Ingwavuma
Ingwavuma is a town in the Umkhanyakude District Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa The town was named after the Ngwavuma River and is set 700 metres above sea level on the Lebombo Mountains. The town is 3km from the border with Swaziland and overlooks the plains of Maputaland to the East. It falls within the Mngomezulu Tribal Authority.
Mosvold Hospital is located within the centre of the town. The hospital was initially established as a Evangelical Alliance Mission hospital but has subsequently been taken over by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health. There are a number of schools in the town including Ingwavuma High School, Nansindlela School, Isicelosethu High School.
History
- Ingwavuma was founded by Sir Charles Saunders of Eshowe in 1895 as a magistracy for the Ngwavuma region.
- During the 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 who 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.
- Historic buildings which are still to be found in the town include the 'residency' (now the municipal buildings, the police station and the Old Gaol Building-Ingwavuma.
