| Richards Bay Richardsbaai |
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| — Town — | |
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Richards Bay
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | KwaZulu-Natal |
| District municipality | uThungulu |
| Local municipality | uMhlathuze |
| Established | 1876 |
| Elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Time zone | SAST (UTC+2) |
| Postal Code | 3900 |
| Area code(s) | 035 |
Richards Bay (Afrikaans: Richardsbaai) is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is situated on a 30 square kilometre lagoon of the Mhlatuze River, which gives it one of the country's largest harbours.
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The town began as a makeshift harbour that was set up by Commodore of the Cape, Sir Frederick Richards during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. In 1935 the Richards Bay Game Sanctuary was created to protect the ecology around the lagoon and later by 1943 it expanded into the Richards Bay Park. The town was laid-out on the shores of the lagoon in 1954 and proclaimed a town in 1969. In 1976 Richards Bay harbour was converted into a deep water harbour with railway and an oil/gas pipeline linking the port to Johannesburg.
The Richards Bay Coal Terminal is the largest coal export facility in the world with a planned capacity of 91 million tons per year by the first half of 2009. In 2007 annual throughput was 66.12 million tons.
Two aluminium smelters, Hillside Aluminum and Bayside Aluminium are operated by BHP Billiton. A fertiliser plant operated by Foskor (previously known as IOF), a subsidiary of Foskor, have been erected at the harbour. Iron ore, rutile (titanium oxide) and zircon are mined from the sand dunes close to the lagoon by Richards Bay Minerals. Local exports include coal, aluminium, titanium and other heavy minerals, granite, ferrochrome, paper pulp, woodchips and phosphoric acid. Richards Bay is alongside with Rustenberg, South Africa's fastest developing city. It is a fast growing industrial centre that has additionally been able to maintain its ecological diversity.
However, like most of South Africa, the Richards Bay area is plagued by unemployment and poverty. Unemployment has been estimated at forty percent and an undefined number of people live below the poverty line. The local government have made efforts to implement projects aimed at poverty reduction.
The "John Ross Highway" (P496) which links Richards Bay to Empangeni and the N2 highway is named after "John Ross" (real name, Charles Rawden Maclean), who at the age of 15 walked from Port Natal to Maputo and back to procure medicine and supplies for the early settlers.[1]
Since municipal boundaries were newly demarcated in 2000, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) were in power in the uMhlatuze Municipality. However, due to the final floor crossing period, the IFP lost control of the Municipality to the ruling African National Congress. The Mayor of uMhlatuze is now Alphas Mbatha, whose term will run until at least 2016.
White people account for 39.98 percent of the population, followed by Black Africans at 37.05 percent, Asians or Indians at 19.16 percent and Coloureds at 3.8 percent. 74.19 percent of the population is under the age of 34 years, with 2.73 percent over the age of 65. For every 100 females, there are 93 males. The population density has been estimated to be 526-1192 persons/km squared. There are 12,433 households in Richards Bay, with 66.4 percent of such households being house or brick structure. According to household income, the wealthiest suburb is Meerensee, with an average household income of more than R153,601 per annum. The unemployment rate in Richards Bay alone is 19 percent, compared with 55 percent in surrounding rural areas.
22 percent of the population have completed school only. A further 8.45 percent have a tertiary education. 16.7 percent have received no schooling at all. However, this data reflects the uMhlatuze municipality as a whole.
Richards Bay is characterised by a subtropical climate with warm wet summers and mild moist to dry winters, which are frost-free. The town has an average annual rainfall of 1228 millimeters (48.3 in). The average annual temperature is 21.5°C (71°F), with daytime maxima peaking from January to March at 29°C (84°F), and the minimum is 21°C (70°F), dropping to daytime highs from June to August of 23°C (73°F) and a minimum of 12°C (53°F). Sunrise is at 04h45 and sunset at 19h00 in summer. In winter sunrise is at 06h20 and sunset at 17h00. Richards Bay is a popular kitesurfing destination thanks to consistent winds blowing from the North East.
The Richards Bay area is generally very flat and is situated on a coastal plain. The terrain rises slightly towards the west. The suburbs are all no more than a few metres (Reneging around 140m) (feet 459.3ft) above sea level. The area is abundant in coastal dune forest, most notably along the coastal dune belt and in the suburb of Meerensee.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highest recorded temperature (°C) | 41 | 39 | 39 | 37 | 35 | 35 | 31 | 37 | 40 | 42 | 43 | 42 | 43 |
| Average daily maximum temperature (°C) | 29 | 29 | 29 | 27 | 25 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 27 | 29 | 26 |
| Average daily minimum temperature (°C) | 21 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 17 |
| Lowest recorded temperature (°C) | 11 | 13 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 4 |
| Average monthly precipitation (mm) | 172 | 167 | 107 | 109 | 109 | 57 | 60 | 65 | 77 | 105 | 114 | 86 | 1228 |
| Average number of rain days (>= 1 mm) | 12 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 113 |
Due to its regional airport, its close proximity to Durban (2 hour drive) and its status as the gateway to Zululand, Richards Bay was identified as a possible training base for the World Cup. A small stadium aimed at achieving Fifa accreditation was developed. In late 2009 a Ghana delegation visited the town, raising speculation that the Ghana football team could base themselves in the town. In May 2010 it was announced that the Nigeria football team will move their base to Richards Bay for the duration of the World Cup.
| Municipalities and communities of uThungulu District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal District seat: Richards Bay |
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| Local municipalities |
uMhlathuze • Umlalazi • Nkandla • Mbonambi • Ntambanana • Mthonjaneni |
| Cities and towns |
Eshowe • Richards Bay • Babanango, KwaZulu-Natal • Empangeni • Melmoth, KwaZulu-Natal • Mtunzini, KwaZulu-Natal |
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