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KZN - Ladysmith |
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Northern KwaZulu-Natal interior, just to the east of the N3 national highway. One of the more prominent of several KwaZulu-Natal towns famed for the part they played in the Anglo-Boer war of 1899-1902. It was in fact one of the three British garrison towns in South Africa that were besieged by the republican forces (the others were Mafeking and Kimberly) in the early months of the war. Of the three, it had to endure the most: many of its defenders were killed in action; many others, together with a tragic number of civilians both black and white, deprived of food and medical supplies, died of sickness and fever. The siege lasted 120 days and was eventually, (shortly after the nearby battle of Spioenkop) relieved by British commander in the field General Sir Redvers Buller. Ladysmith's story actually began almost as dramatically (though not quite so violently) fifty years earlier, in 1847, when it was settled by the eastern Voortrekkers and served, briefly, as the centre of the tiny Klip River Republic. The area was then annexed by the British (1850) and renamed in honour of Juanita Smith, the Spanish-born wife of Cape governor Sir Harry Smith. The town is also known as the stamping ground of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a musical group, or Zulu 'choral band', which rose to fame when it collaborated with Paul Simon to produce his best-selling 'Graceland' album in the 1980s. Ladysmith Siege Museum The museum building, which originally did duty as a rationing post, tells the story of the siege in comprehensive and fascinating fashion. A must for military buffs, and indeed for anyone interested in the long-gone art of static warfare. Lord Vishnu Temple A grand Hindu place of worship in front of which stands a statue of Mohondas (later Mahatma) Gandhi, who arrived in Durban in the 1890s as a young lawyer and went on the campaign for Indian rights in Natal (and later, for the independence of India itself). During the Anglo-Boer war he raised a unit of stretcher-bearers (known rather macabrely as 'body-snatchers') and served with honour at, among others, the bloody battle of Spioenkop. Soofie Mosque Regarded as one of the most beautiful of the country's mosques, and a proclaimed National Monument. Cultural Centre Devoted largely to the ways and works of the Ladysmith Black Mambazo group, but there's also an interesting variety of other exhibits of local note. Battlefields Most famous of these is Spioenkop, fought in January 1900 and graveyard to more than 2000 brave soldiers. Present at the battle were, in addition to Mahatma Gandhi, the young Winston Churchill and Louis Botha, future South African premier. The result was a draw, though the British withdrew, allowing the Boers to occupy the heights. The carnage was especially tragic because the hill had very little strategic importance. A resident historian shows visitors over the killing ground - which now overlooks an attractive dam, nature reserve and game park (white rhino, giraffe, plains zebra, wildebeest, antelope). Other noted nearby battlegrounds include Vaalkrans, Thukela Heights, Colenso and Elandslaagte. Harrismith to the north-west; Escourt, Mooirivier, Howick and Pietermaritzburg to the south. |
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LADYSMITH Western Cape
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