Everything about Ethekwini totally explained
eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality (External Link
) is the
Metropolitan Municipality created in
2000 that includes the city of
Durban,
South Africa and surrounding towns.
eThekwini is one of the 11
districts of
KwaZulu-Natal province of
South Africa. The majority of its 3,090,126 people speak
Zulu (
2001 Census).
Meaning of the Name eThekwini
There is much debate over the meaning of eThekwini, and neither the eThekwini Heritage Department nor the eThekwini Metropolitan Unicity Municipality will state as an absolute fact the derivation of the name.
Some have suggested that the name is based on a joke made by a jester or amaThuli Chief Shadwa who, when the amaThuli settled in the bay are, looked down from today's Berea area and said that the bay looked like a testicle. Certainly, as Adrian Koopman points out in "Zulu Names"[UNP;Pietermaritzburg-2002], Elizabeth Pooley's "Complete Field Guide to Trees of Natal, Zululand and the Transkei" has the Tonga-Kerrie recorded with the Zulu name umthekwini, referring to the single round fruit at the end of each stem. Hence the term "itheku" is or was once used for a one-testicled animal or person, instead of today's "ithweka". Since the word "itheku" isn't used today in its original sense many might have been led to believe that Shadwa's joke is in fact a myth.
Janie Malherbe claims that in his pioneering Zulu-English dictionary
Bishop Colenso referred to the root word iTeku to mean "open mouth or a bay". However, she clearly didn't read the dictionary, which unblushingly gives other explicit meanings and definitions.
Commandant Sighurt Bourquin, a well-known authority on the Zulu, pointed out that the shape of the harbour wouldn't be readily apparent when it was covered with mangroves viewed obliquely through the trees.
Ethekwini is probably the locative form of itheku or bay, lagoon. There is however a suggestion that it's derived from the Xhosa iteko, meaning a meeting place, and was brought to the area by British Settlers in 1824, many of whom had learnt Xhosa whilst in the Cape.
Geography
Neighbours
eThekwini is surrounded by:
Demographics
The following statistics are from the
2001 census.
Gender
| Gender |
Population |
%
|
| Female |
1 605 080 |
51.94% |
| Male |
1 485 046 |
48.06% |
Ethnic group
| Ethnic group |
Population |
%
|
| Black African |
2 110 594 |
68.30% |
| Indian/Asian |
614 829 |
19.90% |
| White |
277 429 |
8.98% |
| Coloured |
87 274 |
2.82% |
Age
| Age |
Population |
%
|
| 000 - 004 |
273 097 |
8.84% |
| 005 - 009 |
286 606 |
9.27% |
| 010 - 014 |
294 820 |
9.54% |
| 015 - 019 |
323 345 |
10.46% |
| 020 - 024 |
331 475 |
10.73% |
| 025 - 029 |
316 326 |
10.24% |
| 030 - 034 |
256 429 |
8.30% |
| 035 - 039 |
236 009 |
7.64% |
| 040 - 044 |
195 032 |
6.31% |
| 045 - 049 |
154 640 |
5.00% |
| 050 - 054 |
129 097 |
4.18% |
| 055 - 059 |
91 991 |
2.98% |
| 060 - 064 |
72 334 |
2.34% |
| 065 - 069 |
50 020 |
1.62% |
| 070 - 074 |
37 078 |
1.20% |
| 075 - 079 |
21 847 |
0.71% |
| 080 - 084 |
12 877 |
0.42% |
| 085 - 089 |
4 678 |
0.15% |
| 090 - 094 |
1 717 |
0.06% |
| 095 - 099 |
560 |
0.02% |
| 100 plus |
148 |
0.00% |
Politics
Party Politics
Election results
Election results for eThekwini in the
South African general election, 2004.
Population 18 and over: 2 046 814 [66.24%of total population]
Total votes: 978 383 [31.66%of total population]
Voting % estimate: 47.80% votes as a % of population 18 and over
Non-Party Politics
The shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo has members in more than 30 settlements in eThekwini. Abahlali have campaigned vigorously against evictions, forced removals and for basic services and ongoing democratic consultation. At times there has been serious conflict between Abahlali and the Municipality.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ethekwini'.
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