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 is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South Africa, on the Natal Bay of the Indian Ocean, Durban is South Africa's busiest port and was formerly named Port Natal. North of the harbour and city centre lies the mouth of the Umgeni River; the flat city centre rises to the hills of the Berea on the west; and to the south, running along the coast, is the Bluff. Durban is the seat of the larger eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which spans an area of 2,556 km2 (987 sq mi) and had a population of 4.2 million in 2022, making the metropolitan population one of Africa's largest on the Indian Ocean. The city has a humid subtropical climate, with hot, wet summers and mild, dry winters.
Pietermaritzburg (; is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named after King Dingane's royal homestead uMgungundlovu. Pietermaritzburg is popularly called Maritzburg in Afrikaans and is 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 government offices located here.
The Inkatha Freedom Party is a right-wing political party in South Africa. Although registered as a national party, it has had only minor electoral success outside its home province of KwaZulu-Natal. Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who served as chief minister of KwaZulu during the Apartheid period, founded the party in 1975 and led it until 2019. He was succeeded as party president in 2019 by Velenkosini Hlabisa.
KwaDukuza, previously known as Stanger, is a city in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In 2006, the municipal name was changed to KwaDukuza, but the Zulu people in the area called it "Dukuza" well before then.
Pinetown is a city that forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, based just inland from Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The town is situated 16 km north-west of Durban and 64 km south-east of Pietermaritzburg.
Inanda or eNanda is a township in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa that is situated 21 km north-west of Durban. It forms part of eThekwini, the Greater Durban Metropolitan Municipality. Populated primarily by Zulu-speaking Black Africans, Inanda is the home of John Langalibalele Dube, first President of the African National Congress (ANC), a former residence and base of operations of Mahatma Gandhi, and the birthplace of the syncretic Nazareth Baptist Church
oThongathi, previously and still commonly known as Tongaat, is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Durban and 28 kilometres (17 mi) south of KwaDukuza. It now forms part of eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, or the Greater Durban area. The area is home to the oldest Indian community in South Africa, having been where the first indentured Indian laborers settled in 1860 to work in the sugar-cane plantations. Much of the architectural style in the town was the work of Ivan Mitford-Barberton, and many buildings are in the Cape Dutch style of architecture.
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.
Chatsworth is a large township in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa established in the 1950s to segregate the Indian population and create a buffer between the white suburbs of Durban to the north and the black townships of Durban to the south. Located in the Southern Durban basin and roughly bordered by the Umhlatuzana River in the North and Umlaas River in the South, the suburb is made up mainly of Indian/Asian and Black African people.
Durban North is an area to the north of Durban in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Durban North lies between the N2 freeway and the eastern seashore, with the Umgeni River forming its southern boundary. It has residential suburbs that are some of Durban's most affluent and is flanked by La Lucia in the north.
Phoenix is a South African town about 25 kilometres (15 mi) northwest of Durban Central, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was established as a town by the apartheid government in 1976, but it has a long history of Indian occupation. It is associated with the Phoenix Settlement, built by Mahatma Gandhi.
The eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality, created in 2000, that includes the city of Durban and surrounding towns. eThekwini is one of the 11 districts of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. As of 2011, the majority of its 3,442,361 inhabitants spoke isiZulu.
Ntuzuma is a town in eThekwini in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.
Dududu is a small rural area in the South Coast of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. It is also referred to as Zembeni by locals. The area is primarily used for agriculture, i.e. the sugarcane plantations by the Illovo Sugar company.
KwaMakhutha is a township in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, located south-west of Durban and means "at the Makhutha location".
Sibongiseni Dhlomo is a South African politician and medical doctor for the African National Congress. Dhlomo is the current deputy minister of health for the Republic of South Africa.
Philani Godfrey Mavundla is a South African politician and business tycoon who has been the Mayor of the Umvoti Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal since 2023, having previously served from 2011 to 2013 as a member of the African National Congress. He served as the Deputy Mayor of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality from 2021 until 2022. He is the founder and current leader of the Abantu Batho Congress, a party he founded in early-2020 after he resigned from the National Freedom Party (NFP).
Sanele Sethembeni Zondo is a South African politician from KwaZulu-Natal. He is currently a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Inkatha Freedom Party. Zondo also serves as the Deputy National Chairperson of the Inkatha Freedom Party Youth Brigade.
