Pietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg, 80kms away, is the provincial capital in a relationship similar to that of Sacramento and Los Angeles.
The Voortrekkers had a good eye for town sites. After their defeat of the Zulus at the end of 1838 the trekkers selected farms and settled down to enjoy life in Natal. To serve as capital of their republic they created the town named Pietermaritzburg after their two leaders, Piet Retief and Gert Maritz and built the Church of the Vow to commemorate their victory over the Zulu impis. The site was in a fertile hollow at the foot of a tree-covered escarpment where the midlands of Natal rise 400 metres above the surrounding landscape. The soil was rich and there was ample water for irrigation from the river known as the Msunduzi ('the pusher 'from the surging power of its floods).
In 1893 Natal received responsible government and a handsome assembly building was created in Pietermaritzburg to house its parliament. The British administration adorned the city with red brick imperial buildings in the Victorian Gothic style. Many of these buildings still stand and the characteristic atmosphere of Pietermaritzburg is red brick seen through luxuriant green foliage.
Today it is the provincial capital of Natal and the centre for numerous industries. Aluminium is produced here from material mined in Natal. Timber, wattle bark and dairy goods are also produced in the district.
It was on this station platform in 1894 that Mahatma Ghandi, as a young lawyer fresh out from England was thrown out of his 1st class train compartment by a White inspector thus changing the direction of his life, his country and the destinies of Britain and India. It was the reputation he gained fighting for Indian rights in Natal that led him on to fame and immortality later in India. There is a statue of Ghandi in the main street of Pietermaritzburg commemorating the twenty years he lived in South Africa (1894 – 1914).
The Inkatha Freedom Party dominates the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal, which is most strongly associated in the public mind with Chief Mongosuthu Buthelezi. Buthelezi nearly torpedoed South Africa's first democratic elections in April 1994 by refusing to take part. His ego assuaged, he eventually participated and South Africa avoided what looked to become a civil war between the Zulus and the Xhosa-dominated ANC. (The Xhosas from the Eastern Cape are sworn enemies of the Zulus. Nelson Mandela is a member of the Xhosa royal house. President Mbeki, the incumbent, is also a Xhosa). Buthelezi is in coalition with the ANC and used to hold the post of Minister of Home Affairs in the central government.
The Voortrekkers had a good eye for town sites. After their defeat of the Zulus at the end of 1838 the trekkers selected farms and settled down to enjoy life in Natal. To serve as capital of their republic they created the town named Pietermaritzburg after their two leaders, Piet Retief and Gert Maritz and built the Church of the Vow to commemorate their victory over the Zulu impis. The site was in a fertile hollow at the foot of a tree-covered escarpment where the midlands of Natal rise 400 metres above the surrounding landscape. The soil was rich and there was ample water for irrigation from the river known as the Msunduzi ('the pusher 'from the surging power of its floods).
In 1893 Natal received responsible government and a handsome assembly building was created in Pietermaritzburg to house its parliament. The British administration adorned the city with red brick imperial buildings in the Victorian Gothic style. Many of these buildings still stand and the characteristic atmosphere of Pietermaritzburg is red brick seen through luxuriant green foliage.
Today it is the provincial capital of Natal and the centre for numerous industries. Aluminium is produced here from material mined in Natal. Timber, wattle bark and dairy goods are also produced in the district.
It was on this station platform in 1894 that Mahatma Ghandi, as a young lawyer fresh out from England was thrown out of his 1st class train compartment by a White inspector thus changing the direction of his life, his country and the destinies of Britain and India. It was the reputation he gained fighting for Indian rights in Natal that led him on to fame and immortality later in India. There is a statue of Ghandi in the main street of Pietermaritzburg commemorating the twenty years he lived in South Africa (1894 – 1914).
The Inkatha Freedom Party dominates the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal, which is most strongly associated in the public mind with Chief Mongosuthu Buthelezi. Buthelezi nearly torpedoed South Africa's first democratic elections in April 1994 by refusing to take part. His ego assuaged, he eventually participated and South Africa avoided what looked to become a civil war between the Zulus and the Xhosa-dominated ANC. (The Xhosas from the Eastern Cape are sworn enemies of the Zulus. Nelson Mandela is a member of the Xhosa royal house. President Mbeki, the incumbent, is also a Xhosa). Buthelezi is in coalition with the ANC and used to hold the post of Minister of Home Affairs in the central government.
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