Pietermaritzburg Totally Explained

Everything about Pietermaritzburg totally explained

Pietermaritzburg is the capital and second largest city of the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was founded in 1838. Popularly called Maritzburg, and abbreviated PMB, it's home to a campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and is a major producer of aluminium as well as timber and dairy products. It had a population of 228,549 in 1991; the estimated current population is between 350,000 and 500,000.

History

This magnificent example of Victorian architecture is the largest red-brick building in the Southern Hemisphere. The city was originally founded by the Voortrekkers, following the defeat of Dingane at the Battle of Blood River, and was the capital of the short-lived Boer republic, Natalia. Britain took over Pietermaritzburg in 1843 and it became the seat of the Natal Colony's administration with the first lieutenant-governor, Martin West, making it his home. Fort Napier, named after the governor of the Cape Colony, Sir George Thomas Napier, was built to house a garrison. In 1893 Natal received responsibility for their own government and an assembly building was built along with the city hall. In 1910, when the Union of South Africa was formed, Natal became a province of the union, and Pietermaritzburg remained the capital.

Name

There exist two interpretations about the origin of the city's name. One is that it was named after Piet Retief and Gert (Gerrit) Maritz, two famous Voortrekker leaders. The other is that it was originally named after Piet Retief alone, since his full name was Pieter Maurits Retief. Retief was killed by Dingane, successor to Shaka, king of the Zulus. Maritz died in battle with the Zulus at Bloukranz, some hundreds of kilometres further North and so didn't ever reach the Pietermaritzburg area. In 1938, however, the city announced officially that the second element Maritz should also honour Gert Maritz.
At the time of the rise of the Zulu Empire, the site that was to become Pietermaritzburg was called Umgungundlovu. This is popularly translated from the Zulu as "Place of the Elephant", although it could also be translated to mean "The elephant wins". Umgungundlovu is thus thought to be the site of some Zulu king's victory, since "Elephant" (Indlovu) is a name traditionally taken by the Zulu monarch. Legend has it that Shaka had his warriors hunt elephant there to sell the ivory to English traders at Durban (then called Port Natal). Today, the town is still called by its Voortrekker name, although the municipality it's part of bears the Zulu name.

Apartheid

During apartheid, the city was segregated into various sections. 90% of the Indian population was moved to the suburb of Northdale while most of its Zulu inhabitants were moved to the neighbouring township of Edendale.

The university

The University of Natal was founded in 1910 as the Natal University College and extended to Durban in 1922. The two campuses were incorporated into the University of Natal in March 1949. It became a major voice in the struggle against Apartheid, and was one of the first universities in the country to provide education to black students. This campus boasts association with a remarkable array of world-class academics and has famous alumni distributed throughout the world. It became the University of KwaZulu-Natal on 1 January 2004.

Mahatma Gandhi

Pietermaritzburg is also famous for an incident early in the life of Mahatma Gandhi, wherein he was thrown off a train for refusing to go sit in third-class seating due to a white man not having a seat; even though the Mahatma held a valid first-class ticket. This incident inspired Gandhi to begin his career protesting against laws discriminating against Indians in South Africa. Today, a bronze statue of Gandhi stands in Church Street, in the city centre.

Other historical events

The first newspaper in Natal, the Natal Witness (now known as The Witness), was published in 1846.
The 46 hectare Botanic Gardens were created in 1872 by the Botanic Society of Natal.
The city hall, which is the largest red-brick building in the Southern Hemisphere, was destroyed by fire in 1895, but was rebuilt in 1901.
The British built a concentration camp here during the Second Boer War to house Boer women and children.
In 1962, Nelson Mandela was arrested in the nearby town of Howick to the north of Pietermaritzburg. The arrest marked the beginning of Nelson Mandela's 27 years of imprisonment. A small monument has been erected at the location of his arrest.

Capital status

Prior to the end of apartheid in 1994, Pietermaritzburg was the capital of Natal Province. Following the first post-apartheid elections in South Africa, as a result of which the Inkatha Freedom Party won a majority in the KwaZulu Natal provincial government, Pietermaritzburg shared its status as capital of the (then newly-created) province of KwaZulu Natal with Ulundi. Pietermaritzburg became the legislative capital of the new province, while Ulundi became the administrative capital. The IFP, being strongly Zulu nationalist, desired that Ulundi, the capital of the Zulu Kingdom at the time of its fall to the British in the Anglo-Zulu War, be the post-apartheid capital of the province. Ulundi had also been the capital of the bantustan KwaZulu, which makes up a portion of modern KwaZulu-Natal. However, Ulundi severely lacked the infrastructure to be an effective seat of government, and the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Party, the two other strong political parties in the province, among others, called for Pietermaritzburg alone to be the capital. The debate came to an end when the ANC came to power in the province in 2004, and named Pietermaritzburg the sole capital of KwaZulu Natal. This has resulted in the relocation of several government offices to Pietermaritzburg. This has generally been welcomed as a positive development for the region. Since 2004, progress such as the modernization of several buildings in the city centre and a proliferation of retail and housing developments in the suburbs are results of recent investment in the city by both the public and private sectors.

Geography and climate

Climate Table>

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Highest recorded temperature (°C)	41	39	38	37	37	31	32	35	39	40	41	42	42
Average daily maximum temperature (°C)	28	28	28	26	24	22	23	24	25	25	26	28	26
Average daily minimum temperature (°C)	18	17	16	12	7	3	3	6	10	13	15	16	11
Lowest recorded temperature (°C)	9	10	5	1	-1	-4	-4	-3	-1	2	5	6	-4
Average monthly precipitation (mm)	141	117	113	48	24	13	11	31	60	74	104	108	844
Average number of rain days (>= 1 mm)	18	16	15	10	5	3	3	5	10	15	19	19	138
Source: South African Weather Service

Educational institutions

Alexandra High School

Bisley Park Primary School

Carter High School

Clifton Preparatory School

Cordwalles Preparatory School

Cowan House

Epworth School

Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa

Grace College

Hilton College

Heritage Academy

Laddsworth Primary School

Linpark High School

Maritzburg College

Maritzburg Christian School

Merchiston Preparatory School

Michaelhouse

Pietermaritzburg Girls' High School

Scottsville School

St. Anne's Diocesan College

St. Charles College

St. John's Diocesan School for Girls

University of KwaZulu-Natal

Voortrekker High School

The Wykeham Collegiate

Sport

The Comrades Marathon takes place annually in June between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. It has been run since 1921 and attracts thousands of entrants. The start of the race alternates between the two cities.
   In January there's an annual canoe race, Dusi Canoe Marathon, from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. The route follows the Msunduzi River into the Mgeni River, through the Valley of a Thousand Hills into the Inanda Dam and from here to the mouth of the Mgeni River.
   The Midmar Mile is one of the largest open-water swimming events in the world; taking place at Midmar Dam, north of Pietermaritzburg in February every year, it attracts over 16,000 swimmers from around the world.
   The most prominent soccer club is Maritzburg United. The club was relegated from the Premier Soccer League after the 2006 / 2007 season, and it currently competes in the Mvela Golden League.
   The Pietermaritzburg Oval is considered one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in South Africa, and it hosted two matches during the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
   Pietermaritzburg cricket ground is notable as one of the two grounds used regularly for first-class cricket that have a tree within the boundary (the other is St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury, Kent).

Famous residents

Brendon Dedekind, swimmer (b. February 14 1976)

Bessie Head, writer, was born in Pietermaritzburg in 1937.

Charles Llewellyn, cricketer (b. September 29 1876). Holds the distinction of being the first non-White Test cricketer for South Africa.

Cuan McCarthy, fast-bowling cricketer 1929-2000

Phyllis McCarthy, noted authority and breeder of Rhodesian Ridgebacks

Shaun Morgan, lead singer of Seether, is a former resident of Pietermaritzburg and attended both Merchiston Preparatory School and Maritzburg College while he lived there.

Alan Paton, author of Cry the Beloved Country, was born in Pietermaritzburg.

Kevin Pietersen, cricketer (b. June 27 1980).

Jonty Rhodes, cricketer (b. July 27 1969)

Kevin Volans, composer (b. July 6 1949)

Butch James, Springbok and Natal Sharks rugby player attended Maritzburg College from 1994-2000. He played for Colleges' 3rd team and is now the starting flyhalf for the Springboks.

Greg Minnaar, twice crowned Downhill World Cup champion (2001, 2005) for winning the Mountain Bike World Cup points series. He was also crowned Downhill World Champion in 2003 for winning the season ending event.

Trivia

Built in 1900, the City Hall is the largest all-brick building in the southern hemisphere and was declared a national monument in 1969.

At 14 meters high, the statue Pegasus adorning the entrance of the Golden Horse Casino is the largest statue of a horse in the world.Further Information

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