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Suburbs of Richards Bay |
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Arboretum, Birdswood, Meer En See, Veld En Vlei and Wildenwide. |
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Location |
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Richards Bay is situated on a 30 square kilometre lagoon of the Mhlatuze River, on the northern coast. The coastline stretches some three hundred and fifty kilometres from the mouth of the mighty Tugela River in the south to the Mozambique border in the north. |
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History |
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Richards Bay 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 and gas pipeline linking the port to Johannesburg. |
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Economy |
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The 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.
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Climate |
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Richards Bay normally receives about 970mm of rain per year, with most rainfall occurring mainly during summer. It receives the lowest rainfall of 38mm in June and the highest (121mm) in March. The average midday temperatures for Richards Bay range between 23°C in June to 29°C in January. The region is the coldest during July when the mercury drops to 12°C on average during the night. |
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2010 Fifa World Cup |
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Due to its regional airport, its close proximity to Durban (2 hour drive) and its status as the gateway to Zululand, Richards Bay has been identified as a possible training base for the World Cup. A small stadium aimed at achieving Fifa accreditation is under construction. However, due to funding problems it may not be completed on time and a sum of R8.5 million (US$1 million) is required before February 03, 2010 in order to ensure its completion on time. In late 2009 a Ghana delegation visited the town, raising speculation that the Ghana football team could base themselves in the town. |
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