Laing's Nek, or Lang's Nek is a

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places *Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits *Mountain pass, a lower place in a mounta ...

through the Drakensberg mountain range,

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 coun ...

, immediately north of Majuba, at at an elevation of 5400 to . It is the lowest part of a ridge which slopes from Majuba to the Buffalo River, and before the opening of the railway in 1891 the road over the nek was the main artery of communication between

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 ...

and

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothi ...

. The railway crosses the pass via a . long tunnel.

History

There are two possible explanations for its name. It could be named after Henry Laing, owner of a farm at is foot or William Timothy Lang who bought a farm in 1874 at its base. When the

Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...

s rose in revolt in December 1880 they occupied Laing's Nek to oppose the entry of British reinforcements into the Transvaal. On 28 January 1881 a small British force endeavoured to drive the Boers from the pass, but was forced to retire after the Battle of Laing's Nek.

References

*{{EB1911 , wstitle=Laing's Nek , volume=16 , page=84 Mountain passes of KwaZulu-Natal