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Ingwavuma

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Country
  
South Africa

Area
  
1.74 km2


Language spoken
  
Zulu

District
  
Umkhanyakude

Ingwavuma in the past, History of Ingwavuma

Map of Ingwavuma

Ingwavuma is a town in the Umkhanyakude District Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. It is unclear where the name of the town came from; one theory is that it was named after the Ngwavuma River while another is that there was a leader called Vuma, the name then meaning "Vuma's place" in Zulu. Trees found on the river bank are also named Ngwavuma (Elaeodendron transvaalense or Bushveld Saffron) but it is unclear which entity was named after which (person, river, town or trees). It is over 700 metres (2,297 feet) above sea level in the Lebombo Mountains and boasts several highly scenic spots. The town is three kilometres (2 miles) from the country's border with Swaziland and overlooks the plains of Maputaland to the East. It falls within the Mngomezulu Tribal Authority.

Contents

Ingwavuma in the past, History of Ingwavuma

Mr fish ingwavuma learning to juggle hats


Ingwavuma south africa local photos


History

Zulu king Dingane was assassinated and buried in the nearby Hlatikhulu Forest in 1840. Ingwavuma was founded by Sir Charles Saunders of Eshowe in 1895 as a magistracy for the Ngwavuma region. During the Second Boer War in 1899 the settlement was razed to the ground by a Boer commando under the command of Joachim Ferrera. The serving magistrate, B. Colenbrander, escaped with his staff to the flats below and eventually found his way to Ubombo. Ingwavuma remained desolate until 1900 when it was re-established and the magistrate returned.

In the 1980s the Apartheid government planned to transfer the town and surrounding magisterial district to Swaziland as part of a land deal to give Swaziland access to the sea. This move was opposed by the then KwaZulu government and the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelethini established a residence near the town. The transfer was never executed. The surviving historic buildings of the town include the residency (now the municipal buildings), the police station and the Old Gaol Building.

Services and facilities

  • Mosvold Hospital is located within the centre of the town. The hospital was initially established by The Evangelical Alliance Mission as a mission hospital but has subsequently been taken over by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health.
  • There are a number of schools in and around the town including Ingwavuma High School, Nansindlela School, Isicelosethu High School, Magugu Primary, Our Lady Primary, Lundini Primary and Khethani Christian School.
  • Local offices of the government departments of Social Development, Agriculture, Education and Home Affairs. There is also a police station, magistrate's court and prison.
  • Several NGOs also provide services including Ingwavuma Women's Centre and Embathisa, both providing income generation activities for local women, Ingwavuma Orphan Care providing community hospice care and orphan care in the community and Zisize, Ingwavuma Educational Trust.
  • There is a small shopping centre consisting of a Spar, PEP, Ellerines, Ithala Bank and a petrol garage along with some Chinese-owned shops.
  • In 1962, the town was made the seat of the Apostolic Prefecture of Ingwavuma.
  • Ingwavuma have an access to pass to Swaziland, known as Cecil max pas boarder post which was closed due to the stolen of vehicles, now renamed as Freedom dots. The road to this so-called boarder post to Swaziland is lying between beautiful of ubombo mountain and Ngwavuma river.with a very beautiful tourism attraction for touring. Ingwavuma is a mountainous place with many discovery and undiscovered useful caves. Its mountain is high in away that you overlook over the plains of Swaziland clearly and far plain of Mozambique. If there can be an arrangement of opening the boarder from Ingwavuma to Swaziland (Freedom dots boarder post) this can put uMkhanyakude on International map and develop South Africa economy through tourism.
  • Ingwavuma have a police station with less number of police as workers, old buildings which need a Government attention to rebuild or build a new police station in a form of upgrading the police station to fight crime since it is near the boundaries of Swaziland. Tourism and Safety...beautiful Ingwavuma.

    • HIV/AIDS

    The Ingwavuma Area has been decimated by HIV/AIDS since the 1990s. In 2002, in Jozini municipality, 57% of people were less than 19 years of age, one third of adults were thought to be HIV positive with uninfected adults having a 3% chance of contracting HIV in any particular year. Several Non-Governmental Organisations are addressing the problems caused by HIV/AIDS, led by Ingwavuma Orphan Care. A mobile voluntary counseling and testing unit (VCT) was started in 2008 by Ingwavuma Orphan Care. It tests around 5000 people a year, with its focus on youth. It found a prevalence rate of 8% among males and 18% among females. While antiretroviral treatment is now available through the government, there are already thousands of orphans who require support. The majority of these are cared for by their extended family with support from churches, NGOs and the government.

    References

    Ingwavuma Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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