Ingwavuma, KwaZulu-Natal

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 is 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 ("Pseudocassine transvaalensis") but it is unclear which entity was named after which (person, river, town or trees). It is over 700 metres above sea level in the Lebombo Mountains and boasts several highly scenic spots. The town is three kilometres from the country's border with Swaziland and overlooks the plains of Maputaland to the East. It falls within the Mngomezulu Tribal Authority.

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.

ervices 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 and Lundini Primary.

* 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.

HIV/AIDS

The Ingwavuma Area has been decimated by HIV/AIDS since the 1990s. In 2002, in its municipality, 57% of people were less than 19 years of age, one third of adults are HIV positive with uninfected adults having a 3% chance of contracting HIV in any particular year. Several Non-Governmental Organisations have begun to address the problems caused by HIV/AIDS, led by Ingwavuma Orphan Care in 1999.

External links

* [http://www.orphancare.org.za/ Ingwavuma Orphan Care]
* [http://www.nansindlela.kzn.school.za/ Nansindlela School home page]
* [http://www.fancy.org.za/ Fancy Stitch income generation project]
* [http://www.zisize.org/ Zisize Ingwavuma Educational Trust]