18 Aug 2020

Interesting Facts about KZN

by | posted in: General | 1

Washed by the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, KwaZulu-Natal, with its subtropical coastline, sweeping savannah in the east and magnificent Drakensberg mountain range in the west, generously caters for just about every taste imaginable.

KwaZulu-Natal, a coastal South African province, is known for its beaches, mountains and savannah populated by big game. The safari destination Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, in the northeast, is home to black and white rhinos, lions and giraffes. Durban is an Indian-influenced harbour city and a popular surfing spot. Cultural villages around the town of Eshowe showcase the traditions of the indigenous Zulu people.

Sardine Run


An extraordinary natural phenomenon, that is witnessed annually on the KwaZulu-Natal coast, during late autumn or early winter is the “sardine run”. Also referred to as “the greatest shoal on earth”, the sardine run occurs when millions of sardines migrate from their spawning grounds south of the southern tip of Africa, northwards along the Eastern Cape coastline towards KwaZulu-Natal, following a path close inshore, often resulting in many fish washing up on beaches along the coast. The huge shoal of tiny fish can stretch for many kilometres and is followed and preyed upon by thousands of predators, including game fish, sharks, dolphins and seabirds. Usually, the shoals break up and the fish disappear into deeper water around Durban.

Economy

Durban is a rapidly growing urban area and is by most measures the busiest port in Africa, with a good rail network linking into Southern Africa. Sugar refining is the main industry. Sheep, cattle, dairy, citrus fruits, corn, sorghum, cotton, bananas, and pineapples are also raised. There is an embryonic KwaZulu-Natal wine industry. In addition to sugar refining, industries (located mainly in and around Durban) include textile, clothing, chemicals, rubber, fertilizer, paper, vehicle assembly and food-processing plants, tanneries, and oil refineries.

There are large aluminium-smelting plants at Richards Bay, on the north coast. The province produces considerable amounts of coal and timber. Majority of the population is black.

Sport – Famous sports events in KZN
  • Comrades Marathon – An annual marathon run between Pietermaritzburg and Durban
  • Midmar Mile – A mile-long swimming race held annually at Midmar Dam
  • Dusi Canoe Marathon – An annual canoe marathon, starts in Pietermaritzburg & ends in Durban
  • Durban July Handicap – South Africa’s premier annual horse racing event at Greyville Racecourse in Durban
  • Gunston 500 – a premier international surfing event hosted in Durban.
Nelson Mandela Capture Site

Nelson Mandela Capture Site, Howick, KZN, South Africa. Nelson Mandela is the late former president of South Africa. He earned his acclaim based more on his efforts to establish racial, social and political equality and had been ravaged by the harmful effects of the Apartheid regime. The Nelson Mandela Capture Site is a cultural and historical exhibition that is situated at the site at which Nelson Mandela was apprehended for his anti-Apartheid activism acts in August 1952.

Big Five Animals in Kwa-Zulu Natal


The Big Five are the five animals originally used by hunters as being difficult to hunt and unpredictable. They comprise the African Elephant, Cape buffalo, African Leopard, African Lion, and the African Rhino.

SA’s Highest Mountain Range is in KZN


The Drakensberg, the main mountain range of Southern Africa. The Drakensberg rises to more than 11,400 feet which is (3,475 metres) & extends roughly northeast to southwest for 700 miles (1,125 km) parallel to the south-eastern coast of South Africa. Rock and cave art several thousands of years old have been found in the range.

Largest Indian Community outside of India

Durban, Kwa Zulu Natal’s largest city is also the city with the largest Indian population outside of India. Indians were brought to KZN via ships in 1860 to work as indentured labourers and brought with them the culinary traditions and culture that contributes to the rich diversity of KZN.

Sources:
Kwazulu Tours
The Capture Site
Show Me

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About Devika Suresh

I started at Leads 2 Business in January 2010 (12 Years ago). I am presently Deputy HOD of L2Q. I started in the Daily Tenders Bills department and worked my way up to the L2Q department.

2 Apr 2020

10 Interesting Facts about Cape Town

by | posted in: Did You Know | 0

When you think about Cape Town, the immediate thoughts for me is Mother city or even Table Mountain, but in actual fact, there are many other interesting places in Cape town that you could experience. With Cape Town being the oldest city there is a majority to choose from, I give you 10 most interesting places for me.

Cape Town

The Mother City was the first city outside of Europe to get blue flag status because of its High-quality water, fantastic facilities safety and cleanliness. There are approximately 3.5 million people that live in Cape Town, this makes it South Africa’s Second Most populated city. This is also where you find the most Trophy homes and are worth more than 20 Million Rand which is found in Camps Bay.

Robben Island

Robben Island wasn’t always used as a prison but earlier years in the 1840s the island was used to treat patients with leprosy also the mentally and chronically ill. Even after the inhabitant patients with leprosy, Robben Island also was used as a fortified training and defence station by the British during World War 2.

Castle of Good Hope aka The Castle

This Historical monument and Provincial heritage site was built by the Dutch East India Company (DEIC) between 1666 and 1679 and is now the oldest existing colonial building in South Africa and is considered the best-preserved example of a 17th-century architectural structure in the entire world. Today the castle is used as the local headquarters for the South African Army for the Western Cape and houses the Castle Military Museum and ceremonial facilities for the traditional cape regiments.

Cape Town Stadium

With the announcement that South Africa was the host for the 2010 FIFA world cup, the Cape Town Stadium was built and is today known as an iconic landmark. The stadium had the seating capacity for 64,100 during the 2010 World cup but was later reduced to 55,000 as the top tier was replaced by event suites and clubrooms. Today the stadium has the environment to cater for anything from arts to sports, music and milestone events.

Boulders Beach

This beach one of many is a sheltered beach made up of inlets between granite boulders, this is where the name comes from. It is situated in the Cape peninsula, near Simons town. Boulders beach is a popular tourist attraction because of the colony of African penguins that settled there in 1982. This beach also forms part of the Table Mountain National Park.

Table Mountain

Table Mountain is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the Mother City; the flat plateau is approximately 3 kilometres from side to side. The mountain is often covered orographic clouds formed when a south-easterly wind is blowing up the mountain slopes. On cloudy days if you look closely you will see a person covered by a blanket of cloud. This is also one of the most romantic places couples get engaged.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden

This garden is praised as one of the greatest botanical gardens in the world. The cliffs in the garden tower 1085 meters above Kirstenbosch. The peninsula formation is known for the 600meter thick slab of hard, coarse, pebbly quartz sandstone. The botanical garden was born in 1903 when Harold Pearson came to South Africa.

Thunder city

Thunder City is an aircraft operating and maintenance company based at the Cape Town international airport owned by Mike Beachy. It is known for owning the largest civilian collection of former military jet aircraft in the entire world. After the fatal accident in 2009 in which the English Electric Lighting crashed at an airshow, the company stopped flying operations. They also upgrade older models of the Aerospatiale Puma Helicopter with modern avionics.

V&A Waterfront

The V&A waterfront was established in 1988, it is named after Prince Alfred, second son of Queen Victoria who visited the cape colony harbour in 1860 as a 16-year-old, he was the first-ever royal family member to come see the colonials. The waterfront boasts over 450 retailers, 12 Hotels and 5 Museums. At the waterfront, you can find the newly upgraded Cape Town Cruise Terminal, where on average about 107 million people visit the V&A per month. This increases to over 2.5 million people over the busy summer holidays.

The Cape Wheel

The Cape Wheel is a giant observation wheel that offers breathtaking 360degree panoramic views of Cape Town. When you’re on the wheel you can even see Robben Island. The 30 fully enclosed, air-conditioned cabins will take you 40 meters above the ground in safety and comfort. The Cape wheel was first known as the wheel of excellence. The wheel was constructed in Germany in 2007, it has also travelled around the world visiting Belgium twice, Germany twice and Sweden from 2009 – 2010. The Wheel that stands 15meters high nearly took a week to assemble in Cape Town

Sources:

Wikipedia
Castle of Good Hope
Roots Interns
RW Rant
Cape Town Etc

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About Shivan Verwey

I have been working as an Account Coordinator for L2B since September 2019. You just need to keep yourself humbled, love to expand the area of expertise and learn something new from someone or by a challenge that is faced. Every problem that I experience I do it one step at a time but most important factor of life for me is to believe and to trust and to have faith in things unseen.