KZN – Cities and Towns

Named after David Louw, a pioneer in the area. The economy is based on cattle and maize. Louwsburg is the entrance to the ltala game reserve of 29653ha. The reserve was proclaimed in 1972 and the name comes from the Zulu word iThala ('the shelf) and the rest camp...

This  is  one  of  the  districts of  northern  kwaZulu-Natal that  was  once  part  of  the  Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek, but also considered being part of Zululand at another time.  Two other districts that were part of the Republic are Vryheid and Utrecht. When J...

This was once the favourite holiday resort of John Dunn, who was the only white man that was ever recognised as a Zulu chief. It is a popular holiday resort and lies at the mouth of the Mlalaz River ('place of the sharpening stones'). In Zulu the name Mtunzini means...

Gluckstad means 'city of luck' in German. The town was founded by a small group of German farmers that originally established a German community in the valley of the Black Umfolozi, from which they were driven by malaria. The town is probably named after a town of the...

A new magisterial office was established here in 1887. The locals named it kwaNongoma ('place of the juggler') after king Zwide, chief of the Ndwandwe who was considered to be the juggler. It was first called Ndwandwe but was later changed to Nongoma. One of the...

The town originated during the depression of the 1930's and one of the schemes, to circumvent the drought, was to build a weir of 6m high 27km West of Golela, during 1934. At the start the scheme was not very successful and many of the settlers moved away, but the...

Melmoth was established as a magisterial office in the time of the British annexation of Zululand in 1887. It was named after Sir Melmoth Osborne, resident-commissioner and chief magistrate of the region. Horticulturists discovered that the mountains around the town...

The town of Hluhluwe is one of the most important tourist attractions in the northern region of KwaZulu-Natal. Pineapples, sugar, sisal, cattle and wood are the main agricultural products in this region.

A mountain called Babanango is situated about 69km north of Melmoth and looks down on a town with the same name. The origin of the name is vested in Zulu History and according to legend the son of a chief had disappeared. The whole community was involved in the search...

Site of the royal village of Zulu, previously capital of KwaZulu, and the name in Zulu means 'the high place'. When Cetshwayo became king of the Zulu on 1 September 1873 he created, as was customary, a new capital for the nation. He named the new capital Ulundi - 'the...

Takes its name from the bay at the mouth of the Mhlathuze River, which was named after Sir Frederick Richard's, Commodore of the Cape Station of the Royal naval force, assisting the land forces against the Zulu in 1879. The Zulu name is Cwebeni, 'at the lagoon' This...

Proclaimed in 1915, named after the sound of the wind through the trees or after ishowe, a particularly cold wind prevalent during the winter. Eshowe is the oldest town in Zululand. It set on a hill and has uniquely developed around a 350ha park of stately indigenous...