Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal

Dundee

Dutch Reformed Church, Dundee
Dundee
Dundee
Dundee

 Dundee shown within KwaZulu-Natal

Coordinates: 28°10′21″S 30°13′53″E / 28.17250°S 30.23139°E / -28.17250; 30.23139Coordinates: 28°10′21″S 30°13′53″E / 28.17250°S 30.23139°E / -28.17250; 30.23139
Country South Africa
Province KwaZulu-Natal
District Umzinyathi
Municipality Endumeni
Established 1835[1]
Area[2]
  Total 48.60 km2 (18.76 sq mi)
Population (2011)[2]
  Total 34,924
  Density 720/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[2]
  Black African 81.2%
  Coloured 4.1%
  Indian/Asian 7.0%
  White 7.2%
  Other 0.5%
First languages (2011)[2]
  Zulu 76.3%
  English 15.6%
  Afrikaans 4.5%
  Other 3.7%
Postal code (street) 3000
PO box 3000
Area code 034

The coal mining town of Dundee is situated in a valley of the Biggarsberg mountains in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (28°10′S 30°14′E / 28.167°S 30.233°E / -28.167; 30.233). It is part of the Endumeni Municipality, Umzinyathi District. It is very rich in coal deposits. More populous than the town of Dundee itself is its adjacent township named Sibongile, originally established by Peter Smith, with land contributed by his son in-law. This township is now being extended with many residing zones, e.g. Lindelani.

Dundee was established in 1882 after the discovery of coal close to the surface by the Boer farmers. It is named after the hometown of a pioneering Scottish settler, Peter Smith. At first, Dundee was a farm (Talana farm), the property of Peter Smith, which he had bought from a Voortrekker settler, Mr Dekker. Three other men are credited with the founding of Dundee; his son William Craighead Smith, son-in-law Dugald McPhail, and close family friend Charles Wilson.

Geography

The town lies nestled in a valley of the picturesque Biggarsberg and is surrounded by historical remarkable mountains of “Indumeni” (where the thunder rolls), “Mpati” (The place of good waters), and “Talana” (The shelf where precious items are kept). Dundee has trails of the San people that lived here about 4 000 – 5 000 years ago. Evidence of this is to be found in lifestyle and rock paintings in several caves and shelters.

Climate

Dundee has a subtropical highland climate (Cwb, according to the Köppen climate classification), with pleasant summers and cool, dry winters. The average annual precipitation is 684 mm (27 in), with rainfall occurring mainly during summer.

Dundee
Climate chart (explanation)
JFMAMJJASOND
 
 
134
 
 
26
14
 
 
104
 
 
26
14
 
 
85
 
 
25
12
 
 
31
 
 
23
9
 
 
8
 
 
21
6
 
 
1
 
 
19
3
 
 
1
 
 
19
3
 
 
8
 
 
21
5
 
 
25
 
 
23
8
 
 
65
 
 
24
10
 
 
101
 
 
24
12
 
 
121
 
 
26
13
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: SA Explorer

History

Boers watch the fighting at Dundee in 1899

Popular Culture

Sport

The Northern-Natal Rhinos (Noord-Natal Renosters) Wrestling Club in Dundee is one of the top wrestling clubs in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal.

Sentraal Rugby Club is one of the top sides in Northern-Natal.Titans Rugby club is a youth rugby team that builds future rugby players(Grassroots).Rhino Women's Rugby Club has constantly produced Sharks Craven week players and have represented Umzinyathi District in the annual Salga games

Coat of arms

Dundee was a borough in its own right from 1902 to 1996. In October 1951, the council obtained a grant of arms from the Lord Lyon King of Arms in Scotland. It registered the arms at the Bureau of Heraldry in July 1995.[4]

The arms, which were based on those of the Scottish burgh of Dundee, were : Azure, a pot with three lilies issuant Argent, charged with a miner's lamp proper and on a chief Or two wildebeest courant in fess, Sable; the shield ensigned of a mural crown Argent. In layman's terms : a blue shield displaying two black wildebeest on a golden strip above three lilies in a silver pot decorated with a miner's lamp. The motto was Per victoriam laboremque.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.