Ladysmith, South Africa

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Ladysmith
Ladysmith central business district
Ladysmith central business district
Location of Ladysmith
Location of Ladysmith
Coordinates: 28°33′35″S 29°46′50″E / -28.55972, 29.78056Coordinates: 28°33′35″S 29°46′50″E / -28.55972, 29.78056
Country South Africa
Province KwaZulu-Natal
District Municipality Uthukela
Local Municipality Emnambithi-Ladysmith
Established 1850
Population (2001)
 - Total 225,452
Time zone SAST (UTC+2)
Post code 3370
Area code(s) 036
Website: ladysmith.kzn.org.za

Ladysmith (2001: pop. 225,452) is a town in the uThukela District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is 230 kilometres (140 mi) north-west of Durban and 365 kilometres (227 mi) south of Johannesburg. Important industries in the area include food processing, textile and tyre production. Tyres are produced by Dunlop near to Steadville.


Contents

History

Juana Maria de los Dolores de Leon Smith

In 1847 after buying land from the Zulu king Mpande, a number of Boers settled in the area and called it the Republic of Klip River with Andries Spies as their commandant. The republic was annexed by the British in the same year and on 20 June 1850 was proclaimed a township called Windsor.[1] On 11 October 1850 the name was changed to Ladysmith after Juana Maria de los Dolores de Leon Smith also known as "Lady Smith", the Spanish wife of Sir Harry Smith, the Governor of the Cape Colony.[2] Sir Harry Smith was the British general governor of Cape Colony and high commissioner in South Africa from 1847 to 1852.[3]

A fort was built in 1860[1] to protect the villagers from the Zulus.

The Second Boer War

Battle of Ladysmith

Main article: Battle of Ladysmith

During the Second Boer War British commander Lieutenant General Sir George White made Ladysmith his center of operations for the protection of Natal against the Boer forces. Starting on 29 October 1899 a number of short lived battles were fought for control of the town, but after suffering heavy casualties the British forces retreated to Ladysmith and the Boer forces did not make use of the opportunity to follow up the attack and take control of the town.

Siege of Ladysmith

Main article: Siege of Ladysmith

Following the Battle of Ladysmith, with the British forces under Lieutenant General Sir George White regrouping in the town, the Boer forces decided to surrounded the town. The siege lasted 118 days, from 2 November 1899 to 28 February 1900, during the most crucial stage of the war.[4] A total of around 3,000 British soldiers died during the siege.

Relief of Ladysmith

Main article: Relief of Ladysmith

Three attempts by General Sir Redvers Buller to break the siege resulted in defeat for the British forces at the battles of Colenso, Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz. On 6 January 1900 the Boer forces of Commandant-General Piet Joubert attempted to end the siege by taking the town before British could launch another attemt to break the siege. This lead to a battle at Platrand and Wagon Hill south of the town.

Buller finally broke the siege on 28 February 1900 after defeating the Boers by using close cooperation between his infantry and artillery.

Sir Winston Churchill, then a young war correspondent for the The Morning Post (London), was present at the Relief of Ladysmith after having been taken prisoner (between Ladysmith and Colenso) and escaping earlier during the war.[5][6][7]

Mohandas Gandhi and the stretcher-bearing corps that he established earlier during the war was involved in a number of actions that took place in and around Ladysmith during the Relief.[8]

Geography

Windsor Dam

Ladysmith is located on the banks of the Klip River (stone river), with the central business district and a large part of the residential areas located within the flood basin of the river. It is on on the foolhills of the Drakensberg mountains, about 26 km from the Van Reenen pass.

Flooding

Since it was established the town has suffered severly from flooding of the Klip River. During the 110 years up to 1997 with the completion of the Qedusizi Dam,[9] 29 serious floods have occurred.[10] Minor flooding occurred almost every year.

The worst flooding in 30 years occurred in 1996 leading to R500 million in damages and the evacuation of 400 families.[11]

Efforts to control the flooding date back to the 1940s. In 1949 the Windsor Dam was completed, but this dam silted up very fast and was not an effective means of flood control.[10]

Cityscape

Architecture

Sufi Mosque

Possibly the most notable structure in Ladysmith is the Sufi Mosque on the banks of the Klip River.

Other building of interest are the Siege Museum, originally build in 1884 as a marketplace[12] and the Town Hall, damaged by Boer artillary during the Second Boer War.

Transport

Air

Ladysmith Aerodrome seen from Platrand

The Ladysmith Aerodrome (IATA: LAY, ICAO: FALY) is located on the outskirts of town just below Platrand at 28°34′48″S 29°45′10″E / -28.58, 29.75278 (Ladysmith Aerodrome) at an altitude of 3,548 foot (1,081 m) . Runway is 11/29. NDB is LY397.5 and VOR is LYV116.5.

Rail

The Danskraal Yard is located on the Free State main line and the Glencoe–Vryheid line and acts as a depot for train marshalling and maintenance as well as rail maintenance.[13]

The passenger station is located some distance away from Danskraal close to the Central Business District.

Road

The N11 links Ladysmith with Bergville and Newcastle, while the R103 provides access to Colenso, KwaZulu-Natal and the N3.

Traffic traveling between Durban and Johannesburg used to pass through Ladysmith up until the late 1980s, but the completion of the N3, bypassing Ladysmith 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the west, has caused a dramatic drop in traffic volumes through this town as well as others that are now bypassed.[14]

Society and culture

Media

The primary local newspaper is the Ladysmith Herald.[15]

Museums, momuments and memorials

The Second Boer War

A large number of the Second Boer War Battlefields around Ladysmith have been preserved as memorial sites. Monuments and memorials to those who died during the battles have been erected at most of them.

Siege museum

Located next to the town hall there is a small museum detailing the battles and history at the time of the Siege. The museum was opened in 1985 and holds around 60,000 documents related to the Siege and Boer War.[16]

Platrand/Wagon Hill
Imperial Light Horse Memorial on Platrand
The Burgher Memorial
Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Platrand Memorials at Wikimedia Commons


Located just south of the town, this area saw action during the Relief of Ladysmith. The Burgher Memorial on Wagon Hill was erected in honour of Boer forces killed during the siege and relief of Ladysmith.

On Platrand these is a memorial to the Imperial Light Horse, the Devonshire Regiment, the Earl of Ava and a number of others.

Spion Kop
British memorial at Spion Kop
Visitors information at Spion Kop
Main article: Battle of Spion Kop
Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Spioenkop Battlefield Memorials at Wikimedia Commons


This large battlefield located some 30 km outside Ladysmith contains the mass graves of British soldiers, individual graves as well as a number of memorials, including a Boer memorial, British memorial, South Lancashire memorial and Imperial Light Infantry memorial.

Castor and Pollux

Two RML 6.3 inch Howitzer used by the British during the Siege stand in front of the Town Hall.

Mohandas Gandhi statue

A statue of Mohandas Gandhi can be seen at the Lord Vishnu Temple.

Music

Ladysmith is the hometown of Joseph Shabalala, founder of the group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.[17]

Sport

Thulani "Sugar Boy" Malinga, a champion boxer was born in Ladysmith.[18]

Military

5 South African Infantry Battalion is based in Ladysmith.[19] A military shooting range is located on the outskirts of the town between the Aerodrome and Platrand.

Places of interest

Spioenkop Nature Reserve

25 kilometres (16 mi) from Ladysmith is one of South Africa’s popular wildlife sanctuaries, Spioenkop Nature Reserve. This 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi) reserve is home to animals such as the rhino, giraffe and zebra. The sporting activities that Spioenkop offers include hiking, horse riding, angling, yachting, water-skiing and power boating. Spioenkop is also supplies other parts of Gauteng with water because in Gauteng there is a shortage of water.

See also

Books and publications

  • Ladysmith — a novel by Giles Foden that is set in Ladysmith
  • London to Ladysmith via Pretoria — a book by Winston Churchill that includes an account of the Relief of Ladysmith
  • From Capetown to Ladysmith by George Warrington Steevens at Project Gutenberg , An Unfinished Record of the South African War
  • The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi — contains a number of chapters dealing with Ladysmith:
    • Volume II - Indians in Ladysmith (29-10-1903)
    • Volume II - Indian Store-Keepers in Ladysmith (5-11-1903)
    • Volume II - Indian Licences in Ladysmith (10-12-1903)
    • Volume IV - Ladysmith Licences (11-2-1904)
    • Volume V - The Ladysmith Licensing Board (21-4-1906)
    • Volume V - Indentured Indians in Ladysmith (23-6-1906)
    • Volume VI - Ladysmith Licences (23-2-1907)
    • Volume VI - Ladysmith Appeals (20-4-1907)
    • Volume VI - Licence Case in Ladysmith (11-5-1907)
    • Volume VI - Ladysmith Struggle (18-5-1907)
    • Volume VII - The Ladysmith Traders (31-8-1907)
    • Volume VII - Licences in Ladysmith (31-8-1907)
    • Volume VII - Indian Merchants of Ladysmith (26-10-1907)

Military units involved in the Siege and Relief of Ladysmith

References

  1. ^ a b "Ladysmith History & The Boer War". Retrieved on 2008-10-21.
  2. ^ "Ladysmith History & the Boer War". Retrieved on 2008-10-21.
  3. ^ Smith, Harry (1903). "The Autobiography of Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Smith". Retrieved on 2008-10-21.
  4. ^ Rickard, J (2007-02-05). "Siege of Ladysmith, 2 November 1899 – 27 February 1900". Retrieved on 2008-10-21.
  5. ^ Creswicke, Louis. "From the Commencement of the War to the Battle of Colenso, 15th Dec. 1899". South Africa and the Transvaal War, Vol. 2 (of 6). Project Gutenberg. Retrieved on 2008-09-08.
  6. ^ "Winston Churchill". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 3 February 2008.
  7. ^ "Churchill, Sir Winston". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved on 3 February 2008.
  8. ^ Radhakrishnan, S. (2000). Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections. Jaico Publishing House, 510. ISBN 9788172241223. 
  9. ^ "Water resource management". South African Government Information (1998). Retrieved on 2008-09-08.
  10. ^ a b "The problem of flooding in Ladysmith, Natal, South Africa". Engineering Geology Special Publications. Geological Society, London (1998). Retrieved on 2008-09-08.
  11. ^ "Disaster management guidelines for municipalities" (PDF) 10. National Disaster Management Centre. Retrieved on 2008-10-21.
  12. ^ "The Siege Museum". Tourism Natal.net. Retrieved on 2008-10-22.
  13. ^ "KwaZulu-Natal Freight Transport Data bank". KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport. Retrieved on 2008-10-21.
  14. ^ "Heritage impact assesment of Braamhoek Integrated Power Suply Project" (PDF) 8. eThembeni Cultural Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-10-21.
  15. ^ http://epaper.ladysmithherald.co.za
  16. ^ "52. Ladysmith Siege Museum". National Archives and Records Service (NARS). Retrieved on 2008-10-22.
  17. ^ "Joseph Shabalala". eThekwini Municipal Communications Department. Retrieved on 2008-10-21.
  18. ^ "Thulane MALINGA". Boxing Records Online. Retrieved on 2008-10-21.
  19. ^ "Infantry Formation". South African Army. Retrieved on 2008-10-21.

External links


Flag of South Africa

Province of KwaZulu-Natal

 KwaZulu-Natal Coat of Arms
Provincial Capital:

Pietermaritzburg
Major Metros:

eThekwini (includes Durban)
District Municipalities:

Ugu | Umgungundlovu | Uthukela | Umzinyathi | Amajuba | Zululand | Umkhanyakude | uThungulu | iLembe | Sisonke
Local Municipalities:

Amajuba | Zululand | Umkhanyakude | uThungulu | Umzinyathi | Uthukela | Umgungundlovu | iLembe | eThekwini | Ugu | Sisonke |
Smaller Cities:

Empangeni | Kokstad | Ladysmith | Newcastle | Port Shepstone | Richards Bay | KwaDukuza | Tongaat | Vryheid
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladysmith,_KwaZulu-Natal"

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