Botha's Hill (locally , ) is a small town outside
Hillcrest in
KwaZulu-Natal,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
. It remains a peaceful beautiful hill where regular country style food and craft markets are held. It is the gateway to the
Valley of a Thousand Hills
The Valley of a Thousand Hills is a valley between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, South Africa. The Umgeni River meets the Msunduzi River ( Duzi River) in the valley, and the Dusi Canoe Marathon is run through the area every year.
Geography
The V ...
.
Kearsney College
Kearsney College is a private boarding, English medium high school for boys in Botha's Hill, a small town between the provincial capital of Pietermaritzburg and Durban, in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.
History
Kearsney Coll ...
moved to Botha's Hill in 1939.
Alan Paton, the author of ''
Cry, the Beloved Country
''Cry, the Beloved Country'' is a 1948 novel by South African writer Alan Paton. Set in the prelude to apartheid in South Africa, it follows a black village priest and a white farmer who must deal with news of a murder.
American publisher Benn ...
'' and ''
Too Late the Phalarope'' lived here until his death on 12 April 1988.
The village is 37 km north-west of
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
, on the old main road to
Pietermaritzburg before the
N3 highway was built.
There have been different opinions about the origin of the name of Botha's Hill. The Dictionary of Southern African Place Names claims it was named after a settler, Philip Rudolph Botha, grandfather of General
Louis Botha
Louis Botha (; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa – the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war hero during the Second Boer War, ...
(1862-1919), first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa.
Research undertaken by Robin W. Lamplough and published in the journal of the Natal Society, suggests that Botha's Hill was named after Cornelis Botha, a former harbour master of Port Natal.
Gallery
File:The National Archives UK - CO 1069-224-40.jpg, Railway, Bothas Hill
File:NGR K&S Class no. 30.jpg, Railway station Bothas Hill (app. 1890)
File:Dawn in Bothas Hill 2018-01-01 04.32.51.jpg
References
Suburbs of Durban
{{KwaZuluNatal-geo-stub