Ixopo is a town situated on a tributary of the
Mkhomazi River along the
R56 highway in the midlands of
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
.
Background
Ixopo was formerly known as Stuartstown, was laid out in 1878 and named after M Stuart, Resident Magistrate of the Ixopo district, who was killed at the
Battle of Ingogo
Battle of Schuinshoogte, also known as Battle of Ingogo, was fought north of Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, on 8 February 1881 during the First Boer War. General Sir George Pomeroy Colley's communications with Newcastle were under constant harassment b ...
in 1881.
[ Its name is derived from the Zulu onomatopoeic word, ''eXobo'', describing the sound made as ]cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...
squelch through mud. The 'x', in Zulu, is pronounced as a lateral click
The lateral clicks are a family of click consonants found only in African languages. The clicking sound used by equestrians to urge on their horses is a lateral click, although it is not a speech sound in that context. Lateral clicks are found t ...
).
Ixopo is most famously described by Alan Paton
Alan Stewart Paton (11 January 1903 – 12 April 1988) was a South African writer and anti-apartheid activist. His works include the novels ''Cry, the Beloved Country'' and '' Too Late the Phalarope''.
Family
Paton was born in Pietermaritzbu ...
in the opening lines 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 ...
: "There is a lovely road which runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it."[
Until the mid-1980s, Ixopo was served by a railway station on the narrow gauge ]Umzinto - Donnybrook narrow gauge railway
Umzinto is a town, located in the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and falls under the uMdoni Local Municipality. It was a sugarcane growing area and the town was set up as the centre for a sugar mill.
Etymology
"Umzinto" is sai ...
.[
]
Notable people
* Thabo Nodada
Thabo Nodada (born 2 May 1995 in Ixopo, Kwa-Zulu Natal) is a South African soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Cape Town City and the South Africa national team.
Club career
He joined Cape Town City in 2016 when they purchased the PS ...
(Footballer)
* Purity Nomthandazo Malinga
Purity Nomthandazo Malinga (born 1958) is a South African Methodist bishop and the 100th Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA). Malinga was ordained to the Christian ministry in 1988, the fourth woman to be ordain ...
(Bishop)
* Ray Zondo
Raymond Mnyamezeli Mlungisi "Ray" Zondo (born 4 May 1960) is a South African judge who is currently serving as Chief Justice of South Africa since 2022. President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Zondo as South Africa's new chief justice with effect ...
(Chief Justice, Constitutional Court of South Africa
The Constitutional Court of South Africa is a supreme court, supreme constitutional court established by the Constitution of South Africa, and is the apex court in the South African judicial system, with general jurisdiction.
The Court was fi ...
)
References
3
R56 information
Route 56 - Ixopo
Populated places in the Ubuhlebezwe Local Municipality
{{KwaZuluNatal-geo-stub