Surfing a Beautiful Wave. Image by Shalom Jacobovitz
Along the coast of the province of KwaZulu Natal is a beautiful, busy town called Richards Bay. At any one point, it is bustling with visitors and tourists, economic activity, and social events. Needless to say, the beaches of Richards Bay are relatively pristine and untouched in spite of the flow of people through the town.
Richards Bay was originally a temporary harbour in 1879 during the Anglo-Boer War and it just grew into a settlement and then into a town. It is named after the Commodore in charge of the temporary harbour, Sir Frederick Richards.
Sir Frederick Richards chose this spot for the harbour because of the deep water, consistent wind factor, and safety factor. About 10 years before Richards Bay was turned into a harbour, Table Bay was being used as a main harbour but a strong storm in 1865 tore through the area, destroying 18 ships. This made finding a safer harbour with a lagoon very pertinent to the government because at that time, sea travel was depended on for vital imports and exports.
By 1935, Richards Bay was transformed into a permanent harbour and upgrades have resulted in what it is now: one of the largest, busiest harbours in the country. This move was not without problems: nature conservationists wanted to ensure that the harbour impacted as minimally on the environment as possible. Their efforts resulted in a wall across the bay separating the industrial area from the wildlife sanctuary. Thus, the animals and plants were protected and the harbour was able to grow.
The sanctuary eventually evolved into Richards Bay Park; the settlement was formally laid out in 1954; and formally became a town after 15 years in 1969. After 10 years, Richards Bay was formally converted into a deep water harbour with pipelines to Johannesburg.
Today, it is from Richards Bay that most of the coal exports are shipped out. In 2007, the coal output was 66.12 million tons but it has the capacity to accommodate 91 million tons a year which is the target of the harbour and the national government. The area is also equipped with 2 aluminium smelters, mining from sand dunes, and a fertilizer plant. Aside from coal, other exports include paper pulp, aluminium, heavy minerals like iron ore and zircon, granite, woodchips, ferrochrome, and phosphoric acid.
Part of the attraction of Richards Bay is the “Industrial Tourism,” natural resources like beaches, and the fantastic wildlife and marine life.
Other Claims to Fame
Aside from Industrial Tourism and the Richards Bay Park, this coastal town is also known for other interesting claims. For example, the lagoon is where South Africa’s longest crocodile was found in 1891. It was about 6.7 meters in length and shot by a hunter called John Dunn. This man is the only white man to ever be proclaimed as an African Chief. The salt water lagoon is also home to other animals like the hippos and birds.
Richards Bay is also known for being the point where the world’s most famous hippo, Huberta began her 2500km trek across the country traveling down the East Coast sometime in 1928. Huberta was a fascinating creature who, evidently, was scared of very little: she would cross roads, highways, railroad tracks, enter cities and city parks without a care in the world. The world loved her and followed her journey even allowing her to ruin golf courses and gardens. She had a phalanx of journalists tracking her every move and feeding her fruits and sugar cane to keep her energized. She is now on display in Kaffrarian Museum in King William’s town.