Melmoth is a small town situated in

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 ...

. The town was established in the Mthonjaneni district after the annexation of Zululand by the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

in 1887 and was named after Sir Melmoth Osborn, the resident commissioner of Zululand's "Reserve Territory". Large wattle plantations were set up and a wattle bark factory was established in 1926. The district is also planted with sugar cane from the outskirts of the town and into the surrounding villages. The government-funded hospital in Melmoth is St Marys kwaMagwaza Hospital that caters for the people of Melmoth and surrounding villages. The main road to Piet Retief is extremely busy during holiday periods. Vehicle registrations in Melmoth start with NO - N for Natal, O for Osborn.

References

Populated places in the Mthonjaneni Local Municipality Populated places established in 1887 {{KwaZuluNatal-geo-stub