Westville, KwaZulu-Natal

Westville is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and is just west of Durban. It was a formerly independent town however it became part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality in 2002. Westville is situated 10 km inland from the Durban CBD.

Westville
Westville
Westville
Coordinates: 29.831°S 30.925°E / -29.831; 30.925
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceKwaZulu-Natal
MunicipalityeThekwini
Area
 • Total30.76 km2 (11.88 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total30,508
 • Density990/km2 (2,600/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
 • Black African32.5%
 • Coloured2.6%
 • Indian/Asian22.1%
 • White42.0%
 • Other0.7%
First languages (2011)
 • English72.2%
 • Zulu17.3%
 • Afrikaans5.4%
 • Xhosa1.9%
 • Other3.2%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)
3629
PO box
3630

Westville is also central to several townships, namely Cato Manor, Clermont and Chesterville.

History

It was laid out on the farm Westville (named in honour of Martin West, the first British lieutenant-governor of Natal)[2] and formed in 1847. It developed from a settlement of German immigrants who arrived in 1848, and was proclaimed a borough in 1956. before being incorporated into eThekwini as part of the post-apartheid reorganization of South Africa's municipalities.

Education

Schools situated in Westville include Westville Boys' High School, Westville Girls' High School, Atholl Heights Primary School, Berea West Junior Primary School, Berea West Senior Primary School, Pitlochry Primary School, Westville Senior Primary and the Deutsche Schule Durban. Higher education centres include a 2-square-kilometre campus of University of KwaZulu-Natal (formerly the University of Durban-Westville) and Varsity College (Westville campus).

Specialist schools such as The International Hotel School, based at the Westville Hotel and The Fusion Cooking School can also be found in Westville.

Religion

There are several churches in Westville, including the Westville Catholic Church, Our Lady of Lourdes, situated in the town centre, Westville Methodist Church,[3] the Westville Baptist Church,[4] St Elizabeth's Anglican Church and OneCity Church,[5] who meet at the Westville Country Club. The major mosque in Westville is Habibia Soofie Masjid, located opposite Westville Boys High School. It is a Soofie mosque.[6] Another major mosque in Westville is The Westville Jaame Musjid(Mosque) situated at 46 Meerut Road.

Prison
Main article: Westville Prison

Westville Prison is one of the largest prisons in the country and the only prison located in the Durban area.

Shopping centres

Westville has three notable shopping centres:

Business parks

Westville boasts multiple business parks such as West Way Office Park, Surrey and Essex Gardens which is home to small businesses and huge corporations alike, most notably the regional head office for Woolworths and the headquarters for video game retailers Game 4U. [7][8]

Attractions

Tourist attractions include Westville Palmiet Nature Reserve which has 15 km of guided and self-guided trails. Further afield tourists can experience the evergreen Western Inland Route and Natal's regional attractions, including The Drakensberg (Barrier of Spears) Battlefields Tours, Game Reserves and Zululand are within a 2–3-hour drive. A large Anglo-German Historical Route exists with numerous churches, museums and grave sites depicting the early settlement struggles of the early Colonial Days.

Westville is also home to the biggest super fan of [Ariana Grande], [Harry Styles], [Lana Del Rey], [Melanie Martinez] and more. This fan is known as Tayla McHardy and should be given free tickets to all the concerts in the world.

References
  1. "Main Place Westville". Census 2011.
  2. "Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)". Human Science Research Council. p. 473.
  3. "Westville Methodist Church". www.westvillemethodist.co.za. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  4. "Home - WBC". www.WestvilleBaptist.co.za. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  5. "WELCOME". one city. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  6. "SA Qur'anic Institutions Database". Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  7. "westville business park - Google Search". www.google.com. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  8. "Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
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