9 percent of the population is under the age of 24, while 4.2 percent are over the age of 65. The median age in the city is 25 years old, and for every 100 females, there are 92.5 males. 27.9 percent of city residents are
unemployed. 88.6 percent of the unemployed are black, 18.3 percent are Coloureds, 8.2 percent are Asians or Indians, and 4.4 percent are White.
63.04 percent of Durban residents speak
Zulu at home, 29.96 percent speak
English, 3.43 percent speak
Xhosa, 1.44 percent speak
Afrikaans, 0.7 percent speak
Sesotho, 0.2 percent speak
Ndebele, 0.1 percent speaks
Sepedi, and 0.93 percent of the population speaks a non-official language at home. 68.0 percent of residents are
Christian, 15.5 percent have no religion, 11.3 percent are
Hindu, 3.2 percent are
Muslim, and 0.1 percent are
Jewish. 1.9 percent have other or undetermined beliefs.
10.0 percent of residents aged 20 and over have received no
schooling, 13.3 percent have had some
primary school, 5.7 percent have completed only primary school, 34.6 percent have had some
high school education, 26.8 percent have finished only high school, and 9.6 percent have an education higher than the high school level. Overall, 36.4 percent of residents have completed high school. The median annual income of working adults aged 15-65 is
ZAR 20,695. Males have a median annual income of ZAR 24,851 versus ZAR 16,927 for females.
 |
Central area of Durban |
* The
Golden Mile*
Suncoast Casino and Entertainment World* The Victoria Embankment (also known as The Esplanade) is home to many tourist sites.
* The
International Convention Centre (ICC) - the leading conference centre in Africa for the last 5 years, and rated 4th in the world in 2005.
* The Natal Playhouse Theatre Complex
* The local history museum
* The Maritime Museum.
* The BAT centre
* The Durban Art Gallery
* The NSA Gallery
* The African Art Centre
*
uShaka Marine World, one of the largest Aquariums in the world.
*
Sahara Stadium Kingsmead is a major
test match and
one-day cricket venue.
*
Kings Park Stadium (Now known as ABSA Stadium) is host to the Internationally renowned
Sharks Rugby Team.
* Botanical Gardens
* Umgeni Bird Park
Two major English-language daily newspapers are published in Durban, both part of the Independent Newspapers, the national group owned by Irish media magnate Tony O'Reilly. These are the morning editions of "The Natal Mercury" and the afternoon "Daily News". Like most newsmedia in South Africa, they have seen declining circulations in recent years. Major Zulu language papers comprise "Isolezwe" ( Independent Newspapers) and "Ilanga", the latter being seen to be politically aligned to the IFP. Independent Newspapers also publish "Post", a newspaper aimed largely at the so-called Indian community. A national Sunday paper, the "Sunday Tribune" is also published by Independent Newspapers as is the "Independent on Saturday".
A variety of free weekly suburban newspapers are published by the Caxton Group and there are numerous "community" newspapers, some of which are short lived and others which have had stable tenure.
A number of lifestyle magazines are published in Durban, some of which have national circulation. A major city initiative is MetroBeat magazine, a colour publication which is sent to some 400 000 households monthly with a readership of over 1.6 million. As a local government publication, it is a unique initiative and rates in the top ten consumer publications in South Africa as far as circulation is concerned.
A major english language radio staion, East Coast Radio, operates out of Durban and is owned by SA media giant Kagiso. It is seen as very supportive of the city in general and has wide listenership. The national broadcaster, the SABC, has regional offices in Durban and operates two major stations here, the Zulu language "Ukhozi FM" with a huge national listenership of over 5 million, and Radio Lotus, aimed at "Indian" listeners. The other SABC national stations have smaller regional offices here, as does TV for news links and sports broadcasts. There are a number of smaller stations which are independent, having been granted licences by ICASA, the national agency charged with the issue of broadcast licences.
Although advertising agencies and communications companies here are smaller than in Gauteng province, where most national corporate head offices are located, there is a full complement of services on offer to support retail trade and other sectors of the marketplace.
Durban is home to two
rugby union teams, the
Natal Sharks, who compete in the domestic
Currie Cup competition, and the
Sharks, who compete in the international
Super 14 competition. Both teams play out of
Kings Park Stadium.
Durban is one of cities of
2010 FIFA World Cup. The stadium has not been built yet. On
January 29,
2006, Durban hosted a race in
A1 Grand Prix, driven on a street track. It is rumoured that Durban will bid for the
2018 Commonwealth Games.
AirDurban International Airport services both domestic and international flights, with regularly-scheduled service to
Swaziland,
Mozambique, and
Mauritius. The airport handled four million passengers in 2005, up over 15 percent from 2004. Plans are at an advanced stage for the construction of a new airport, to be known as
King Shaka International Airport, at
La Mercy, about 36
kilometres north of the
Central Business District, and 15 kilometres north of
Umhlanga Rocks.
The airport serves as a major gateway for travellers to KwaZulu-Natal and the
Drakensberg.
;SeaDurban has a long tradition as a
port city. The
Port of Durban, which was formally known as the Port of Natal, is one of the few natural
harbours between
Port Elizabeth and
Maputo, and is also located at the beginning of a particular weather phenomenon which can cause extremely violent seas. These two features made Durban an extremely busy port of call for ship repairs when the port was opened in the
1840s. The Port of Durban is now the busiest
port in South Africa, as well as the busiest
container port in the
Southern Hemisphere.
The modern Port of Durban grew around trade from
Johannesburg, as the industrial and mining capital of South Africa is not located on any navigable body of water. Thus, products being shipped from Johannesburg outside of South Africa have to be loaded onto
trucks or
railways and transported to Durban. The Port of Maputo was unavailable for use until the early
1990s due to
civil war and an
embargo against South African products. There is now an intense rivalry between Durban and Maputo for shipping business.
Salisbury Island, part of the Port of Durban, was formerly a full
naval base until it was downgraded in 2002. It now contains a naval station and other military facilities. The future of the base, however, is uncertain, as there is increasing demand to use Salisbury Island as part of the port facilities.
;RailDurban is well-served by
railways due to its role as the largest trans-shipment point for goods from the interior of South Africa.
Shosholoza Meyl, the passenger rail service of
Spoornet, operates two long-distance passenger rail services from Durban: a daily service to and from Johannesburg via
Pietermaritzburg, and a weekly service to and from
Cape Town via
Kimberley and
Bloemfontein. These trains terminate at
Durban Railway Station.
Metrorail operates a
commuter rail service in Durban and the surrounding area. The Metrorail network runs from Durban Station outwards as far as
Stanger on the north coast,
Kelso on the south coast, and
Cato Ridge inland.
;RoadsOne
national road starts in Durban and one passes through it: The
N2, which links Durban with
Ermelo,
East London, and
Port Elizabeth before ending in
Cape Town; and the
N3, the busiest national road in South Africa, which links Durban with
Johannesburg. The N3 is particularly important as goods are moved by truck from Johannesburg to be shipped out of the Port of Durban. The N3 starts in the Central Business District, and interchanges with the N2 at the Westville Four-Level Interchange, officially known as the E. B. Cloete Interchange, which is informally nicknamed the
Spaghetti Junction due to the complicated nature of the interchange. The N2 runs through the entire city from north to south, and is known locally as the "
Outer Ring Road".
Durban also has a system of
freeway and
dual carriageway M-roads, which connect different parts of the city. The
M4 exists in two segments: The northern segment starts at
Umdloti Beachâ€"where it separates from the N2â€"passing through
Umhlanga Rocks, and ending at the northern side of the CBD. The southern segment of the M4 starts at the southern side of the CBD, connecting it with Durban International Airport, before reconnecting with the N2. The
M7 connects the N2 and the
Durban South Industrial Basin with the N3 and
Pinetown via
Queensburgh. The
M19 connects the N2 with Pinetown via
Westville. The M13 acts as an alternative to the N3, which is tolled at Mariannhill, as well as feeds traffic through
Gillitts,
Kloof, and
Westville.
;Buses
Remant Alton, which bought the recently privatised
eThekwini Municipal Bus Company, operates scheduled bus services throughout the Durban metropolitan area. Several companies run long-distance bus services from Durban to the other cities in South Africa.
;TaxisDurban has two kinds of taxis:
metered taxis and
minibus taxis. Unlike many cities, metered taxis are not allowed to drive around the city to solicit fares and instead must be called and ordered to a specific location.
Minibus taxis are the standard form of transport for the majority of the population who cannot afford private cars.
Although essential, these taxis are often poorly maintained, and are frequently not road-worthy. These taxis make frequent unscheduled stops to pick up passengers, which cause accidents when drivers to the rear are unable to stop in time.
With the high demand for transport by the working class of South Africa, minibus taxis are often filled over their legal passenger allowance, making for high casualty rates when minibuses are involved in accidents. Minibuses are generally owned and operated in fleets, and inter-operator violence flares up from time to time, especially as
turf wars over lucrative taxi routes occur.
;RickshawsDurban is also famous for its iconic
Zulu Rickshaw pullers navigating throughout the city. These colourful characters are famous for their giant, vibrant hats and costumes. although they have been a mode of transportation since the early 1900's, they mostly cater to
tourists.
Main article: List of Durban suburbs
Private schools
*
Al-Falaah College*
Clifton School*
Crawford College Durban*
Crawford College La Lucia*
Crawford College Northcoast*
Durban Girls' College*
Highbury Preparatory School*
Hillcrest Christian Academy*
Kearsney College*
St Henry's Marist Brothers' College*
Maris Stella School*
Orient Islamic School*
St. Mary's D.S.G.*
Thomas More CollegePublic schools
*
Bonela Primary School*
Carrington Primary School*
Durban High School*
Durban North College*
George Campbell School of Technology*
Glenwood Boys' High School*
Hillcrest High School*
Kloof High School*
Mowat Park High School*
New Forest High School*
Northwood School*
Pinetown Boys' High School*
Ridge Park College*
Westville Boys' High School*
Wingen Heights Secondary SchoolTertiary institutions
*
Durban University of Technology*
University of KwaZulu-Natal*
Municipal Demarcation Board*
Stats SA Census 2001 page*
Independent Electoral Commission 2004 election results*
Official Durban city website*
Durban harbour*
Google Maps*
durbanscouts.za.net Events, culture, news and information from Durban*
Hotels in Durban
