Place in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Isipingo is a town situated 19 kilometres (12 mi) south of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and currently forms part of eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. The town is named after the Siphingo River, which in turn is thought to be named (in the Zulu language) for the intertwining cat-thorn shrubs (Scutia myrtina) present in the area, or the river's winding course.[2]
History
Dick King went to Natal in 1828 and was awarded a large stretch of land between the Umlaas/uMlaza and Mbokodweni rivers at present-day Isipingo Rail, an area where he had already acquired some farmland and built himself a house. King managed a sugar mill in Isipingo until his death in 1871 and was buried in the town.
In May 1853, the Natal Mercury reported that Mr Jeffels of Isipingo ventured into sugarcane cultivation and is erecting buildings for sugar manufacturing. The indenture system was used from 1860 to supply cheap Indian labour to the sugar cane farms in Isipingo and the surrounding areas.
In 1880, the railway line named the South Coast Line extension from Rossburgh in Durban to Isipingo Rail was completed and opened. Between 1893 and the outbreak of the Second Boer War, the South Coast Line was extended 44 km (27 mi) from Isipingo Rail to Park Rynie.[3]
In 1962, the Natal Provincial Council made a decision to incorporate Isipingo Rail and Isipingo Beach into the Borough of Amanzimtoti, a seaside town 10 kilometres further south and 1963, Isipingo Rail and Isipingo Beach were declared Indian Group Areas. By government decree, Isipingo Beach and Isipingo Rail would be amalgamated into a single Indian area, to be called Isipingo.[4]
In 1972, Isipingo was no longer under the administration of Amanzimtoti and instead was governed by the Isipingo Town Board, an all-Indian self-governing local authority and later in 1974 achieved Borough status.
The elite apartheid era suburb of Isipingo Hills was then created.
World War II plane crashes
During the Second World War the Coastal Command (Southern Air Command SAAF) deployed 10 Squadron SAAF at Durban and Isipingo – this unit functioned as a torpedo bomber/ coastal reconnaissance squadron.[citation needed] They operated from runways that had been cut out of sugarcane fields- it was in this area that the main runway of the now defunct Durban International Airport was later built.[5][a] The squadron headquarters is now home to the Amanzimtoti Country Club (originally named Isipingo Golf Club).
In 1942 the squadron returned to its defense purposes and were re-equipped with Mohawks and Kittyhawks. There are several incidents of Kittyhawk[b] crashes near Isipingo:[6]
- 5009 - crashed near Isipingo on 19 June 1944, 2Lt C. V. J. Giddey survived
- 5010 - crashed near Isipingo on 7 December 1943
- 5013 - caught fire in flight and crashed near Umbilo on 1 November 1943, 2Lt F. E. Hamm survived
- 5014 - stalled after takeoff and crashed near Isipingo on 2 October 1943, 2Lt K. L. Clur survived
- 5021 - crashed near Isipingo on 4 October 1943, 2Lt R. A. Hamlyn killed
- 5027 - crashed near Isipingo on 22 December 1943, 2Lt A. N. Blake killed
- 5082 - crashed near Isipingo on 18 December 1944
Geography
Isipingo is situated in the South Durban Basin, approximately 10 kilometres (6 mi) north of Amanzimtoti, on the northern banks of the Siphingo River. It is bordered by the defunct Durban International Airport to the north, Umlazi to the west and Athlone Park and Umbogintwini to the south.
Isipingo consists of two distinct sections, the inland section including Isipingo Rail, Isipingo Hills, Malaba Hills, Lotus Park, Orient Hills and Malukazi and the coastal section including Isipingo Beach. These two sections are separated by the flat adjoining industrial area of Prospecton.
Economy
Industries
The adjoining major industrial area of Prospecton is the location of one of South Africa's largest automobile assembly plants, that of Toyota. The facility, covering almost 9 square kilometres (3.5 sq mi), is a place of employment for many Isipingo residents.
Retail
Phila Ndwandwe Road is the main street of the Isipingo CBD in Isipingo Rail, and is the main commercial centre of the town, lined with a number of local shops and shopping centres such as Isipingo Main, Isipingo Junction and the Isipingo Station Centre (a new retail development on the railway station completed in 2020).[7][8]
Amenities
Isipingo is policed by the SAPS precinct of the Isipingo Police Station in Isipingo Rail. There also two municipal libraries in Isipingo, Isipingo Civic Library in Orient Hills and the Isipingo Beach Library.[9]
Isipingo is served by the Isipingo Hospital, a private hospital in Isipingo Rail owned by Joint Medical Holdings. The Isipingo Clinic is the only public health clinic in Isipingo and operates as a municipal clinic under the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.[10][11]
The area has access to fine beaches, Reunion Park Beach, Isipingo Beach River Mouth, Tiger Rocks Beach and Dakota Beach, which are regularly frequented by bathers and fishermen, especially during the sardine run.
Transport
Rail
Isipingo Railway Station lies on the main commuter line between Durban and Kelso (South Coast Line) operated by Metrorail with the South Coast trains serving Isipingo, Durban, Reunion, Umbogintwini, Amanzimtoti, Kingsburgh, Umkomaas, Scottburgh and Kelso.
Roads
Phila Ndwande Road is the main north–south road through the Isipingo Rail CBD, connecting it with Umlazi Mega City to the north and the M35 road to the south. The R102 (South Coast Road) is the main north–south road connecting Isipingo with Reunion to the north and Prospecton to the east and provides access to the N2 freeway (to Durban and Port Shepstone) through Prospecton. The M35 (Wilcox Road) connects Isipingo with Umlazi to the west and Mfundi Mngadi Road connects Isipingo with Umbogintwini to the south. Isipingo Beach can be accessed by turning off the R102 in Prospecton onto The Avenue East, the single access road into the coastal exclave.
Religious sites
There are a number of Hindu temples, four mosques; Isipingo Hills Musjid, Isipingo Beach Musjid, Taleemuddeen Maddrassa Mosque, and Musjid Muqarrabeen, Masjid Mehboobia in Isipingo rail and numerous Christian churches.[citation needed]
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