Pinetown

History

Pinetown was named after the governor of Natal, Sir Benjamin Pine. The town was established in 1850 around the Wayside Hotel, itself built in 1849 along the main wagon route between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. In the Victorian era Pinetown was known as health resort. During the Second Boer War, the British built a concentration camp in Pinetown to house Boer women and children. A number of German settlers made Pinetown their base and this accounts for the neighbourhood known as New Germany and the German Lutheran Church. Indeed, to this day imported German cakes and goodies pack the shelves at Christmas time in the Knowles Spar, the largest grocery store of Pinetown. One of the largest monasteries was located south of Pinetown in Mariannhill, home to the Mariannhill monastery founded by Abbot Pfanner. The establishment of this monastery had huge influence in the expansion of the Catholic Church in KwaZulu Natal. The neighbouring area of Clermont was a solely black residential zone during the apartheid era, with land tenure being on a freehold basis unlike the state-owned townships elsewhere in Greater Durban metropolis. This meant residents enjoyed an atmosphere of freedom and this led to Clermont being a base for some well-known political activists during the apartheid era such as the lawyer Archie Gumede. Other personalities associated with Clermont are relatives of the leader of the world-renowned Ladysmith Black Mambazo musical group.

Geography

Pinetown lies at the base of Field's Hill on the banks of the uMbilo River, surrounded by Westville to the east, Queensburgh to the south-east and Kloof to the north-west. It is also centrally located to many predominantly Indian and Black townships including KwaDabeka and Clermont to the north-east, Chatsworth to the south-east, Klaarwater to the south and Luganda, Sgubudwini, Mpola, Tshelimnyama and KwaNdengezi to the south-west. Pinetown is mostly hilly, apart from the relatively flat central business district. The eastern areas, including Cowie's Hill and the New Germany Nature Reserve, rise to about 400 m (1,312 ft) above sea level. In the north, Berkshire Downs in New Germany reaches around 393 m (1,289 ft). The lowest elevations, ranging between 170 m (558 ft) and 300 m (984 ft), are found in the southern parts of Pinetown. Pinetown is part of the larger eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality and for voting purposes, falls within the IEC electoral [http://www.demarcation.org.za/Published_Maps/Maps\WardsA3PDF\KZN\59200018.pdf Ward 18]. Pinetown covers a large area of 86.15 km2 extending from the New Germany area in the north to Regency Park and Savannah Park in the south and from Paradise Valley and Moseley in the east to the industrial areas of Westmead and Mahogany Ridge that lie on the foot of Field's Hill in the west.

Most-observed species

• Hadada Ibis

  Bostrychia hagedash (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  6,766
• Red-eyed Dove

  Streptopelia semitorquata (Rüppell, 1837) · Aves
  6,064
• Red-winged Starling

  Onychognathus morio (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  4,801
• Cape White-eye

  Zosterops virens Sundevall, 1850 · Aves
  4,524
• Bronze mannikin

  Lonchura cucullata (Swainson, 1837) · Aves
  4,511
• Black-collared Barbet

  Lybius torquatus (Dumont, 1805) · Aves
  4,422
• Egyptian Goose

  Alopochen aegyptiaca (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  4,066
• Village Weaver

  Ploceus cucullatus (Statius Muller, 1776) · Aves
  3,848

Most recent

• M 3.7 — 2016-02-06
  South Africa