Durban is the largest city in the South African province of
KwaZulu-Natal. Durban's metropolitan municipality ranks third among the most
populous urban areas in South Africa after Johannesburg and Cape Town. It is
also the second most important manufacturing hub in South Africa after
Johannesburg. It forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. Durban
is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of
the major centres of tourism because of the city's warm subtropical climate and
extensive beaches. The municipality, which includes neighbouring towns, has a
population of almost 3.5 million, making the combined municipality one of the
biggest cities on the Indian Ocean coast of the African continent. It is the
largest city in KwaZulu-Natal which is the 2nd most populous province in South
Africa. It has the highest number of dollar millionaires added per year of any
South African city with the number rising 200 per cent between 2000 and 2014.
In May 2015, Durban was officially recognised as one of the New7Wonders Cities
together with Vigan, Doha, La Paz, Havana, Beirut, and Kuala Lumpur.
Climate
Durban has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate
classification Cfa), with hot and humid summers and pleasantly warm and dry
winters, which are snow- and frost-free. Durban has an annual rainfall of 1,009
millimetres (39.7 in). The average temperature in summer ranges around 24 °C
(75 °F), while in winter the average temperature is 17 °C (63 °F).
Language
Zulu (primarily spoken by South African Blacks) is widely
spoken in KwaZulu-Natal, but is also spoken by the Indian, White and Coloured
population. English is the administrative language and is spoken and understood
by the majority people as well. Xhosa and Afrikaans are also commonly spoken
languages in KwaZulu-Natal.
Currency
ZAR - South African Rand
Currency
ZAR - South African Rand
Crime
There were 1,237 homicides in the Durban metropolitan area
(Ethekwini) in 2015. The murder rate in 2015 was 35.9 per 100,000 people (for
comparison, Detroit had a murder rate of 43.9 per 100,000 people in 2015). The
murder rate for the whole of South Africa was 33 per 100,000. Today, Durban is
more dangerous than Johannesburg but much safer than Cape Town which had a
murder rate of 65.53 per 100,000 in 2014. This is a radical shift from previous
decades when Johannesburg was the most dangerous of these cities and Cape Town
the safest.
Criminals usually avoid targeting tourists because they know
that the police response will be greater.
There was a period of intense violence in the 1990s and the
Durban area recorded a murder rate of 83 per 100,000 in 1999. The murder rate
dropped rapidly in the 2000s and has been slowly increasing in the 2010s.
Durban is one of the main drug trafficking routes for drugs exiting and
entering Sub-Saharan Africa. The drug trade has increased significantly over
the past 20 years.
Informal sector
Durban has a number of informal and semi-formal street
vendors. The Warwick Junction Precinct is home to a number of street markets,
with vendors selling goods from traditional medicince, to clothing and spices.
The city's treatment of shack dwellers has been strongly
criticised by a report from the United Nations linked Centre on Housing Rights
and Evictions and there has also been strong criticism of the city's treatment
of street traders, street children and sex workers. Durban is known throughout
the world for its strain of marijuana called 'durban poison' which was
developed in the late 1970s. It is one of the most common strains sold by car
guards and street dealers throughout eThekweni.
Sports teams and stadiums
Durban was initially successful in its bid to host the 2022
Commonwealth Games, but needed to withdraw in March 2017 from the role of
hosts, citing financial constraints. Birmingham, England will replace Durban as
the host city.
Durban is home to the Cell C Sharks, who compete in the
domestic Currie Cup competition as well as in the international Super Rugby
competition. The Sharks' home ground is the 56,000 capacity Kings Park Stadium,
sometimes referred to as the Shark Tank.
The city is home to two clubs in the Premier Soccer League —
AmaZulu, and Golden Arrows. AmaZulu play most of their home games at the Moses
Mabhida Stadium. Golden Arrows play most of their home games at the King
Zwelithini Stadium in the suburb of Umlazi, but sometimes play some of their
matches at Moses Mabhida Stadium or Chatsworth Stadium.
Durban is host to the KwaZulu-Natal cricket team, who play
as the Dolphins when competing in the Sunfoil Series. Shaun Pollock, Jonty
Rhodes, Lance Klusener, Barry Richards, Andrew Hudson, Hashim Amla, Vince van
der Bijl, Kevin Pietersen, Dale Benkenstein and David Miller are all players or
past players of the Natal cricket team. International cricketers representing
them include Malcolm Marshall, Dwayne Bravo and Graham Onions. Cricket in
Durban is played at Kingsmead cricket ground.
Durban hosted matches in the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup. In
2007 the city hosted nine matches, including a semi-final, as part of the
inaugural ICC World Twenty20. The 2009 IPL season was played in South Africa,
and Durban was selected as a venue. 2010 saw the city host six matches,
including a semi-final, in the 2010 Champions League Twenty20.
Durban was one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World
Cup, and A1GP held a race on a street circuit in Durban from 2006–2008. Durban
hosted the 123rd IOC Session in July 2011.
The city is home to Greyville Racecourse, a major
Thoroughbred horse racing venue which annually hosts a number of prestigious
races including the country's premier event, the July Handicap, and the premier
staying event in South Africa, the Gold Cup. Clairwood racecouse, south of the
city, was a popular racing venue for many years, but was sold by the KZN racing
authority in 2012.
Transport
Air
King Shaka International Airport services both domestic and
international flights, with regularly scheduled services to Dubai, Istanbul,
Doha, Addis Ababa, Mauritius, Lusaka, Windhoek, Gaborone and Maputo, as well as
eight domestic destinations. The airport's position forms part of the Golden
Triangle between Johannesburg and Cape Town, which is important for convenient
travel and trade between these three major South African cities. The airport
opened in May 2010. King Shaka International Airport handled 5.22 million
passengers in 2016/2017, up 5.9 percent from 2015/2016. King Shaka
International was constructed at La Mercy, about 36 kilometres (22 mi) north of
central Durban. All operations at Durban International Airport have been
transferred to King Shaka International as of 1 May 2010, with plans for
flights to Singapore, London, Mumbai, Kigali, Luanda, Lilongwe and Nairobi.
Sea
Durban has a long tradition as a port city. The Port of
Durban, formerly known as the Port of Natal, is one of the few natural harbours
between Port Elizabeth and Maputo, and is also located at the beginning of a
particular weather phenomenon which can cause extremely violent seas. These two
features made Durban an extremely busy port of call for ship repairs when the
port was opened in the 1840s. Durban is now the busiest port in South Africa,
as well as the third busiest container port in the Southern Hemisphere.
Rail
Durban featured the first operating steam railway in South
Africa when the Natal Railway Company started operating a line between the Point
and the city of Durban in 1860.
Durban is well-served by railways due to its role as the
largest trans-shipment point for goods from the interior of South Africa.
Shosholoza Meyl, the passenger rail service of Spoornet, operates two
long-distance passenger rail services from Durban: a daily service to and from
Johannesburg via Pietermaritzburg and Newcastle, and a weekly service to and
from Cape Town via Kimberley and Bloemfontein. These trains terminate at Durban
railway station.
Metrorail operates a commuter rail service in Durban and the
surrounding area. The Metrorail network runs from Durban Station outwards as
far as Stanger on the north coast, Kelso on the south coast, and Cato Ridge
inland.
A high-speed rail link has been proposed, between
Johannesburg and Durban.
Roads
The city's main position as a port of entry onto the
southern African continent has led to the development of national roads around
it. The N3 Western Freeway, which links Durban with the economic hinterland of
Gauteng, heads west out of the city. The N2 Outer Ring Road links Durban with
the Eastern Cape to the south, and Mpumalanga in the north. The Western Freeway
is particularly important because freight is shipped by truck to and from the
Witwatersrand for transfer to the port.
Buses
Several companies run long-distance bus services from Durban
to the other cities in South Africa. Buses have a long history in Durban. Most
of them have been run by Indian owners since the early 1930s. Privately owned
buses which are not subsidised by the government also service the communities.
Buses operate in all areas of the eThekwini Municipality. Since 2003 buses have
been violently taken out of the routes and bus ranks by taxi operators.
Durban was previously served by the Durban trolleybus
system, which first ran in 1935.
Taxis
Durban has two kinds of taxis: metered taxis and minibus
taxis. Unlike in many cities, metered taxis are not allowed to drive around the
city to solicit fares and instead must be called and ordered to a specific
location. A number of companies service the Durban and surrounding regions.
These taxis can also be called upon for airport transfers, point to point
pickups and shuttles.
Mini bus taxis are the standard form of transport for the
majority of the population who cannot afford private cars. With the
high demand for transport by the working class of South Africa, minibus taxis
are often filled over their legal passenger allowance, making for high casualty
rates when they are involved in accidents. Minibuses are generally owned and
operated in fleets, and inter-operator violence flares up from time to time,
especially as turf wars over lucrative taxi routes occur.