- Maputo Province, Mozambique (far northeast)
- Lubombo District, Swaziland (northeast, east of Shiselweni)
- Shiselweni District, Swaziland (northeast, west of Lubombo)
- Mokhotlong District, Lesotho (southwest, north of Thaba-Tseka)
- Thaba-Tseka District, Lesotho (southwest, between Mokhotlong and Qacha's Nek)
- Qacha's Nek District, Lesotho (southwest, south of Thaba-Tseka)
- Mpumalanga (north)
- Free State (west)
- Eastern Cape (southwest)
KwaZulu-Natal (/kwɑːˌzuːluː nəˈtɑːl/;
also referred to as KZN and known as
"the garden province") is a province of South Africathat was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were
merged. It is located in the southeast of the country, enjoying a long
shoreline beside the Indian Ocean and
sharing borders with three other provinces and the countries of Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho. Its capital is Pietermaritzburg and
its largest city is Durban.
It is the 2nd most populous province in South Africa, with slightly fewer
residents than Gauteng.
During
the 1830s and early 1840s, the northern part of what is now KwaZulu-Natal was
occupied by the Zulu
Kingdom while the southern part was, briefly, the Boer republic of Natalia before
becoming, in 1843, the British Colony of Natal.
KwaZulu remained independent until 1879.
KwaZulu-Natal
is the birthplace of many notable figures in South Africa's history, such
as Albert Luthuli,
the first non-white and the first person from outside Europe and the Americas
to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1960); Pixley ka Isaka Seme,
the founder of the African
National Congress (ANC) and South Africa's first black lawyer; John
Langalibalele Dube, the ANC's founding president; Mangosuthu Buthelezi,
the founder of the Inkatha Freedom
Party (IFP); Anton Lembede, the
founding president of the ANC Youth League; Jacob Zuma, the
current President
of South Africa; and Bhambatha,
a 19th-century Zulu chief who became an anti-apartheid icon.
Two
areas in KwaZulu-Natal have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites:
the iSimangaliso
Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba
Drakensberg Park.
Geography
At
around 92,100 km2 in area,
KwaZulu-Natal is roughly the size of Portugal. It has three
different geographic areas. The lowland region along the
Indian Ocean coast is extremely narrow in the south, widening in the northern
part of the province, while the central Natal Midlands consists
of an undulating hilly plateau rising
toward the west. Two mountainous areas, the western Drakensberg Mountains and
northern Lebombo
Mountains form, respectively, a solid basalt wall rising over
3,000 m (9,800 ft) beside Lesotho border and low parallel ranges of
ancient granite running
southward from Swaziland. The area's largest river, the Tugela, flows west to
east across the center of the province.
The
coastal regions typically have subtropical thickets
and deeper ravines; steep slopes host some Afromontane
Forest. The midlands have moist grasslands and isolated pockets of
Afromontane Forest. The north has a primarily moist savanna habitat, whilst
the Drakensberg region hosts mostly alpine grassland.
The
province contains rich areas of biodiversity of a range of flora and fauna.
The iSimangaliso
Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba
Drakensberg Park have been declared UNESCOWorld Heritage Sites.
The iSimangaliso Wetland Park, along with uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park and
Ndumo, are wetlands of
international importance for migratory species,
and are designated as Ramsar
sites. South Africa signed the 1971 Ramsar Convention to try to conserve
and protect important wetlands because of their importance to habitats and
numerous species.
The
former Eastern Cape enclave of the town
of Umzimkulu and
its hinterland have been incorporated into KwaZulu-Natal following the 12th
amendment of the Constitution
of South Africa. The amendment also made other changes to the southern
border of the province.
The northwesterly line of equal latitude and longitude traverses the
province from the coast at Hibberdene (30°34′35″S 30°34′35″E)
to northeast Lesotho.
Climate
KwaZulu-Natal
has a varied yet verdant climate thanks to diverse, complex topography.
Generally, the coast is subtropical with
inland regions becoming progressively colder. Durban on the south coast
has an annual rainfall of 1009 mm, with daytime maxima peaking from
January to March at 28 °C (82 °F) with a minimum of 21 °C
(70 °F), dropping to daytime highs from June to August of 23 °C
(73 °F) with a minimum of 11 °C (52 °F). Temperature drops
towards the hinterland, with Pietermaritzburg being
similar in the summer, but much cooler in the winter. Ladysmith in
the Tugela River Valley reaches 30 °C (86 °F) in the summer, but may
drop below freezing point on winter evenings. The Drakensberg can experience
heavy winter snow, with light snow occasionally experienced on the highest
peaks in summer. The Zululand north coast has the warmest climate and highest
humidity, supporting many sugar cane farms
around Pongola.
Borders
KwaZulu-Natal
borders the following areas of Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho:
Domestically,
it borders the following provinces:
Municipal structure
KwaZulu-Natal
is divided into eleven districts.
One of these, eThekwini (Durban and surrounding
area), is a metropolitan
municipality and the other ten are district
municipalities. The local seat of each district municipality is given in
parentheses. In 2012, the Ingonyama Trust owns
32% of the land in KwaZulu-Natal, in many municipalities. This amounts to
about three million hectares, occupied by over 4 million people. The Zulu king
is the chairman of the Trust.
Coastline
The
coastline is dotted with small towns, many of which serve as seasonal
recreational hubs. The climate of the coastal areas is humid and subtropical,
comparable to southern Florida in the United States, but not quite as hot and
rainy in the summer. As one moves further north up the coast towards the
border of Mozambique, the climate becomes almost purely tropical. North of
Durban is locally referred to as "The
North Coast", while south is "The
South Coast". The Kwazulu-Natal
Tourist board includes towns such as Margate, Port Shepstone, Scottburghand Port Edward in
its definition of the South Coast, while Ballito, Umhlanga and Salt Rock are North
Coast resort towns.
Beaches
of world-class quality are to be found along virtually every part of South
Africa's eastern seaboard, with some of the least-developed gems found in the
far southern and far northern ends of the province. Marina Beach (and its
adjoining resort San Lameer) was recognised in 2002 as a Blue Flag beach.
Some
visitors come for the annual late autumn or early winter phenomenon on the
KwaZulu-Natal coast of the "sardine run".
Referred to as "the greatest shoal on earth", the sardine run occurs
when millions of sardines migrate
from their spawning grounds
south of the southern tip of Africa northward along the Eastern Cape coastline
toward KwaZulu-Natal. They follow a route close inshore, often resulting in
many fish washing up on beaches. The huge shoal of tiny fish can stretch for
many kilometres; it is preyed upon by thousands of predators, including game fish, sharks, dolphins and seabirds. Usually the shoals
break up and the fish disappear into deeper water around Durban. Scientists
have been unable to answer many questions surrounding this exceptional
seasonal event.
Interior
The
interior of the province consists largely of rolling hills from the Valley of a
Thousand Hills to the Midlands.
Their beauty has inspired literature. Alan Paton, in the
novel Cry, the Beloved Country, wrote:
There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered
and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it. The road climbs
seven miles (11 km) into them, to Carisbrooke; and from there, if there is no
mist, you look down on one of the fairest valleys of Africa. About you there
is grass and bracken and you may hear the forlorn crying of the titihoya,
one of the birds of the veld. Below you is the valley of the Umzimkulu, on its journey
from the Drakensberg to the sea; and beyond and behind the river, great hill
after great hill; and beyond and behind them, the mountains of Ingeli
and Griqualand East.
History
The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama saw
the coast of Natal on Christmas Day 1497. Natal is
the Portuguese word
for Christmas which gave rise to the European name for the region. The area
was occupied centuries ago by the Nguni branch of
the Bantu.
The
first European settlers, mostly British, established Port Natal, a trading
post. They made almost no attempt to develop the interior, whose inhabitants
had been decimated by
the Zulu chief Shaka (Chaka). The Afrikaner Voortrekkers entered
the area via the Drakensberg passes
in 1837. These Afrikaners defeated the Zulus at the Battle of Blood
River in 1838 and thereafter established the Republic of Natal. Thus,
the territory was once part of a short-lived Boer
republic between 1839 and 1843 until its annexation by Britain. Many
Afrikaner inhabitants left for the interior after the annexation and were
replaced by immigrants, mainly from Britain. From 1860 onward, increasing
numbers of Indians were brought in by the British mainly to work in the sugar
plantations on the coast. The colony acquired Zululand (the area north of the
Tugela River) after the Zulu War of 1879. The lands north of the Buffalo River
were added in 1902. Boer forces
entered the area during the South African War (1899 to 1902) – also known
as the second Boer War –
and laid siege to Ladysmith.
They failed to build on their initial advantage and for three months the line
between the opposing forces followed the course of the Tugela River. In 1910,
the colony became a province of the Union of South Africa and in 1961 of the
Republic of South Africa.
When
the homeland of
KwaZulu, which means "Place of the Zulu" was re-incorporated into
the Natal province after the end of apartheid in 1994, the
province of Natal, which had existed between 1910 and 1994, was renamed
KwaZulu-Natal. The province is home to the Zulu monarchy; the majority
population and language of the province is Zulu. It is the only province in
South Africa that has the name of its dominant ethnic group as part of its
name.
Provincial coat of arms
The
lion and wildebeest supporters are symbols
of, respectively, KwaZulu and Natal, the regions joined to create
KwaZulu-Natal. The zig-zag stripe represents the Drakensberg and the
star the Zulu myth that
the Zulu people are "star people" ("people of heaven").
The strelitzia flower
on the shield symbolizes the province's beauty, while the assegai and knobkierrie behind
the shield represent protection and peace. The base of the crown element is
a type of headdress traditionally worn by Zulu elders that represents wisdom
and maturity; the element itself is a Zulu-style grass hut. The motto is Masisukume Sakhe, Zulu for "Let us stand
up and build".
Law and government
Provincial government
KwaZulu-Natal's
provincial government sits in Pietermaritzburg.
The foundation stone of the new legislative building was laid on 21 June 1887,
to commemorate Queen
Victoria's Golden Jubilee. The building was completed two years later. On
25 April 1889, the Governor of Natal, Sir Arthur Havelock,
opened the first Legislative Council session in the new building.
This
was the former site of St Mary's Church, built in the 1860s. The congregation
built a new church in 1884 at the corner of Burger Street and Commercial Road.
The old building was demolished in 1887 to provide space for the legislative
complex.
When
governance was granted to Natal in 1893, the new Legislative Assembly took
over the chamber used by the Legislative Council since 1889. Further
extensions to the parliamentary building were made. The building was
unoccupied until 1902, when it was used without being officially opened, due
to the country's being engulfed in the Anglo-Boer war. The
war forced the Legislative Assembly to move the venue of its sittings, as its
chamber was used as a military hospital.
The
Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council buildings have both been
protected as provincial
landmarks. They formed a colonial Parliament of two houses: a Council of
11 nominated members and an Assembly of 37 elected members. The Natal
Parliament was disbanded in 1910 when the Union of South Africa was formed,
and the Assembly became the meeting place of the Natal Provincial Council. The
Council was disbanded in 1986.
Current composition
The African
National Congress (ANC) hold power in the provincial legislature,
winning the province with a convincing overall majority in South
Africa's 2014
elections. After the election, the Democratic
Alliance replaced the Inkatha Freedom
Party as the official opposition in the province.
Zulu monarch
KwaZulu-Natal
is the home to the Zulu monarch,
King Goodwill
Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu. Although not holding any direct political power,
the Zulu king is provided a stipend by the government. He holds considerable
influence among the more traditionalist Zulu people in the province.
To
date, the Zulu king
has six wives; traditionally, each year a ceremony is performed in which the
king receives another wife. This was formerly a way of creating connections
among the various peoples. The current King practices the ceremony, called the
"Reed Dance", but has not chosen new wives recently. Instead, he has
used the occasion to promote abstinence until marriage as a way of preserving
Zulu culture and preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Economy
Durban is a rapidly
growing urban area and is by most measures the busiest port in Africa. A
good railway network links the city to other areas of Southern Africa. Sugar
refining is Durban's main industry. Sheep, cattle, dairy, citrus fruits, corn, sorghum, cotton, bananas,
and pineapples are
also raised. There is an embryonic KwaZulu-Natal wine industry. Other
industries (located mainly in and around Durban) include textile,
clothing, chemicals,
rubber, fertiliser,
paper, vehicle assembly and food-processing plants, tanneries, and oilrefineries. There are
large aluminium-smelting plants at Richards Bay, on the
north coast.
To the
north, Newcastle is
the province's industrial powerhouse, with Mittal Steel South Africa
(previously ISPAT/ISCOR) and the Karbochem synthetic rubber plant
dominating the economy. In 2002, Newcastle became the largest producer of
chrome chemicals in Africa with the completion of a chrome-chemical plant, a
joint-venture project between Karbochem and German manufacturing giant Bayer.
Other large operations include a diamond-cutting works, various heavy
engineering concerns, the Natal Portland Cement (NPC) slagment cement factory,
and the Newcastle Cogeneration Plant (old Ingagane Power Station). This was
recommissioned as Africa's first gas-fired power station by Independent Power
Southern Africa (IPSA), and it supplies the Karbochem Plant with electricity.
The textile industry is a major employer in the Newcastle area, with over 100
factories belonging to ethnic Taiwanese and Chinese industrialists. Maize,
livestock and dairy farmers operate on the outskirts of the city. Coal is also
mined in the Newcastle area. The province as a whole produces considerable
amounts of coal (especially coke) and timber.
Offshore
mining of heavy
mineral sands including minerals with a concentration of significant
economic importance at several locations, such as rutile, ilmenite and zircon are threatening
the marine ecology of KwaZulu-Natal's coast, including the Tugela Banks; the
fishing economy of the prawn and nurse fisheries are also threatened.
About
86% of the population is Black African. During apartheid, a large percentage
of native blacks was forced to live in Bantu homelands (Bantustans), which had a
subsistence economy based on cattle raising and corn growing.
Ecology
tourism is increasingly important to the economy of KwaZulu-Natal. The area's
rich biodiversity and efforts at conservation have been recognised. Tourists
have come to see the iSimangaliso
Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba
Drakensberg Park, declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
These two major parks and that of Ndumo have wetlands of
international importance listed as Ramsar sites for
conservation. Tourists pay up to $10,000 for safaris on which they
might see lions, elephants and giraffes. Others come to hike in the mountains
or explore the wetlands with guides.The Ingonyama Trust owns
32% of all the land in KwaZulu-Natal.
Civil society and politics
Prominent
civil society organisations based in the province of KwaZulu-Natal
include: Abahlali
baseMjondolo (shackdwellers') movement, the Diakonia
Council of Churches, the Right2Know campaign, and
the Unemployed
People's Movement.
Evictions and political controversy
The
government in KwaZulu Natal has been under sustained controversy for their
eviction of shackdwellers and mistreatment by provincial police structures
that has resulted in more than 200 arrests of Abahlali members in the first
last three years of its existence and repeated police brutality in
people's homes, in the streets and in detention.
The
attack on Kennedy
Road informal settlement by an armed mob in 2009 in [Durban] put
local and provincial government under sustained scrutiny. It was reported by
members of the Abahlali baseMjondolo movement that the attackers were
affiliated with the local branch of the African
National Congress and it was claimed that the attack was carefully
planned and sanctioned by the provincial police department. Academic
research seems to confirm that the attackers self-identified as ANC members
and that ANC leaders at Municipal and Provincial level later provided public
sanction for the attack.
Despite
a court interdict, the eThekwini municipality, with the support of the
provincial SAPS, repeatedly evicted shackdwellers in Durban's Cato
Crest. The General Council of the Bar has also expressed concern over the
evictions.
Ecology
The scaly yellowfish (Labeobarbus natalensis) is a fish found in
the Tugela River system
as well as in the Umzimkulu, Umfolozi and
the Mgeni. It is
a common endemic species
in KwaZulu-Natal Province and it lives in different habitats between the Drakensberg foothills
and the coastal lowlands.
Carissa macrocarpa (Natal plum) is a
shrub native to South Africa, where it is commonly called the "large
num-num". In Zulu, as well as in the Bantu tribes of Uganda, it is known
as the amatungulu. In Afrikaans,
the fruit is called noem-noem.
HIV
One of
the most urgent crises facing the province is the unparalleled prevalence of
HIV infection among its citizens. South Africa as a whole has more
HIV-positive citizens than any other nation. Among South Africa's
provinces, KwaZulu-Natal has the highest rate of HIV infection: 39 percent,
according to UNAIDS in
2009.
Without
the proper nutrition, health care and medicine that is available in developed
countries, large numbers of people suffer and die from AIDS-related
complications. In some heavily infected areas, the epidemic has disrupted
society, with fatalities high among adults in their prime, and leaving many
orphans to be cared for by elderly grandparents. HIV/AIDS has retarded
economic growth by destroying human capital