Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal

Ladysmith
Ladysmith central business district
Ladysmith  Ladysmith shown within South Africa
Coordinates: 28°33′35″S 29°46′50″E / 28.55972°S 29.78056°E / -28.55972; 29.78056Coordinates: 28°33′35″S 29°46′50″E / 28.55972°S 29.78056°E / -28.55972; 29.78056
Country	South Africa
Province	KwaZulu-Natal
District	Uthukela
Municipality	Emnambithi/Ladysmith
Established	1850[1]
Area[2]
• Total	84.13 km2 (32.48 sq mi)
Population (2011)[2]
• Total	64,855
• Density	770/km2 (2,000/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[2]
• Black African	73.3%
• Coloured	2.9%
• Indian/Asian	15.0%
• White	8.3%
• Other	0.5%
First languages (2011)[2]
• Zulu	64.3%
• English	22.8%
• Afrikaans	6.3%
• Sotho	2.2%
• Other	4.5%
Postal code (street)	3370
PO box	3370
Area code	036
Website	ladysmith.kzn.org.za

Ladysmith is a city 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 in the nearby town of Steadville.

Ladysmith is the seat for both the Emnambithi-Ladysmith Local Municipality and the Uthukela District Municipality.

History

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.^[3] 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.^[3] Sir Harry Smith was the British general governor of Cape Colony and high commissioner in South Africa from 1847 to 1852.^[4]

A fort was built in 1860^[3] to protect the villagers from the Zulu.

The Second Boer War

Battle of Ladysmith

During the Second Boer War British commander Lieutenant General Sir George White made Ladysmith his centre of operations for the protection of Natal against the Boer forces.^[5] 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

Following the Battle of Ladysmith, whilst British forces under Lieutenant General Sir George White regrouped in the town, Boer forces surrounded Ladysmith. The siege lasted 118 days, from 2 November 1899 to 28 February 1900, during the most crucial stage of the war.^[6] Approximately 3,000 British soldiers died during the siege.

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 the British could launch another attempt to break the siege. This led 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 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.^[7][8][9]

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.^[10]

Geography

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 foothills of the Drakensberg mountains, about 26 km from the Van Reenen pass.

Flooding

Since it was established the town has suffered severely from flooding of the Klip River. During the 110 years up to 1997 with the completion of the Qedusizi Dam,^[11] 29 serious floods have occurred.^[12] 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.^[13]

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.^[12]

Climate

Ladysmith has a subtropical highland climate (Cwb, according to the Köppen climate classification), with warm summers and cool, dry winters. It borders on a humid subtropical climate (Cwa). The average annual precipitation is 639 mm (25 in), with most rainfall occurring mainly during summer.

Ladysmith
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     122   28 15     106   28 15     86   27 13     34   25 10     7   22 6     1   20 3     1   20 3     6   22 5     20   24 9     58   25 11     90   26 13     108   28 14 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Source: SA Explorer
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     4.8   82 59     4.2   82 59     3.4   81 55     1.3   77 50     0.3   72 43     0   68 37     0   68 37     0.2   72 41     0.8   75 48     2.3   77 52     3.5   79 55     4.3   82 57 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Cityscape

Architecture

The Soofi Mosque on the banks of the Klip River was originally built sometime between 1895 and 1910, but it was greatly extended in the 1960s.^[14][15]

Other building of interest are the Siege Museum, originally built in 1884 as a marketplace^[16] and the Town Hall, damaged by Boer artillery during the Second Boer War.

Transport

Air

Ladysmith is served by a small airport, (IATA: LAY, ICAO: FALY) is located on the outskirts of town just below Platrand at 28°34′48″S 29°45′10″E / 28.58000°S 29.75278°E / -28.58000; 29.75278 (Ladysmith Aerodrome).

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.^[17]

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.^[18]

Education

Primary

• Acaciavale Primary School
• Aloe Park Primary School
• Andante Independent School
• Egerton
• Hamilton Preparatory School
• Islamic Educational Centre
• Keate Street Primary School
• Limit Hill Combined
• MC Varman Primary School
• ML Sultan
• Mnambithi Primary
• Monument Primary School
• Nikela Primary School
• Umbulwane Primary

Secondary

• Ekukhuleni High School
• Harvest High School
• Islamic Educational Centre
• Ladysmith High School
• Ladysmith Secondary (LASEC)
• Limit Hill Combined
• Sakhelwe High School
• Windsor Secondary School
• Mhlwaneni high school

Special Schools

• Inkanyezi Special School

Tertiary

• Boston City Campus
• Mnambithi FET College is a public college offering Further Education & Training.
• Qualitas Career Academy, caters for full time and part time studies for students as well as corporate training and consulting services for businesses and government departments. There are a variety of academic divisions.
• Ladysmith University of Technology (LUTech)

Society and culture

Media

The only sold local newspaper in Ladysmith is the Ladysmith Gazette. The Ladysmith Gazette is just over a century old, and is believed to have been established in 1902. The Ladysmith Gazette is part of the Caxton Group of newspapers. One of two free local newspapers is the Ladysmith Herald.^[19] The other free newspaper is the Times of Ladysmith.

Museums, monuments 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.^[20]

Platrand/Wagon Hill

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.^[21]

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

Castor and Pollux

Two RML 6.3 inch Howitzers 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.^[22]

Sport

Thulani "Sugar Boy" Malinga, a champion boxer was born in Ladysmith.^[23]

Elmer Symons, Dakar Rally rider who was killed in the 2007 edition while leading the Marathon class.

Military

5 South African Infantry Battalion is based in Ladysmith.^[24] A military shooting range is located on the outskirts of the town between the Aerodrome and Platrand.

Famous people

• André Joubert - Rugby union player
• Trix Truter - "Springbok" Rugby Union player
• David John Terbrugge - Cricketer
• Thulani "Sugarboy" Malinga - Boxer and WBC middleweight champion
• Jenna Lee "Scraps" Limerick - NABBA Fitness Model

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal.

Book: Ladysmith and the Second Boer War

• Battle of Ladysmith
• Siege of Ladysmith
• Relief of Ladysmith
• Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in South Africa
• Ladysmith Black Mambazo
• Juana María de los Dolores de León Smith

Bibliography

• Hewetson, George Benson (1908). "Ladysmith". The mountains and other poems. London: Sisley's. Retrieved 2009-11-10. 
• 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
• Gore, St. John (1901). The Green Horse in Ladysmith. Sampson, Low, Marston and Co.  Available as The Green Horse in Ladysmith on Internet Archive
• Donald, MacDonald (1900). How We Kept the Flag Flying: The Story of the Siege of Ladysmith. Ward, Lock & Co.  Available as How We Kept the Flag Flying: The Story of the Siege of Ladysmith on Internet Archive
• From Capetown to Ladysmith by George Warrington Steevens at Project Gutenberg, An Unfinished Record of the South African War
• Norris, Stephen Leslie (1900). The South African War, 1899-1900 : a military retrospect up to the relief of Ladysmith. John Murray.  Available as The South African War, 1899-1900 : a military retrospect up to the relief of Ladysmith on Internet Archive
• Wilkinson, Spenser (1900). Lessons of the War: Being Comments from Week to Week, to the Relief of Ladysmith. Constable.  Available as Lessons of the War: Being Comments from Week to Week, to the Relief of Ladysmith on Internet Archive
• Atkins, John Black (1900). The relief of Ladysmith. Methuen.  Available as The relief of Ladysmith on Internet Archive
• The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi — contains a number of chapters dealing with Ladysmith:
  • Volume II - Indians in Ladysmith (29-10-1903); Indian Store-Keepers in Ladysmith (5-11-1903); Indian Licences in Ladysmith (10-12-1903)
  • Volume IV - Ladysmith Licences (11-2-1904)
  • Volume V - The Ladysmith Licensing Board (21-4-1906); Indentured Indians in Ladysmith (23-6-1906)
  • Volume VI - Ladysmith Licences (23-2-1907); Ladysmith Appeals (20-4-1907); Licence Case in Ladysmith (11-5-1907); Ladysmith Struggle (18-5-1907)
  • Volume VII - The Ladysmith Traders (31-8-1907); Licences in Ladysmith (31-8-1907); Indian Merchants of Ladysmith (26-10-1907)

Military units involved in the Siege and Relief of Ladysmith

References

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Ladysmith.

• Ladysmith Battlefields
• Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal

v t e Municipalities and communities of UThukela District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal District seat: Ladysmith Emnambithi-Ladysmith Brakfontein Colenso Danskraal Driefontein Elandslaagte Kleinfontein Ladysmith Van Reenen Watersmeet Indaka Ekuvukeni Helpmekaar Kliprivier Waayhoek Umtshezi Estcourt Frere Weenen Wembezi Okhahlamba Bergville Geluksburg Moyeni Rookdale Winterton Imbabazane Goodhome