Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal

During the Second Boer War British commander Lieutenant General Sir George White made Ladysmith his centre of operations for the protection of Natal against the Boer forces.[5] Starting on 29 October 1899 a number of short-lived battles were fought for control of the town, but after suffering heavy casualties the British forces retreated to Ladysmith and the Boer forces did not make use of the opportunity to follow up the attack and take control of the town.

Following the Battle of Ladysmith, whilst British forces under Lieutenant General Sir George White regrouped in the town, Boer forces surrounded Ladysmith. The siege lasted 118 days, from 2 November 1899 to 28 February 1900, during the most crucial stage of the war.[6] Approximately 3,000 British soldiers died during the siege.

Three attempts by General Sir Redvers Buller to break the siege resulted in defeat for the British forces at the battles of Colenso, Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz. On 6 January 1900 the Boer forces of Commandant-General Piet Joubert attempted to end the siege by taking the town before the British could launch another attempt to break the siege. This led to the battle of Platrand (or Wagon Hill) south of the town.

Buller finally broke the siege on 28 February 1900 after defeating the Boers by using close cooperation between his infantry and artillery.

Winston Churchill, then a young war correspondent for The Morning Post (London), was present at the Relief of Ladysmith after having been taken prisoner (between Ladysmith and Colenso) and escaping earlier during the war.[7][8][9]

Mohandas Gandhi, along with the stretcher-bearing corps that he had established earlier during the war, was involved in a number of actions that took place in and around Ladysmith during the Relief.[10]

Since it was established the town has suffered severely from flooding of the Klip River. During the 110 years up to 1997 with the completion of the Qedusizi Dam,[12] 29 serious floods occurred.[13] Minor flooding occurred almost every year.

The worst flooding in 30 years occurred in 1996 leading to R500 million in damages and the evacuation of 400 families.[14] Efforts to control the flooding date back to the 1940s. In 1949 the Windsor Dam was completed, but this dam silted up very quickly and was not an effective means of flood control.[13]

Ladysmith has a subtropical highland climate (Cwb, according to the Köppen climate classification), with warm summers and cool, dry winters. It borders on a humid subtropical climate (Cwa). The average annual precipitation is 639 mm (25 in), with most rainfall occurring during summer.

Soofi Mosque

The Soofi Mosque on the banks of the Klip River was originally built some time between 1895 and 1910, but it was greatly extended in the 1960s.[15][16]

Other buildings of interest are the Siege Museum, originally built in 1884 as a marketplace[17] and the Town Hall, damaged by Boer artillery during the Second Boer War.

Ladysmith is served by a small airport, (IATA: LAY, ICAO: FALY) is located on the outskirts of town just below Platrand at 28°34′48″S 29°45′10″E. The Aerodrome is managed and operated by JetVision Holdings Pty Ltd.

Ladysmith railway station

The Danskraal Yard is located on the Free State main line and the Glencoe–Vryheid line and acts as a depot for train marshalling and maintenance as well as rail maintenance.[18]

The passenger station is located some distance away from Danskraal close to the Central Business District.

The N11 links Ladysmith with Bergville and Newcastle, while the R103 provides access to Colenso, KwaZulu-Natal and the N3.

Traffic traveling between Durban and Johannesburg used to pass through Ladysmith up until the late 1980s, but the completion of the N3, bypassing Ladysmith 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the west, has caused a dramatic drop in traffic volumes through this town as well as others that are now bypassed.[19]

• Mhlanganyelwa Combined school
• Veyisi Primary School
• Sidingulwazi Primary School
• Acaciavale Primary School
• Aloe Park Primary School.
• Andante Independent School
• Egerton
• Hamilton Preparatory School
• Islamic Educational Centre
• Keate Street Primary School
• Limit Hill Combined
• MC Varman Primary School
• Baldaskraal Primary School
• ML Sultan
• Mnambithi Primary
• Monument Primary School
• Nikela Primary School
• Umbulwane Primary
• Blue Bank primary
• Kirkintulloch Combined school
• Peace Town Combined School
• Hursley Primary School
• Kleinfontein Primary School
• Inkuthu Primary School
• Umvulo Primary School
• Incwaba Junior Primary School
• Insungulu Lower Primary School
• Burford Primary School
• Namakazi Combined Primary School
• Madlala Combined Primary School
• Douglas Primary School
• Hollywood Primary School
• Imbizo Primary School
• St. Chad's Primary School
• Mabhumane Primary School
• Amancamakazane Primary School
• Isiqophamithi Primary School
• Ifalethu Primary School
• Good Hope Primary School
• Ingcebo Yesizwe Primary

Mcitsheni Junior primary School Gqama Senior School Damu Junior primary school

• Masoyi Secondary School
• Silindokuhle Secondary School
• Emhlwaneni High School
• DrJoseph Shabalala secondary School
• Ekukhuleni High School
• Ezakheni High School (Junior)
• Harvest High School
• Islamic Educational Centre
• Ladysmith High School (LHS)
• Ladysmith Secondary (LASEC)
• Limit Hill Combined
• Hlope Secondary
• Tatane Secondary
• Sakhelwe High School
• Windsor Secondary School
• Mhlwaneni high school
• Qophindlela Secondary
• uxolo nokuzwana secondary
• Sicelokuhle High School
• ingula High School
• Phayikeni High School
• Intababusuku Secondary
• Indakane High School
• Entonjeni High School
• Steadville High School
• St. Chad's High School
• Bhekintuthuko Secondary School
• Ndalela High School
• Siphimfundo Secondary
• Intandoyesizwe High School
• Maweni High School
• Mzimela High School
• Sgweje High School
• Mbango High School
• Limehill Junior High School
• Ndalela High School

• Inkanyezi Special School

• Boston City Campus
• Mnambithi FET College is a public college offering Further Education & Training.
• Qualitas Career Academy, caters for full-time and part-time studies for students as well as corporate training and consulting services for businesses and government departments. There are a variety of academic divisions.

The only sold local newspaper in Ladysmith is the Ladysmith Gazette. The Ladysmith Gazette is just over a century old, and is believed to have been established in 1902. The Ladysmith Gazette is part of the Caxton Group of newspapers. One of two free local newspapers is the Ladysmith Herald.[20] The other free newspaper is the Times of Ladysmith.

A large number of the Second Boer War Battlefields around Ladysmith have been preserved as memorial sites. Monuments and memorials to those who died during the battles have been erected at most of them.

Located next to the town hall there is a small museum detailing the battles and history at the time of the Siege. The museum was opened in 1985 and holds around 60,000 documents related to the Siege and Boer War.[21]

Imperial Light Horse Memorial on Platrand

The Burgher Memorial

Located just south of the town, this area saw action during the Relief of Ladysmith. The Burgher Memorial on Wagon Hill was erected in honour of Boer forces killed during the siege and relief of Ladysmith.[22]

On Platrand there are memorials to the Imperial Light Horse, the Devonshire Regiment, the Earl of Ava and a number of others.

Castor and Pollox in front of the Town Hall

Two RML 6.3 inch Howitzers used by the British during the Siege stand in front of the Town Hall.

A statue of Mohandas Gandhi can be seen at the Lord Vishnu Temple.

Ladysmith is the hometown of Joseph Shabalala, founder of the group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.[23]

Thulani "Sugar Boy" Malinga, a champion boxer, was born in Ladysmith.[24]

Elmer Symons, Dakar Rally rider, was killed in the 2007 edition while leading the Marathon class.

Diyo Sibisi, soccer player, was born in Sahlumbe, under Uthukela district in KwaZulu Natal.

Thamsanqa Gabuza, soccer player, plays for Orlando Pirates, was born in Ladysmith.

Christianity has a strong presence in and around Ladysmith. It can be seen through the beautiful places of worship built around the time of the Anglo Boer wars. One such structure includes the Anglican All Saints Church, built in 1902 from cut flagstones from a quarry in the area.

Islam also has a strong presence in the town, which is well known for the Soofie Mosque and its astounding architecture. Built in 1969, it is regarded as one of the finest in the country. The origins of the marvellous structure date back to 1895 when Hazrath Soofie Saheb arrived in South Africa. He made it his mission to build as many as 12 mosques along the east coast of Durban. Ladysmith was also the home of a revered saint known as Hazrath Soofie Sayed Mahomed Abed Mia Osmani, who is buried in the Ladysmith Muslim Cemetery.

Hinduism. In 1902, Sanathan Dharma Sabha was inaugurated to promote religious, social, cultural and education activities in Ladysmith. The oldest Hindu temple resulted from the amalgamation of Hindu Thirokootam (1910) with the Shree Ganaser Temple and hall erected in 1916. It was declared a national monument in November 1990.

The present site of the SDS temple(Sanathan Dharma Sabha aka Lord Vishnu Temple) also housed Mahatma Gandhi who established a non-White Stretcher-bearer service in the Ambulance Corps in the Ladysmith and Spioenkop during the Anglo-Boer War.

There are also Rastafarian devotees within the areas surrounding Ladysmith, residing in Waters meet, Peace Town, eZakheni,Steadville, Saint Chad s, Acaciaville and Roosbom. They are spiritual people, scholars of black consciousness and African liberation,They run businesses, they are musicians, poets, artists and writers. They are the keepers of different African philosophies.

• Hewetson, George Benson (1908). "Ladysmith". The mountains and other poems. London: Sisley's. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
• Ladysmith — a novel by Giles Foden that is set in Ladysmith
• London to Ladysmith via Pretoria — a book by Winston Churchill that includes an account of the Relief of Ladysmith
• Gore, St. John (1901). The Green Horse in Ladysmith. Sampson, Low, Marston and Co. Available as The Green Horse in Ladysmith at the Internet Archive
• MacDonald, Donald (1900). How We Kept the Flag Flying: The Story of the Siege of Ladysmith. Ward, Lock & Co. Available as How We Kept the Flag Flying: The Story of the Siege of Ladysmith at the Internet Archive
• Steevens, George Warrington. From Capetown to Ladysmith: An Unfinished Account of the South African War. available as
• From Capetown to Ladysmith by George Warrington Steevens at Project Gutenberg
• Norris, Stephen Leslie (1900). The South African War, 1899-1900 : a military retrospect up to the relief of Ladysmith. John Murray. Available as The South African War, 1899-1900 : a military retrospect up to the relief of Ladysmith at the Internet Archive
• Wilkinson, Spenser (1900). Lessons of the War: Being Comments from Week to Week, to the Relief of Ladysmith. Constable. Available as Lessons of the War: Being Comments from Week to Week, to the Relief of Ladysmith at the Internet Archive
• Atkins, John Black (1900). The relief of Ladysmith. Methuen. Available as The relief of Ladysmith at the Internet Archive
• The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi — contains a number of chapters dealing with Ladysmith:
  • Volume II - Indians in Ladysmith (29-10-1903); Indian Store-Keepers in Ladysmith (5-11-1903); Indian Licences in Ladysmith (10-12-1903)
  • Volume IV - Ladysmith Licences (11-2-1904)
  • Volume V - The Ladysmith Licensing Board (21-4-1906); Indentured Indians in Ladysmith (23-6-1906)
  • Volume VI - Ladysmith Licences (23-2-1907); Ladysmith Appeals (20-4-1907); Licence Case in Ladysmith (11-5-1907); Ladysmith Struggle (18-5-1907)
  • Volume VII - The Ladysmith Traders (31-8-1907); Licences in Ladysmith (31-8-1907); Indian Merchants of Ladysmith (26-10-1907)