Umzinto, KwaZulu-Natal

Umzinto is a town 12 kilometres inland from Scottburgh on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa in the Umdoni Local Municipality which is under the Ugu District Municipality. It was a sugarcane growing area and the town was set up as the centre for a sugar mill. The first public company in Natal was established at Umzinto in 1858. Umzinto has grown and developed to a self-sustaining urban place.

Legend has it that the town's name derives from the encounter of two gentlemen, one of whom was named Um. Upon encountering a stream, the two decided to cross it, but Um did not notice the crocodile lurking beneath the surface. Subsequently Um was attacked by the crocodile, and bitten in half. "Um's in two!" his friend exclaimed. This is merely a story by Jonathan Swift and is not true. There is a dispute about the original name of Umzinto. History says it is "Umenzi wezinto", a Zulu name meaning "doer of things" and due to continuous mis-pronunciation by white people it was convenient for everyone to say Umzinto, which we know today. But other history says it was named after a river, Mzinto River, which passes the town.

Unofficially, Umzinto was at one time the 'Capital' of Alexandra County, a district that also includes the areas and suburbs surrounding the towns of Scottburgh, Umkomaas, and Sezela-Pennington. Fact|date=April 2007 Umzinto hosted two class-A cricket matches at the Alexandra Memorial Ground, one on March 2, 1974, when Natal B hosted Griqualand West in the Currie Cup Section B, and again on March 19, 1977, when Natal B faced Border in the same contest.

Today, Umzinto remains a semi-Urban town, with not much progress compared to its neighbouring town of Scottburgh. Fact|date=April 2007 It was once the home of three large textile mills that used to export abroad. Today only one survives and is not as productive as it used to be. Consequently, this has affected the economy of Umzinto negatively.

Umzinto has produced many educated people who are now spread across the country, working for top international companies. Fact|date=April 2007For more information visit www.scottburgh.co.za