Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani Chetty
City nicknames in SA and across the world
Article on ''news24.com'' from 25 October 2017. Retrieved 2021-03-05.The names and the naming of Durban
Website ''natalia.org.za'' (pdf). Retrieved 2021-03-05. is the third most populous city in

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 ...

after

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

and

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and the largest city in KwaZulu-Natal. Durban forms part of the

eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality created in 2000, that includes the city of Durban, South Africa and surrounding towns. eThekwini is one of the 11 districts of KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The majo ...

, which includes neighbouring towns and has a population of about 3.44 million,Statistics South Africa, Community Survey, 2007, Basic Results Municipalities (pdf file)
. Retrieved 2008-03-23. making the combined municipality one of the largest cities on the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

coast of the African continent. Durban was also one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Durban was formerly named Port Natal due to its position as the chief seaport of South Africa, and its location on the Natal Bay of the Indian Ocean. Durban is a highly ethnically diverse city, with large Zulu,

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, and

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

populations.

History

Archaeological evidence from the

Drakensberg The Drakensberg (Afrikaans: Drakensberge, Zulu: uKhahlambha, Sotho: Maluti) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, which encloses the central Southern African plateau. The Great Escarpment reaches its greatest elevation – within t ...

mountains suggests that the Durban area has been inhabited by communities of hunter-gatherers since 100,000 BC. These people lived throughout the area of KwaZulu-Natal until the expansion of Bantu farmers and pastoralists from the north saw their gradual displacement, incorporation or extermination. Oral history has been passed down from generation to generation by the Zulu nation, who were inhabitants of the land before colonisers, but there is no

written history Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world his ...

of the area until it was sighted by

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

Vasco da Gama, who sailed parallel to the KwaZulu-Natal coast at Christmastide in 1497 while searching for a route from Europe to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He named the area "Natal", or Christmas in

Abambo People

In 1686, a ship from the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

named ''Stavenisse'' was wrecked off the eastern coast of South Africa. Some of the survivors made their way to the Bay of Natal (Durban) where they were taken in by the Abambo tribe, which was led by Chief Langalibale. The crew became fluent in the tribe's language and witnessed their customs. The tribe told them that the land where the Abambo people lived was called Embo by the natives and that the people were very hospitable. On 28 October 1689, the galiot ''Noord'' travelled from Table Bay to the Bay of Natal to fetch the surviving crew of the ''Stavenisse'' and to negotiate a deal for purchasing the bay. The ''Noord'' arrived on 9 December 1689, whereafter the

Dutch Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie) was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) colony in Southern Africa, centered on the Cape of Good Hope, from where it derived its name. The original colony and its successive states that the colony was inco ...

purchased the Bay of Natal from the Abambo people for £1,650. A formal contract was drawn up by Laurens van Swaanswyk and signed by the Chief of the Abambo people, with the crew of the ''Stavenisse'' acting as translators.

First European Colonizers

By 1822, Lieutenant James King, captain of a British ship named the ''

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

'', together with Lt. Francis George Farewell, both men being former

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officers from the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, were engaged in trade between the

Cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

and

Delagoa Bay Maputo Bay ( pt, Baía de Maputo), formerly also known as Delagoa Bay from ''Baía da Lagoa'' in Portuguese, is an inlet of the Indian Ocean on the coast of Mozambique, between 25° 40' and 26° 20' S, with a length from north to south of over 90&n ...

. On a return trip to the Cape in 1823, they were caught in a severe storm and decided to risk the Bar and anchor in the Bay of Natal. The crossing went off well and they found safe anchor from the storm. Lt. King decided to map the Bay and named the "Salisbury and Farewell Islands". In 1824 Lt. Farewell, together with a trading company called J. R. Thompson & Co., decided to open trade relations with

Shaka Shaka kaSenzangakhona ( – 22 September 1828), also known as Shaka Zulu () and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reforms that ...

, the Zulu King, and establish a trading station at the Bay.

Henry Francis Fynn Henry Francis Fynn (29 March 1803 in Grosvenor Square, London, England – 20 September 1861 in Durban, Natal, South Africa) was an English traveler and trader. He was among the first Europeans to make contact with Shaka Zulu. Fynn, Coen ...

, another trader at Delagoa Bay, was also involved in this venture. Fynn left Delagoa Bay and sailed for the Bay of Natal on the brig ''Julia'', while Farewell followed six weeks later on the ''Antelope''. Between them they had 26 possible settlers, although only 18 stayed. On a visit to King Shaka, Henry Francis Fynn succeeded in befriending the king by helping him recover from a stab wound that he had suffered as a result of an assassination attempt by one of his half-brothers. As a token of his gratitude King Shaka granted Fynn a "25-mile strip of coast a hundred miles in depth". On 7 August 1824 they concluded negotiations with King Shaka for a cession of land, including the Bay of Natal and land extending ten miles south of the Bay, twenty-five miles north of the Bay and one hundred miles inland. Farewell took possession of this grant and raised the

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

with a Royal Salute, which consisted of 4 cannon shots and twenty musket shots. Only six of the original eighteen would-be settlers remained, and these six can be regarded as the founders of Port Natal as a British colony. These six were joined by Lt. James Saunders King and

Nathaniel Isaacs Nathaniel Isaacs (1808–1872) was an English adventurer who played a part in the history of Natal, South Africa. He wrote a book spread over two volumes (whose accuracy is now disputed) called ''Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa''. This ...

in 1825. The modern city of Durban thus dates from 1824, when the settlement was established on the northern shores of the bay near today's Farewell Square. During a meeting of 35 European residents in Fynn's territory on 23 June 1835, it was decided to build a capital town and name it "D'Urban" after Sir Benjamin D'Urban, who was the governor of the Cape Colony at the time.

Republic of Natalia

The Voortrekkers established the Republic of Natalia in 1839, with its capital at Pietermaritzburg. Tension between the Voortrekkers and the Zulus prompted the governor of the Cape Colony to dispatch a force under Captain Charlton Smith to establish British rule in Natal, for fear of losing British control in Port Natal. The force arrived on 4 May 1842 and built a fortification that was later to be ''The Old Fort''. On the night of 23/24 May 1842 the British attacked the Voortrekker camp at Congella. The attack failed, and the British had to withdraw to their camp which was put under siege. A local trader

Dick King Richard Philip King (1811–1871) was an English trader and colonist at Port Natal, a British trading station in the region now known as KwaZulu-Natal. He is best known for a historic horseback ride in 1842, where he completed a journey of i ...

and his servant Ndongeni were able to escape the blockade and rode to

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London. Makhanda is the largest town in the Makana ...

, a distance of in fourteen days to raise reinforcements. The reinforcements arrived in Durban 20 days later; the Voortrekkers retreated, and the siege was lifted. Fierce conflict with the Zulu population led to the evacuation of Durban, and eventually the Afrikaners accepted British annexation in 1844 under military pressure.

Durban's historic regalia

When the Borough of Durban was proclaimed in 1854, the council had to procure a seal for official documents. The seal was produced in 1855 and was replaced in 1882. The new seal contained a coat of arms without helmet or mantling that combined the coats of arms of Sir Benjamin D’Urban and Sir Benjamin Pine. An application was made to register the coat of arms with the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sovere ...

in 1906, but this application was rejected on grounds that the design implied that D’Urban and Pine were husband and wife. Nevertheless, the coat of arms appeared on the council's stationery from about 1912. The following year, a helmet and mantling was added to the council's stationery and to the new city seal that was made in 1936. The motto reads "Debile principium melior fortuna sequitur"—"Better fortune follows a humble beginning". The blazon of the arms registered by the South African Bureau of Heraldry and granted to Durban on 9 February 1979. The coat of arms fell into disuse with the re-organisation of the South African local government structure in 2000. The seal ceased to be used in 1995.

Government

With the end of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, Durban was subject to restructuring of local government. Its first mayor was

Sipho Ngwenya Sipho Ngwenya was the first democratically elected mayor of the Greater city of Durban. He was the first black mayor of the city post Apartheid era of South Africa. Durban, South Africa's third largest city, saw a number of name changes from Gr ...

. In 1996, the city became part of the ''Durban UniCity'' in July 1996 as part of transitional arrangements and to ''eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality'' in 1999, with the adoption of South Africa's new municipal governance system. In July 1996,

Obed Mlaba Obed Thembinkosi Mlaba (born 9 September 1943) is the former High Commissioner of South Africa to the United Kingdom and served as mayor of Durban, one of the largest and most commercially active cities in South Africa. Early life and career M ...

was appointed mayor of Durban UniCity; in 1999 he was elected to mayor of the eThekwini municipality and re-elected in 2006. Following the May 2011 local elections, James Nxumalo, the former speaker of the council, was elected as the new mayor. On 23 August 2016 Zandile Gumede was elected as the new mayor until 13 August 2019. On 5 September 2019 Mxolisi Kaunda was sworn in as the new mayor. The name of the Durban municipal government, prior to the post-apartheid reorganisations of municipalities, was the ''Durban Corporation'' or ''City of Durban''.

Geography

Durban is located on the east coast of South Africa, looking out upon the

. The city lies at the mouth of the

Umgeni River The Umgeni River or Mgeni River ( zu, uMngeni) is a river in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It rises in the "Dargle" in the KZN Midlands, and its mouth is at Durban, some distance north of Durban's natural harbour. The name is taken to mean "the r ...

, which demarcates parts of Durban's north city limit, while other sections of the river flow through the city itself. Durban has a natural harbour,

Durban Harbour The Port of Durban, commonly called Durban Harbour, is the largest and busiest shipping terminal in sub-Saharan Africa. It handles up to 31.4 million tons of cargo each year. It is the fourth largest container terminal in the Southern Hemispher ...

, which is the busiest port in South Africa and is the 4th-busiest in the Southern Hemisphere.

Climate

Durban has a humid subtropical climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cfa''), with hot, humid summers and warm, quite dry winters, which are snow and frost-free. Durban has an annual rainfall of . The average temperature in summer ranges around , while in winter the average temperature is .

Demographics

Durban is ethnically diverse, with a cultural richness of mixed beliefs and traditions.

Zulus Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Na ...

form the largest single ethnic group. It has a large number of people of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

descent. The influence of Indians in Durban has been significant, bringing with them a variety of cuisine, culture and religion. In the years following the end of apartheid, there was a population boom as black Africans were allowed to move into the city. The population grew by an annual average of 2.34% between 1996 and 2001. This led to shanty towns forming around the city which were often demolished. Between 2001 and 2011, the population growth slowed down to 1.08% per year and shanty towns have become less common as the government builds low-income housing. The population of the city of Durban and central suburbs such as Durban North, Durban South and the Berea increased 10.9% between 2001 and 2011 from 536,644 to 595,061. The proportion of black Africans increased while the proportion of people in all the other racial groups decreased. Black Africans increased from 34.9% to 51.1%; Indians or Asians decreased from 27.3% to 24.0%; whites decreased from 25.5% to 15.3%; and

Coloureds Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

decreased from 10.26% to 8.59%. A new racial group, "Other", was included in the 2011 census at 0.93%. The city's demographics indicate that 68% of the population is of working age, and 38% of the people in Durban are under the age of 19 years. Durban has the highest number of dollar millionaires added per year of any South African city, with the number having increased 200 percent between 2000 and 2014.

Economy

Sugar refining is one of Durban's main industries. South Africa produces 19.9 million tons of sugar cane a year and most of it comes from KwaZulu-Natal.

Informal sector

Durban has a number of informal and semi-formal street vendors. The Warwick Junction Precinct is home to a number of street markets, with vendors selling goods from traditional medicine, to clothing and spices. The city's treatment of shack dwellers was criticised in a report from the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

linked Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions and there has also been criticism of the city's treatment of street traders, street children and sex workers. The

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

strain called 'Durban Poison' is named for the city.

Civil society

There are a number of civil society organisations based in Durban. These include:

Abahlali baseMjondolo Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM, , in English: "the residents of the shacks") is a socialist shack dwellers' movement in South Africa which organises land occupations, builds communes

(shack-dwellers') movement, the

Diakonia Council of Churches A diaconia was originally an establishment built near a church building, for the care of the poor and distribution of the church's charity in medieval Rome or Naples (the successor to the Roman grain supply system, often standing on the very sites o ...

, the

Right2Know Campaign The Right2Know Campaign is a South African non-profit advocacy organisation established in 2010 to reduce state secrecy in the drafting of laws, increase access to information, and protect freedom of expression especially on the internet. As part ...

, the

South Durban Community Environmental Alliance South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

and the

South African Unemployed Peoples' Movement The South African Unemployed Peoples' Movement is a social movement with branches in Durban, Grahamstown and Limpopo Province in South Africa. It is often referred to as the Unemployed People's Movement or UPM. The organisation is strongly critical ...

. The

Durban Art Gallery Durban Art Gallery is a municipal art gallery in Durban, South Africa. It is run by eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality created in 2000, that includes the city of Durban, Sou ...

was founded in 1892.

Tourism

Durban has been named the greenest city in the world by Husqvarna Urban Green Space Index. *

Burman Bush Burman Bush is a nature reserve in Morningside, Durban, Morningside, Durban, situated some 8 km north of the CBD. At about 50 hectares it constitutes a small circular enclave of KwaZulu-Cape coastal forest mosaic, coastal forest which forms ...

Durban Botanic Gardens The Durban Botanic Gardens is situated in the city of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is Durban's oldest public institution and Africa's oldest surviving botanical gardens. The gardens cover an area of in a subtropical climate. Histo ...

* Hawaan Forest *

New Germany Nature Reserve New Germany Nature Reserve is a protected area of coastal grassland and forest overlooking the suburb of New Germany outside of Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The reserve consists of a nature park featuring a walk-through aviary and sn ...

* Pigeon Valley Nature reserve *

Umgeni River Bird Park The Umgeni River Bird Park is a bird zoo located in Durban, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. History Designed and built by Dr. Alan Abrey in an old quarry site, the Umgeni River Bird Park was opened in April 1984. The park was own ...

Umhlanga Lagoon Nature Reserve Umhlanga lagoon is a nature reserve on the shore of the Indian Ocean at Umhlanga Rocks, South Africa. The reserve encloses the Ohlanga River's lagoon and mouth. The forest forms a natural extension of the less accessible Hawaan Forest, of which ...

Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve is a 253 hectare protected area in the suburb of Yellowwood Park, Durban, South Africa. The park was proclaimed in 1963, after land was donated by Mr Kenneth Stainbank for its purpose. The reserve is managed by ...

Mitchell Park Zoo Mitchell Park Zoo is also known as Mitchell Park or Mitchell's Park. Situated in the Morningside suburb of Durban, South Africa, it is the only zoo in Durban. The zoo was established as an Ostrich farm in 1910, but was unprofitable and started a ...

Moses Mabhida Stadium The Moses Mabhida Stadium is a association football, football stadium in Durban in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, named after Moses Mabhida, a former General Secretary of the South African Communist Party. It is a multi-use stadium. ...

- Activities include a skycar ride or adventure walk to the top of the arch with 360-degree views over Durban; Guinness World Record bungee swing; segway gliding tours of the stadium; cafes and restaurants; monthly I Heart Durban market; *

Kingsmead Cricket Ground Kingsmead is a cricket ground in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Its stated capacity is 25,000, although grass terracing makes up part of the viewing area. The 'end names' are the Umgeni End (north) and the Old Fort Road End (south). It is t ...

- a major

test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

and

one-day cricket Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket or white ball cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day. There are a number of formats, including List A cricket (8-hour games), Twenty ...

venue. *

Kings Park Stadium The Kings Park Stadium (known as the Hollywoodbets Kings Park for sponsorship reasons since 2022), is a stadium located in the Kings Park Sporting Precinct in Durban, South Africa. The stadium was originally built with a capacity of 12,000 an ...

- home ground of the internationally renowned

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

rugby team. *

Greyville Racecourse Greyville Racecourse is a Thoroughbred horse race track in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The 2,800 metre pear-shaped turf track consists of several gradient features: it is run uphill from the 2,400 metre mark to the 1,800 ...

- home of the

Durban July Handicap The Hollywoodbets Durban July Handicap is a South African Thoroughbred horse race held annually on the first Saturday of July since 1897 at Greyville Racecourse in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. Raced on turf, the Durban July Handicap is open to horses o ...

and Durban Country Club and golf course. *

Durban Ice Arena Durban Ice Arena is an multi-purpose complex located in the golden mile of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The complex is composed of an ice rink, convention center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in Bri ...

- Activities include leisure ice skating, birthday parties, school excursions, sporting events, teambuilding activities, corporate functions and group bookings. * Gandhi in Durban - Mahatma Gandhi spent time in Durban and there are several historical sites associated with him.

Media

Two major English-language daily newspapers are published in Durban, both part of the Independent Newspapers, the national group owned by

Sekunjalo Investments Sekunjalo Investment Holdings (parent company of African Equity Empowerment Investments) is a black owned South Africa-based private equity firm specializing in acquisitions, PIPEs, and buyouts. It has principal operations in publishing, Int ...

. These are the morning editions of '' The Mercury'' and the afternoon '' Daily News''. Like most news media in South Africa, they have seen declining circulations in recent years. Major Zulu language papers comprise ''Isolezwe'' (Independent Newspapers), ''UmAfrika'' and ''Ilanga''. Independent Newspapers also publish ''Post'', a newspaper aimed largely at the Indian community. A national Sunday paper, the ''Sunday Tribune'' is also published by Independent Newspapers as is the ''Independent on Saturday''. A major city initiative is the ''eZasegagasini Metro Gazette''. The national broadcaster, the SABC, has regional offices in Durban and operates two major stations there. The

Zulu language Zulu (), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken in Southern Africa. It is the language of the Zulu people, with about 12 million native speakers, who primarily inhabit the province of KwaZulu-Natal ...

Ukhozi FM has a huge national listenership of over 6.67 million, which makes it the second largest radio station in the world. The SABC also operates Radio Lotus, which is aimed at South Africans of Indian origin. The other SABC national stations have smaller regional offices in Durban, as does TV for news links and sports broadcasts. A major English language

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

, East Coast Radio, operates out of Durban and is owned by SA media giant Kagiso Media. There are a number of smaller stations which are independent, having been granted licences by ICASA, the national agency charged with the issue of broadcast licences.

Sport

Durban was initially successful in its bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, but needed to withdraw in March 2017 from the role of hosts when the government withdrew its subsidy due to financial constraints.

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

replaced Durban as the host city. Durban is home to the

Sharks (rugby union) The Sharks (known as the Cell C Sharks as they are their title sponsor) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Durban in KwaZulu Natal. They compete internationally in the United Rugby Championship and Heineken Champions Cu ...

, also known as the Cell C Sharks, who compete in the domestic

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

competition as well as in the international

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

and

Heineken Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

competition. The Sharks' home ground is the 54,000 capacity HollywoodbetsKings Park Stadium, sometimes referred to as the Shark Tank. The Sharks are home to many Springbok players such as

Thomas du Toit Thomas Joubert du Toit (born 5 May 1995) is a South African rugby union player for the South Africa national rugby union team, South Africa national team and the in the United Rugby Championship. His regular position is prop. His nickname is Th ...

Bongi Mbonambi Mbongeni Theo 'Bongi' Mbonambi (born 7 January 1991) is a South African professional rugby union player, He currently plays as a hooker for the URC team and also the South Africa national rugby team. His position is hooker and he previously ...

Eben Etzebeth Eben Etzebeth (born 29 October 1991) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national team and Sharks in the United Rugby Championship. His regular playing position is as a number 4 lock. Cl ...

, Makazole Mapimipi, Lukhanyo Am and the 2019 Rugby World Cup captain

Siya Kolisi Siyamthanda Kolisi (born 16 June 1991) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently captains the South Africa national team and also the Cell C Sharks. He plays club rugby for the in the Currie Cup. He generally plays as a ...

. The city is home to two clubs in the

Premier Soccer League Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

—

AmaZulu Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Nata ...

, and

Golden Arrows Lamontville Golden Arrows F.C. are a South African soccer club based in Durban that plays in the Premier Soccer League. History It was founded in 1943 in the streets of Lamontville, a township in Durban. The club played in the defunct Natio ...

. AmaZulu play most of their home games at the

. Golden Arrows play most of their home games at the

King Zwelithini Stadium King Zwelithini Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Umlazi, a township south-west of Durban, South Africa. It is currently used mostly for football matches and was initially set to be utilized as a training field for teams participating in the ...

in the nearby township of

Umlazi Umlazi is a township in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, located south-west of Durban. Organisationally and administratively it forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality and its South Municipal Planning Region. It is the fourth largest ...

, but sometimes play some of their matches at

Chatsworth Stadium Chatsworth Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Durban, South Africa. It is currently used mostly for football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the wo ...

. It is also a home to some teams that are playing in the NFD such as Royal Eagles FC and Royal Kings Transport des supporters à Durban

Durban is host to the KwaZulu-Natal cricket team, who play as the

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...

when competing in the

Sunfoil Series The CSA 4-Day Domestic Series is the domestic first class cricket competition of South Africa. The tournament is contested by teams from all nine provinces of South Africa. First contested as the Currie Cup from 1889–90, the tournament has u ...

Shaun Pollock Shaun Maclean Pollock OIS (born 16 July 1973) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer, who was captain in all formats of the game. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers and allrounders of all time. A genu ...

Jonty Rhodes Jonathan Neil "Jonty" Rhodes (born 27 July 1969) is a South African professional cricket commentator and former Test and One Day International cricketer. He is regarded as one of the greatest fielders of all time and was the first South African ...

, Lance Klusener, Barry Richards, Andrew Hudson,

Hashim Amla Hashim Mahomed Amla OIS (born 31 March 1983) is a South African former international cricketer who played for South Africa in all three formats of the game. Amla holds the record for being the fastest ever to score 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 ...

Vince van der Bijl Vintcent Adriaan Pieter van der Bijl (born 19 March 1948) is a retired South African cricketer. He was born in Rondebosch, Cape Town, where his father, Pieter van der Bijl, was headmaster of the Diocesan College Preparatory School after reti ...

Kevin Pietersen Kevin Peter Pietersen (born 27 June 1980) is a cricket commentator, conservationist, and former England international cricket player. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who played in all three formats for England betw ...

Dale Benkenstein Dale Martin Benkenstein (born 9 June 1974) is a former South African cricketer who was an all-rounder. He is currently first-team coach at Gloucestershire, having previously held the same role at Hampshire. Early life Benkenstein was born in S ...

and David Miller are all players or past players of the Natal cricket team. International cricketers representing them include

Malcolm Marshall Malcolm Denzil Marshall (18 April 1958 – 4 November 1999) was a Barbadian cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, Marshall is widely regarded as one of the greatest and one of the most accomplished fast bowlers of the modern era in Test cricket ...

Dwayne Bravo Dwayne John Bravo (born 7 October 1983) is a Trinidadian cricketer and a former captain of the West Indies cricket team. A genuine right arm seam bowling all-rounder, Bravo is well known for his aggressive lower-order batting and for his bowl ...

and

Graham Onions Graham Onions (born 9 September 1982) is an English former cricketer. He played for Durham, Lancashire and England as a right arm fast-medium bowler and a right-hand tail-end batsman. After a successful start to the 2009 cricket season, Onions ...

. Cricket in Durban is played at

Kingsmead cricket ground Kingsmead is a cricket ground in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Its stated capacity is 25,000, although grass terracing makes up part of the viewing area. The 'end names' are the Umgeni End (north) and the Old Fort Road End (south). It is t ...

. Durban hosted matches in the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup. In 2007 the city hosted nine matches, including a semi-final, as part of the inaugural

ICC World Twenty20 The ICC Men's T20 World Cup (earlier known as ICC World Twenty20) is the international championship of Twenty20. Organised by cricket's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), the tournament consists of 16 teams, comprising t ...

. The 2009 IPL season was played in South Africa, and Durban was selected as a venue. 2010 saw the city host six matches, including a semi-final, in the 2010 Champions League Twenty20. Durban was one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and

A1GP A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most fo ...

held a race on a street circuit in Durban from 2006 to 2008. Durban hosted the 123rd IOC Session in July 2011. The city is home to

, a major

Thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

venue which annually hosts a number of prestigious races including the country's premier event, the

July Handicap July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the fourth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., it being the mont ...

, and the premier staying event in South Africa, the Gold Cup. Clairwood racecourse, south of the city, was a popular racing venue for many years, but was sold by the KZN racing authority in 2012. Durban hosts many famous endurance sports events annually, such as the

Comrades Marathon The Comrades Marathon is an ultramarathon of approximately which is run annually in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg. It is the world's largest and oldest ultramarathon race. The direc ...

Dusi Canoe Marathon The Dusi Canoe Marathon is a marathon canoe race held over three days between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, South Africa. It is run along the Msunduzi and Mgeni Rivers over a total distance of . The race attracts between 1600 and 2000 paddlers ...

and the

Ironman 70.3 An Ironman 70.3, also known as a Half Ironman, is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). The "70.3" refers to the total distance in miles (113.0 km) covered in the race, consisting o ...

. The city hosted several continental basketball tournaments such as the 1994 FIBA Africa Championship for Women or the 2006 FIBA Africa Under-18 Championship.

Transport

Air

King Shaka International Airport services both domestic and international flights, with regularly scheduled services to

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

and

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

as well as eight domestic destinations. Flights to

Luanda Luanda () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major Angola#Economy, industrial, Angola#Culture, cultural and Angola#Demographics, urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atl ...

start on 17 November 2022. The airport's position forms part of the Golden Triangle between Johannesburg and Cape Town, which is important for convenient travel and trade between these three major South African cities. The airport opened in May 2010. King Shaka International Airport handled 6.1 million passengers in 2019/2020, up 1.8 percent from 2018/2019. King Shaka International was constructed at

La Mercy La Mercy is a suburb of the eThekwini municipality about north of Durban, South Africa. It is the location of Durban's King Shaka International Airport King Shaka International Airport , abbreviated KSIA, is the primary international airport ...

, about north of central Durban. All operations at

Durban International Airport Durban International Airport (formerly Louis Botha Airport) was the international airport of Durban from 1951 until 2010, when it was replaced by King Shaka International Airport, to the north. The airport is co-located with AFB Durban. Hi ...

have been transferred to

King Shaka International King Shaka International Airport , abbreviated KSIA, is the primary international airport serving Durban, South Africa. Located in La Mercy, KwaZulu-Natal, approximately north of the city centre of Durban. The airport opened its doors to pass ...

as of 1 May 2010, with plans for flights to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, Kigali,

, Lilongwe and

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

Sea

Durban has a long tradition as a port city. The

Port of Durban The Port of Durban, commonly called Durban Harbour, is the largest and busiest shipping terminal in sub-Saharan Africa. It handles up to 31.4 million tons of cargo each year. It is the fourth largest container terminal in the Southern Hemisp ...

, formerly known as the Port of Natal, is one of the few natural harbours between Port Elizabeth and

Maputo Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...

, and is also located at the beginning of a particular weather phenomenon which can cause extremely violent seas. These two features made Durban an extremely busy port of call for ship repairs when the port was opened in the 1840s. MSC Cruises bases one of their cruise ships in Durban from November to April every year. From the 2019/2020 Southern Africa cruise season MSC Cruises will be basing the MSC Orchestra in Durban. Durban is the most popular cruise hub in Southern Africa. Cruise destinations from Durban on the MSC ''Orchestra'' include

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and other domestic destinations such as Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. For the 2020/2021 cruise season MSC Cruises will be sending 2 ships being the MSC ''Musica'' & MSC ''Opera'' which will include additional cruise dates and

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...

being added as a new cruise destination. Many other ships cruise through Durban every year, including some of the world's biggest, such as the RMS ''Queen Mary 2'', the biggest ocean liner in the world. Durban will be building a brand new R200 million cruise terminal that will be operational in October 2019, the Durban Cruise Terminal. The tender was awarded to KwaZulu Cruise Terminal (Pty) Ltd which is 70% owned by MSC Cruises SA and 30% by Africa Armada Consortium. The new cruise terminal will be able to accommodate two cruise ships at any given time.

Naval Base Durban Naval Base Durban in Durban harbour is a naval base of the South African Navy, situated on Salisbury Island, which is now joined to the mainland through land reclamation. It was formerly a full naval base until it was downgraded to a naval statio ...

Salisbury Island Salisbury Island may refer to: * Salisbury Island (California), United States * Salisbury Island (Nunavut), Canada *Salisbury Island (Russia) *Salisbury Island (Western Australia), Australia *Iona Island (New York), once known as Salisbury Island ...

(now joined to the mainland and part of the Port of Durban), was established as a

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that u ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. It was downgraded in 2002 to a naval station. In 2012 a decision was made to renovate and expand the facilities back up to a full naval base to accommodate the South African Navy's

offshore patrol The Offshore Patrol (OSP) also known as the Mosquito Fleet was a small naval branch of the United States Army, intended for inshore defense of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. It was active from February 9, 1939 to June 30, 1946. The OSP bec ...

flotilla. In December 2015 it was redesignated Naval Base Durban.

Rail

Durban featured the first operating steam railway in South Africa when the

Natal Railway Company The Natal Railway Company was formed in January 1859 for the construction of a railway in Durban. The Natal Railway Company made use of broad gauge. The was only adopted in Natal in 1876 when the Natal Government Railways was established. Th ...

started operating a line between the Point and the city of Durban in 1860.Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, vol 1: 1859–1910, (D.F. Holland, 1971), p11, 20–21, Shosholoza Meyl, the passenger rail service of

Spoornet Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people ...

, operates two long-distance passenger rail services from Durban: a daily service to and from Johannesburg via Pietermaritzburg and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, and a weekly service to and from Cape Town via Kimberley and

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape To ...

. These trains terminate at

Durban railway station Durban railway station is the central railway station in the city of Durban, South Africa, located between Umgeni Road and Masabalala Yengwa Avenue just to the north of the central business district. It is the terminus of Shosholoza Meyl long-d ...

Metrorail METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the 12th ...

operates a

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...

service in Durban and the surrounding area. The Metrorail network runs from Durban Station outwards as far as Stanger on the north coast, Kelso on the south coast, and

Cato Ridge Cato Ridge is a town in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the Ethekwini Metropolitan Municipality as a suburb of the Outer West region. It is situated some 30 km south-east of ...

inland. A high-speed rail link has been proposed, between Johannesburg and Durban.

Roads

The city's main position as a port of entry onto the southern African continent has led to the development of national roads around it. The N3 Western Freeway, which links Durban with the economic hinterland of

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

, heads west out of the city. The N2 Outer Ring Road links Durban with the Eastern Cape to the south, and Mpumalanga in the north. The Western Freeway is particularly important because freight is shipped by truck to and from the

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand () (locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which ...

for transfer to the port. The N3 Western Freeway starts in the central business district and heads west under Tollgate Bridge and through the suburbs of Sherwood and Mayville. The

EB Cloete Interchange The EB Cloete Interchange near Durban in South Africa is the interchange between the two national roads that pass through Durban: the N2 and N3. It has been given various nicknames, the most famous one is "Spaghetti Junction". The N3 is the b ...

(which is informally nicknamed the

Spaghetti Junction Spaghetti junction is a nickname sometimes given to a complex or massively intertwined road traffic interchange that is said to resemble a plate of spaghetti. Such interchanges may incorporate a variety of interchange design elements in ord ...

) lies to the west of Durban and east of Westville, allowing for transfer of traffic between the N2 Outer Ring Road and the Western Freeway. The N2 Outer Ring Road cuts through the city from the

north coast North Coast or Northcoast may refer to : Antigua and Barbuda * Major Division of North Coast, a census division in Saint John Parish Australia *New South Wales North Coast, a region Canada *The British Columbia Coast, primarily the communiti ...

to the

south coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

. It provides a vital link to the coastal towns (such as

Amanzimtoti Amanzimtoti is a coastal town just south of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The town is well known for its warm climate and numerous beaches, and is a popular tourist destination, particularly with surfers. The annual sardine run attracts ...

, Kingsburgh,

Scottburgh Scottburgh () is a coastal resort town located on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It situated south of the mouth of the Mpambanyoni River ''(confuser of birds).'' History Named after Natal Colony Governor John Scott, in 186 ...

Umkomaas Umkomaas, a small coastal village on the subtropical south coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa was formed when a harbour was built in 1861 to export sugar. The village rests beside the mouth of the navigable uMkhomazi River, also known as the ...

Ballito Ballito is an affluent town located in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Ballito is about north of Durban. It forms part of the KwaDukuza Local Municipality, and iLembe District Municipality. Dolphins are common on this stretch of the North Coas ...

and

KwaDukuza KwaDukuza is a municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In 2006, the municipal name was changed to KwaDukuza (which incorporates small towns such as Stanger, Balito, Shaka's Kraal, but the Zulu people in the area called it "Dukuza" well before ...

) that rely on Durban. Durban also has a system of freeway and dual arterial metropolitan routes, which connect the sprawling suburbs that lie to the north, west and south of the city. The M4 exists in two segments. The northern segment, named the Ruth First Highway, starts as an alternative highway from the

R102 The R.102 (originally referred to as Project H) was a British airship planned in 1930 but never built. The development of R.102 resulted from the Imperial Airship Scheme, when it became apparent that the R100 and R101 airships then being buil ...

and shortly after intersects the N2. It passes through the seaside towns and villages of La Mercy and

eMdloti (previously and popularly known as Umdloti or Umdloti Beach), is a small resort village on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast, South Africa that is situated at the mouth of the Mdloti River north of Durban and now forms part of eThekwini, the Grea ...

before becoming a dual carriageway in uMhlanga, north of Durban and ending at the northern edge of the CBD. The southern segment of the M4, the

Albert Lutuli Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli ( – 21 July 1967) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, traditional leader, and politician who served as the President-General of the African National Congress from 1952 until his death in 1967. Luthuli wa ...

Highway, starts at the southern edge of the CBD, connecting through to the old, decommissioned Durban International Airport, where it once again reconnects at the southern end of the N2 Outer Ring Road. The M7 connects the southern industrial basin of Durban with the N3 and

Pinetown Pinetown is a large area that is part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, inland from Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Pinetown is situated 16 km west of Durban at an elevation of 1,000 to 1,300 feet (305 to 395 m). History Pi ...

via

Queensburgh Queensburgh () is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa that is situated inland (southwest) from Durban and now forms part of eThekwini, the Greater Durban metropolitan area. History The hilly area was settled by people working in Durban who ...

via the N2. The M19 connects the inner northern suburbs of Durban with Pinetown via Westville and the M41 connects uMhlanga and

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

via

Mount Edgecombe Mount Edgecombe or Mt Edgecombe is a gated community in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, situated just north of Durban, which forms part of eThekwini, the Greater Durban Metropolitan area. It is famous for resorts and golf. It includes a retiremen ...

and the N2. The M13 (King Cetshwayo Highway) is an untolled alternative to the N3 Western Freeway (which is tolled at Mariannhill) and is an important commuter route linking the nearby towns and suburbs to the west of Durban such as Hillcrest,

Gillitts Gillitts is a town in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. Overview It is about inland from the Durban city centre at an elevation of 1800 feet (600 m ASL). Although Durban is semi-tropical and very humid, Gillitts is above the humidity a ...

Kloof Kloof is a leafy upper-class town, that includes a smaller area called Everton, located approximately 26 km north-west of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Once an independent municipality, it now forms part of greater Durban area ...

, Pinetown and Westville to the city. In the late 2000s 107 streets in Durban were renamed, typically to honour individuals involved in the antiapartheid or international revolutionary movements, with two-thirds of the streets named after individuals associated with the governing

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

. This was done in two stages; a first, smaller one, which renamed eighteen streets and was met with some trepidation by opposition parties, particularly the Democratic Alliance, the

Inkatha Freedom Party The Inkatha Freedom Party ( zu, IQembu leNkatha yeNkululeko, IFP) is a right-wing political party in South Africa. The party has been led by Velenkosini Hlabisa since the party's 2019 National General Conference. Mangosuthu Buthelezi founded ...

, and the

Minority Front The Minority Front is a political party in South Africa. The party represents all minorities of South Africa, however, its support comes mainly from the South African Indian community. Its voter base is in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The e ...

, and a second, larger stage, which renamed 99 streets and was met with considerably wider opposition after the controversy of the first and the minimal time between them. The first group was met with some opposition from This process was met with outrage from both opposition parties and the parts of the general public, as well as incidents of vandalism against the new road signs. The Democratic Alliance,

, and

were concerned with their lack of participation in the process, and that the emphasis on individuals affiliated with the ANC presented a partisan image of the antiapartheid struggle. Among the general public there was significant opposition from middle-class

white South Africans White South Africans generally refers to South Africans The population of South Africa is about 58.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The South African National Census of 2022 was the most recent censu ...

Indian South Africans Indian South Africans are South Africans who descend from indentured labourers and free migrants who arrived from British India during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The majority live in and around the city of Durban, making it one of the l ...

, and

Zulu nationalists Zulu may refer to: Zulu people * Zulu Kingdom or Zulu Empire, a former monarchy in what is now South Africa * Zulu language, a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa * Zulu people, an ethnic group of southern Africa Arts, entertainment, and me ...

, who believed that the new names should have a connection to the people and the history of the locality. In response, the ANC characterized the project as a transformation and part of progressive social change, characterizing their opponents as being "antitransformation" and "pro-apartheid".

Buses

Several companies run long-distance bus services from Durban to the other cities in South Africa. Buses have a long history in Durban. Most of them have been run by Indian owners since the early 1930s. Privately owned buses which are not subsidised by the government also service the communities. Buses operate in all areas of the eThekwini Municipality. Since 2003 buses have been violently taken out of the routes and bus ranks by taxi operators. Durban was previously served by the Durban trolleybus system, which first ran in 1935. Since 2017 the newer People Mover Bus System which runs along certain routes has been testing out free

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wav ...

for passengers.

Taxis

Durban has two kinds of taxis: metered taxis and

minibus taxi A minibus, microbus, minicoach, or commuter (in Zimbabwe) is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, ...

s. Unlike in many cities, metered taxis are not allowed to drive around the city to solicit fares and instead must be called and ordered to a specific location. A number of companies service the Durban and surrounding regions. These taxis can also be called upon for airport transfers, point to point pickups and shuttles. Mini bus taxis are the standard form of transport for the majority of the population who cannot afford private cars. With the high demand for transport by the working class of South Africa, minibus taxis are often filled over their legal passenger allowance, making for high casualty rates when they are involved in accidents. Minibuses are generally owned and operated in fleets, and inter-operator violence flares up from time to time, especially as turf wars over lucrative taxi routes occur. Ride sharing apps

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), packa ...

and Taxify have been launched in Durban and are also used by commuters.

Rickshaws

Although

rickshaw A rickshaw originally denoted a two- or three-wheeled passenger cart, now known as a pulled rickshaw, which is generally pulled by one person carrying one passenger. The first known use of the term was in 1879. Over time, cycle rickshaws (also ...

s have been a mode of transportation since the early 1900s, they have been displaced by other forms of motorised transport. The roughly 25 remaining rickshaws mostly cater to tourists.

Education

Private schools

Al Falaah College Al Falaah College is an independent Islamic school situated in the coastal city of Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. History In 1985, Ahmedia School opened its doors in Bellair Road, Cato Manor, Durban. The school marked the establish ...

* Clifton School * Crawford College, La Lucia * Crawford College, North Coast *

Durban Girls' College Durban Girls' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls, with weekly boarding facilities for high school pupils, located on the Berea, overlooking the city of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Notable alumnae *Lara Loga ...

Eden College Durban Eden College Durban is an independent school for boys and girls located in Glenmore, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, in the Republic of South Africa. It comprises a pre-primary school (grades 000 to 0), a preparatory school (grades 1 to 6), a middle scho ...

* Highbury Preparatory School *

Hillcrest Christian Academy Hillcrest is a town in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality as a suburb of the Outer West region. History Hillcrest was formerly a sleepy vill ...

Maris Stella School Maris Stella School is a private Roman Catholic day school for girls from three + to eighteen years old (grades 000-12 or pre-primary, primary and secondary phases), located on the Berea in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded on ...

Orient Islamic School Orient Islamic School is an independent Muslim school situated in Greyville, Durban, South Africa. Orient School is part of the Orient Islamic Educational Institute that was established in 1938. The school was established in 1959 as a state-aided ...

Reddam House Reddam House is an independent, co-educational, non-denominational, day school, located in Woollahra (pre-school to Year 9) and North Bondi (Years 10 to 12), both Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Reddam House was acqui ...

Roseway Waldorf School Roseway Waldorf School is a coeducational privately funded school in Alverstone, near Botha's Hill, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in February 1985. The school now has programs from preschool through high school. The school is base ...

St. Henry's Marist Brothers' College St. Henry's Marist College, formerly known as St Henry's Marist Brothers' College is a co-educational private school with a Catholic foundation in Glenwood, KwaZulu-Natal, Glenwood, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. History Saint Marcellin Ch ...

St. Mary's Diocesan School for Girls, Kloof St Mary's Diocesan School for Girls is a Private school, private Boarding school, boarding and day school for girls situated on St Marys Road in the suburb of Kloof (eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality), near Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Afr ...

* Thomas More College * T Thunder College

Public schools

Brettonwood High School Brettonwood High School, in Durban, South Africa, opened in January 1966, is named after Brettonwood Avenue, which is at the intersection of the main entrance. It was known as Brettonwood Boys' High School until it became co-educational in the mi ...

* Durban Academy High School *

Durban Girls' High School Durban Girls' High School (known to the students of the school as DGHS) is a public high school for girls located in Glenwood, a suburb of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1882 and is home to over 1200 students. Nose-st ...

(DGHS) *

Durban High School Durban High School is an all-boys public school in Durban, South Africa. DHS opened its doors in 1866 in two rooms and with seven pupils in Smith Street. From there it moved to a disused granary in Cato Square in 1880, just after the Zulu ...

(DHS) *

Durban North College Durban North College or Durban-Noord-kollege (in Afrikaans) is a high school situated to the north of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. History D.N.C. started as a purely Afrikaans school called Afrikaanse Hoërskool Durban-Noord. In 1996 ...

George Campbell School of Technology George Campbell School of Technology is a public high school specialising in technical education, located in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The school was founded as George Campbell Technical High School in 1963 and today has a co-educatio ...

* Glenwood High School * Hillcrest High School * Isipingo Secondary School * Kingsway High School * Kloof High School * Kloof Junior Primary School *

Kloof Pre-Primary School Kloof is a leafy upper-class town, that includes a smaller area called Everton, located approximately 26 km north-west of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Once an independent municipality, it now forms part of greater Durban area ...

Kloof Senior Primary School Kloof is a leafy upper-class town, that includes a smaller area called Everton, located approximately 26 km north-west of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Once an independent municipality, it now forms part of greater Durban area ...

* Mowat Park High School * New Forest High School *

Northlands Girls' High School Northlands Girls High School 'NGHS' is an all-girls school situated in the suburb of Durban North, South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is b ...

* Northwood School *

Ogwini Comprehensive High School Ogwini Comprehensive Technical High School is located at Umlazi, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, located south-west of Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that termi ...

Pinetown Boys' High School Pinetown Boys' High School (also known as Pinetown Boys', or PBHS) is a public school for boys in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. History Pinetown High School was founded in 1955 as a co-educational, dual-medium school. It was sited at ...

* Pinetown Girls' High School *

Port Natal High School Port Natal High School (known to the students of the school as Porties) is a public co-ed high school for Afrikaans speaking learners. The school is located in Umbilo, a middle class suburb of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal Province, KwaZulu-Natal, Sout ...

Queensburgh Girls' High School Queensburgh Girls' High School is an all-girls high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' low ...

Savannah Park Secondary School Savannah Park Secondary School is a combined co-education state school, public school in Savannah Park, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The school motto is "Hope in Hard Work". The School colours are Royal Blue and Gold. Savannah Park Secondary Scho ...

Sastri College High School Sastri is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * A. Seshayya Sastri (1828–1903), Indian administrator, Diwan of Travancore 1872–1877 and Diwan of Pudukkottai 1878–1894 * Bapudeva Sastri (1821–1900), Indian scholar in Sanskri ...

* St.Anthony Primary School *

Westville Boys' High School Westville Boys' High School, often referred to as WBHS or "boys high", is a semi-private high school for boys located in Westville, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Early history The year 2022 marks the 67th anniversary of WBHS as a high school. ...

Westville Girls' High School Westville Girls' High School,(or WGHS), is a state school, private school for girls in Westville, KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Classes are split based on the students’ academic ability, in order to help all students ...

Universities and Colleges

Durban University of Technology The Durban University of Technology (DUT) is a multi-campus university situated in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was formed in 2002 following the merger of Technikon Natal and ML Sultan Technikon and it was initially known as the Durban Instit ...

Mangosuthu University of Technology Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) is a university of technology situated in Umlazi near the city of Durban, South Africa, on a site overlooking the Indian Ocean. MUT is located in the academic hub in the eThekwini metropole. It is a resid ...

Regent Business School ''For the Regent's Business School in London - see Regent's Business School London.'' Regent Business School is a distance education institution located in Durban, South Africa. It is a private higher education institution, established in 1998 ...

University of KwaZulu-Natal The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is a university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville. ...

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

Varsity College (South Africa) The IIE's Varsity College is an educational brand of The Independent Institute of Education (The IIE). The IIE is the most accredited private higher education provider in SA and it is registered with the Department of Higher Education and Traini ...

eta College 'Eta College'' is an international, private, single purpose college founded in 1983. It has nine campuses, and an online learning facility. The national office is located in Cape Town. Its purpose is to provide education for fitness sport and recr ...

Culture

* African Art Centre *

* KZNSA *Phansi Museum * Ethekwini Municipal Libraries *

Thunee Thunee, after the Tamil language, Tamil word for water, is a popular trick-taking card game of the Jack-Nine family that originated in Durban, South Africa. It is believed that the game was developed by the first indentured Indian labourers. The ...

is a popular Jack-Nine card game that originated among communities in Durban

Places of worship

Among the

places of worship A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is somet ...

, there are predominantly Christian churches and temples. These include:

Zion Christian Church The Zion Christian Church (ZCC) is one of the largest African-initiated churches operating across Southern Africa, and is part of the African Zionism movement. The church's headquarters are at Zion City Moria in Limpopo Province (old Northern ...

Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa The Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa (AFM) is a classical Pentecostal Christian denomination in South Africa. With 1.2 million adherents, it is South Africa's largest Pentecostal church and the fifth largest religious grouping in South Af ...

, Assemblies of God, Baptist Union of Southern Africa (

Baptist World Alliance The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the largest international Baptist organization with an estimated 51 million people in 2022 with 246 member bodies in 128 countries and territories. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA account ...

Methodist Church of Southern Africa The Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) is a large Wesleyan Methodist denomination, with local churches across South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini, and a more limited presence in Mozambique. It is a member church of the ...

(

World Methodist Council The World Methodist Council (WMC), founded in 1881, is a consultative body and association of churches in the Methodist tradition. It comprises 80 member denominations in 138 countries which together represent an estimated 80 million people; this ...

Anglican Church of Southern Africa The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, known until 2006 as the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, is the province of the Anglican Communion in the southern part of Africa. The church has twenty-five dioceses, of which twenty-one are loc ...

(

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

Presbyterian Church of Africa The Presbyterian Church of Africa was founded in 1898 by Rev. James Mzimba, who broke from the Church of Scotland. He was born in Ngquakai, and his father was a deacon in the Presbyterian Church. Mzimba become a pastor, and was ordained in 1875. He ...

(

World Communion of Reformed Churches The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Calvinist churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations in 108 countries, together claiming an estimated 80 million people, thus being the fourth-largest Chris ...

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Durban The Archdiocese of Durban evolved from the Vicariate Apostolic of Natal which was erected on 15 November 1850 and elevated to an archdiocese with the title Archdiocese of Durban on 11 January 1951. As of 2002, the Church census shows that there ...

(

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

) and the

Durban South Africa Temple The Durban South Africa Temple is a Temple (LDS Church), temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Durban, South Africa.. The intent to construct the temple was announced by President of the Church (LDS Church), c ...

(

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

). There are also

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

mosques and

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

temples.

Crime and safety

As in other South African cities, Durban has a high murder rate. Between April 2018 and March 2019, the Ethekwini Metropolitan Municipality recorded 1,871 murders, gradually increasing from 1,349 seven years earlier and down from 2,042 in 2009. Criminals usually avoid targeting tourists because they know that the police response will be greater. Heist or theft is a common crime in the city. Most houses are protected by high walls and wealthier residents are often able to afford greater protection such as electric fencing, private security or gated communities. Crime rates vary widely across the city and most inner suburbs have much lower murder rates than in outlying areas of Ethekwini. Police station precincts recording the lowest murder rates per 100,000 in 2017 were Durban North (7), Mayville (8), Westville (12) and Malvern (12); Kwamashu (76) and Umlazi (69) were some of the most dangerous areas. Other crime comparisons are less valuable due to significant under-reporting especially in outlying areas. There was a period of intense violence beginning in the 1990s, and the Durban area recorded a murder rate of 83 per 100,000 in 1999. The murder rate dropped rapidly in the 2000s before increasing rapidly throughout the 2010s. Durban is one of the main drug trafficking routes for drugs exiting and entering sub-Saharan Africa. The drug trade has increased significantly over the past 20 years.

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Durban is twinned with: *

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

, Egypt * Antwerp,

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

, Belgium * Bremen, Germany *

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council ...

, Zimbabwe *

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, US * Gwangju, South Korea * Eilat, Israel *

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, China * Le Port,

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...

, Taiwan *

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, United Kingdom * Maracaibo, Venezuela *

, Mozambique * Nantes, France *

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, Louisiana, US * Oran, Algeria *

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, Netherlands *

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

, Kenya

Notable residents

* Dianne Lynne Bevelander, South African academic and activist *

Jack Saul John Saul (29 October 1857 – 28 August 1904), also known as Jack Saul, and ''Dublin Jack'', was an Irish prostitute. He featured in two major homosexual scandals, and as a character in two works of pornographic literature of the period. Conside ...

, South African-Israeli tennis player * Billy Tennant, professional flowboarder

References

External links

eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality

Durban Tourism Bureau

Snake City, National Geographic Wild

Gandhi Sites in Durban
{{Authority control 1880 establishments in the British Empire Cities in South Africa History of KwaZulu-Natal Port cities and towns of the Indian Ocean Populated places established in 1824 Populated places in eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality Port cities in South Africa Populated coastal places in South Africa

History

Abambo People

First European Colonizers

Republic of Natalia

Durban's historic regalia

Government

Geography

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Informal sector

Civil society

Tourism

Media

Sport

Transport

Air

Sea

Rail

Roads

Buses

Taxis

Rickshaws

Education

Private schools

Public schools

Universities and Colleges

Culture

Places of worship

Crime and safety

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Notable residents

See also

References

External links