Natal 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...

The Norwegian Mission Society first established it in 1851 as a mission station. It takes its name from the river, a tributary of the Mhlatuze. The name is of Zulu origin, and the most popular meaning is 'grab' as it grabs people's possessions as it comes down in...

This town along with Himeville gives access to all the game reserves in the area. Underberg started as a single shop on the banks of the Mzimkulu River, which served the settlers who entered the area during 1886. Because the authorities thought that there would not be...

Established in 1855, it was named after Bishop John William Colenso, first Anglican bishop in Natal, and advocate for the Zulu cause. Colenso is another of the wayside towns on the road to the north, which originated as a simple collection of business establishments...

Taking its name from the well-known city in Holland, this small town in the Balel Mountains still exudes an o/de worlde charm arid in spite of its size, it is a historical gem. It boasts 10 national monuments and 10 historic sites. The Voortrekkers established this...

Laid out in 1882 and named after Dundee in Scotland, birthplace of its founder, Thomas Paterson Smith. As far back as 1839 coal was observed in the area and a geological survey in 1880 proved that there were workable coal deposits on and around the farm Dundeer=In...

On the western heights of the Biggersberg, the great massif of Mkupe towers above the headwaters of the lnkuzi River and looks down on the strategic pass to which it gives its name. In 1879 and 1881 during the Anglo-Zulu War and the 1st War of Independence, this pass...

The village of Glencoe was founded as a settlement in 1899 when the railway line from Durban to Johannesburg reached the Biggersberg Junction. It was named after a valley in Argyllshire, Scotland and is the centre of a 700km2 sheep and cattle ranching district in...

The 100 years of Ladysmith's existence has three distinct era's, the first commenced with the arrival of the Voortrekkers who had crossed the Drakensberg in the Spring of 1838 and occupied the good pastoral land in the neighbourhood of the Klip River. After the murder...

Weenen was founded in 1838. The name means 'weeping', a reminder of the massacres inflicted on the Voortrekker camps in the area after the assassination of Piet Retief and his men by the Zulu The museum is housed in a building that was erected by Andries Pretorius,...

Laid out on the Bushmen's River in 1848, it was first named Bushmen's River Post or Bushmen's Drift. The name was changed in 1863 to Estcourt, said to be in honour of a British Member of Parliament, Thomas H Estcourt, a friend of an early settler, J W Wilks. Because...

In 1905 the Natal government built a weir across the Little Tugela River and founded an irrigation settlement called Springfield and later named Winterton, after the Secretary of Agriculture in Natal, HD Winter. The little settlement of Winterton is situated in the...

Laid out in 1895 on the farm Klein Waterfall and named Bergville in 1903, referring to its position at the foot of the Drakensberg, popularly known as The Berg. The village of Bergville was laid out in 1895 and is perfectly situated for those journeying to resorts and...

lxopo was established in 1878 and called Stuartstown in honour of the district's magistrate, but the name was slowly replaced by the name of the river in the area. It is actually eXobo in Zulu and is supposed to alliterate the sound made when persons walking through...

This is the most important town in the Alfred district. It was established as a military outpost during 1877 in the foothills of lngeliberg after Grikwaland East was annexed to the Cape Colony. The town was named after Sir Walter Harding, who became the first chief...

At the turn of the century this was one of the wildest corners of the country but is today characterised by order and development. The origin of the town falls in the same period as Kokstad. During their trek from Philippolis to 'Niemandsland' Adam Kok Ill and his...

The town is situated at the southern foot of Mount Currie (2224m) and is the capital of Grikwaland East. It is part of the story of a second Great Trek and of those pioneer days of our history that became a footnote in the history books. In the late 1850's a part of...

Part of the spectacular gorge of the Mzimkulwana River (little Mzimkulu) was proclaimed a nature reserve in 1950. Tall, red-orange sandstone cliffs overlook a dense forest of trees, creepers and flowering plants. Various species of antelope live here - duiker,...

Established 1850, and named after Sir George Grey, Governor of the Cape Colony. Greytown is known as Umgungundlovana "the place of the little elephant" Since its founding in 1850 Greytown has experienced a lively history and was also subject to periodic invasions from...