Conference Venues South Africa brings you information on Richards Bay situated in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa including information on Facilities and Recreation, Climate, Founding, History Suburbs, Town Planning and Geography
Conference Venues South Africa brings you information on Richards Bay situated in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa including information on Facilities and Recreation, Climate, Founding, History Suburbs, Town Planning and Geography |
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Information on Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
About Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South AfricaRichards Bay is a small city just inland from Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Richards Bay is situated 16km west of Durban. The area from Cowies Hill in the east along Old Main Road/M1 to Westmead ( industral area ) in the west is commonly referred to as the Richards Bay area, although Richards Bay strictly extends from Caversham Glen to Manors. The structures of the original town can be found at the corner of Old Main/Stapleton roads. Click here for Conference Centres in Richards Bay History of Richards BayThe town began as a makeshift harbour that was set up by Commodore of the Cape, Sir Frederick Richards during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. In 1935 the Richards Bay Game Sanctuary was created to protect the ecology around the lagoon and later by 1943 it expanded into the Richards Bay Park. The town was laid-out on the shores of the lagoon in 1954 and proclaimed a town in 1969. In 1976 Richards Bay harbour was converted into a deep water harbour with railway and an oil/gas pipeline linking the port to Johannesburg Richards Bay EconomyThe Richards Bay Coal Terminal is the largest coal export facility in the world with a planned capacity of 91 million tons per year by the first half of 2009. In 2007 annual throughput was 66.12 million tons. Two aluminium smelters (Alusaf) and a fertiliser plant have been erected at the harbour. Iron ore, rutile (titanium oxide) and zircon are mined from the sand dunes close to the lagoon by Richards Bay Minerals. Local exports include coal, aluminium, titanium and other heavy minerals, granite, ferrochrome, paper pulp, woodchips and phosphoric acid. Richards Bay is alongside with Rustenberg, South Africa's fastest developing city. It is a fast growing industrial centre that has additionally been able to maintain its ecological diversity. However, like most of South Africa, the Richards Bay area is plagued by unemployment and poverty. Unemployment has been estimated at forty percent and an undefined number of people live below the poverty line. The local government have made efforts to implement projects aimed at poverty reduction. Richards Bay Government and PoliticsSince municipal boundaries were newly demarcated in 2000, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) were in power in the uMhlatuze Municipality. However, due to the final floor crossing period, the IFP lost control of the Municipality to the ruling African National Congress. The Mayor of uMhlatuze is now Zakhele Mnqayi, whose term will run until at least 2011. Richards Bay Geography and ClimateRichards Bay is characterised by a subtropical climate with warm wet summers and mild moist to dry winters, which are frost-free. The town has an average annual rainfall of 1228 millimeters (48.3in). The average annual temperature is 21.5°C (71°F), with daytime maxima peaking from January to March at 29°C (84°F), and the minimum is 21°C (70°F), dropping to daytime highs from June to August of 23°C (73°F) and a minimum of 12°C (53°F). Sunrise is at 04h45 and sunset at 19h00 in summer. In winter sunrise is at 06h20 and sunset at 17h00. Richards Bay is a popular kitesurfing destination thanks to consistent winds blowing from the North East. The Richards Bay area is generally very flat and is situated on a coastal plain. The terrain rises slightly towards the west. The suburbs are all no more than a few metres (feet) above sea level. The area is abundant in subtropical coastal forest, most notably along the coastal dune belt and in the suburb of Meerensee. Towns and Suburbs of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South AfricaKwazulu-Natal Conference Venues South Africa | Search for Venues with Conference Facilities in South Africa | Browse through available Confernce Venues in South Africa | Conferences Cape Town | Conference Venues in Western Cape | Conference Venues in Eastern Cape | Conference Venues in Northern Cape | Conference Venues in Kwazulu-Natal | Conference Venues in Free State | Conference Venues in Gauteng | Conference Venues in Limpopo Province | Conference Venues in North West Province | Conference Venues in Mpumalanga |South Africa Information | Contact Conference Venues | Web Resources | Conference Venues South Africa Sitemap 1 | Sitemap 2 |
