KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu and Natal Province were merged. It is located in the southeast of the country, with a long shoreline on the Indian Ocean and sharing borders with three other provinces and the countries of Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho. Its capital is Pietermaritzburg, and its largest city is Durban. It is the second-most populous province in South Africa, with slightly fewer residents than Gauteng.
Durban, nicknamed Durbs, is the third most populous city in South Africa after Johannesburg and Cape Town and the largest city in KwaZulu-Natal. Durban forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which includes neighbouring towns and has a population of about 3.44 million, making the combined municipality one of the largest cities on the Indian Ocean coast of the African continent. Durban was also one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Pietermaritzburg is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu is the name used for the district municipality. Pietermaritzburg is popularly called Maritzburg in Afrikaans, English and Zulu alike, and often informally abbreviated to PMB. It is a regionally important industrial hub, producing aluminium, timber and dairy products, as well as the main economic hub of Umgungundlovu District Municipality. The public sector is a major employer in the city due to local, district and provincial governments located here.
The Inkatha Freedom Party 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 the party in 1975 and led it until 2019. The IFP is currently the fourth largest party in the National Assembly of South Africa, in 2014 yielding third place to the Economic Freedom Fighters, formed in 2013. Although registered as a national party, it has had only minor electoral success outside its home province 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.
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 many to the Toti beaches.
Inanda or eNanda is a township in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa that is situated 30 km north-west of the Durban CBD; it forms part of eThekwini, the Greater Durban Metropolitan Municipality. Populated primarily by Zulu-speaking Black Africans, Inanda Township is the home of John Langalibalele Dube, first president of the African National Congress (ANC), as a residence/base of operations of Mahatma Gandhi, and as birthplace of the syncretic Nazareth Baptist Church
The Durban University of Technology (DUT) in English and Inyuvesi Yasethekwini Yezobuchwepheshe in isiZulu, is a university 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 Institute of Technology. It has five campuses in Durban, and two in Pietermaritzburg. In April 2021, approximately 30,439 students were enrolled to study at DUT. The university is one of five technical institutions on the African continent to offer Doctoral Degrees. The current Chancellor is Nonkululeko Nyembezi.
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 largest "Indian" populated cities outside of India.
Sthembiso Ngcobo is a South African association football striker for Premier Soccer League club Free State Stars.
The Constitution of South Africa protects all basic political freedoms. However, there have been many incidents of political repression, dating back to at least 2002, as well as threats of future repression in violation of this constitution leading some analysts, civil society organisations and popular movements to conclude that there is a new climate of political repression or a decline in political tolerance.
There have been a number of political assassinations in post-apartheid South Africa. In 2013 it was reported that there had been more than 450 political assassinations in the province of KwaZulu-Natal since the end of apartheid in 1994. In July 2013 the Daily Maverick reported that there had been "59 political murders in the last five years". In August 2016 it was reported that there had been at least twenty political assassinations in the run up to the local government elections on the 3rd of August that year, most of them in KwaZulu-Natal.
Baldwin Sipho "Ben" Ngubane was a politician from South Africa. He held multiple positions in the post-apartheid government of the country. In particular, he was Premier of KwaZulu-Natal and minister of Arts, Culture from 1994 until 31 August 1996 and from February 1999 until April 2004.
Shiyani Ngcobo was a Maskandi guitarist and teacher from South Africa who was a major figure in spreading the popularity of Maskanda outside of its homeland of South Africa. He toured Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom during the early 2000s in support of his album Introducing Shiyani Ngcobo. In addition, he taught maskandi guitar style at the School of Music of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He died near Durban on 18 February 2011.
Lauretta Ngcobo was a South African novelist and essayist. After being in exile between 1963 and 1994 — in Swaziland, then Zambia and finally England, where she taught for 25 years — she returned to South Africa and lived in Durban. Her writings between the 1960s and early 1990s have been described as offering "significant insights into the experiences of Black women of apartheid's vagaries". As a novelist she is best known for And They Didn't Die (1990), set in 1950s South Africa and portraying "the particular oppression of women who struggle to survive, work the land and maintain a sense of dignity under the apartheid system while their husbands seek work in the mines and cities."
Nsikayesizwe David Junior Ngcobo, known professionally as Nasty C, is a South African rapper, songwriter, and record producer.
Duma Ndlovu is a South African poet, filmmaker, producer, journalist and playwright. He is well known in the South African television industry, having created award-winning shows such as Muvhango, Imbewu: The Seed and Uzalo. Between 1996 and 2004 he was the chairman of the South African Music Awards.
Zakhele Madida professionally known as Zakes Bantwini, is a South African singer, record producer and businessman. Born from KwaMashu F-section, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He has worked with fellow musician Black Coffee, with whom he collaborated on the song "Juju".
Sibongiseni Ngcobo is a South African politician who has been a Member of Parliament (MP) in the National Assembly since May 2019. A member of the Democratic Alliance, he is currently the youngest Member of the National Assembly. Ngcobo served as a DA councillor in the Richmond Local Municipality from 2016 to 2019.
