Durban beachfront, 1962 Durban is one of the country’s most popular holiday destinations over the Christmas holidays, with about half a million people visiting our beaches between Christmas day and New Year’s eve. It’s a melting pot of cultures, races, and classes as people take in the sun and the great entertainment that the promenade offers. … Read more
Last Wednesday saw the opening of the 1860 Museum in Chatsworth, KZN. The brainchild of Mr Dilosen Pillay, the museum is the first privately funded museum dedicated to the history of Indian people in South Africa. Six rooms of Hotel Savera in Chatsworth make up the museum, which will be open to the public for viewing. … Read more
In the heart of Durban’s hip new Rivertown is the Rivertown Beerhall, a social space filled with young creatives and out-of-towners taking in the sites and sounds of Durban’s newly gentrified CBD. But the relaxed bar belies the dark history of these beerhalls, that were a central part of the ‘Durban System’. A precursor to the dreaded … Read more
More than just a place of worship, a mosque is viewed as the centre of a Muslim community – one of the first things that the Prophet Mohammed did when he entered Medina was to build a mosque, as did the first Muslim immigrants to arrive in Natal in the late 1800s. Juma Masjid, Durban, 1915 … Read more
The wonderful thing about history is that it provides the most fascinating stories – factual tales that are often more interesting and convoluted than the best spy novels! Himalaya House, still standing today at 165 Julius Nyerere Avenue, is where we begin today’s story, for it was here, in Durban’s first high-rise apartment block, that a number … Read more
As the years go by the face of cities tend to change quite dramatically. Photos hung in pubs and in the foyers of hotels show what Durban’s beachfront used to look like, or how the Berea was covered in bush, instead of apartment buildings. Very few things remain the same, but if you take a look at photos of … Read more