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
Happiness in the Midst: a play produced in May 2009 at the Playhouse Loft Theatre in Durban The main theme of this play centred around the history of discrimination against black people in Durban during the early part of the 20th century. In those years Durban’s population level was relatively low. In 1900 the total population of … Read more
From the earliest days of the white settlement in Durban, one of the recurring themes in the relationship between the white and the black inhabitants of the area was the desire of the whites to enjoy the benefits of black labour, without allowing so many black people into Durban that they would be overwhelmed. Therefore they introduced … Read more
Morris Lorens Fynn was born in Mthwalume in 1930 and grew up in Wentworth, South of Durban. When separate education along racial lines was introduced, he was moved to a then newly built Coloured school in the area. This is when his political awareness began. He joined a political party to voice out his concerns … Read more
Anyone who’s grown up in Durban will be very familiar with the mural that’s painted on a free-standing wall on the outskirts of the city’s CBD. What many people won’t realise though, is the significance of this wall, which once painted with bright colours, now stands a little dilapidated, having been exposed to the elements for … Read more
![Plate 1. – Back of carte de visite from Mariannhill Studio, approx. 1910. [Mariannhill Mission Archives].](https://www.ulwaziprogramme.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Plate-1.jpg)
Completed just over a century ago Durban’s City Hall has been witness to the history of the city, and of the country, as South Africa moved from four distinct British colonies, to the Union of South Africa, and finally to its present day state of the Republic of South Africa. It has seen the country … Read more