Introduction
Pietermaritzburg is a vibrant African City set in the breathtaking beautiful Kingdom of the Zulus in KwaZulu Natal Midlands. Rich in history and heritage with South Africans mainly speaking IsiZulu, Afrikaans, English and Indian influences, the City is a cultural treasure-trove brimming with diversity and rainbow colour.
It is the Capital City of KwaZulu Natal and the economic hub of uMgungundlovu District Municipality. Its location in the Midlands rests as the umbilical cord of the Province where 'all roads lead to the City of Choice' . The City is the choice of best schools, technikons and university. It is the home of The Comrades Marathon, The Duzi, Canoe Marathon, a Host to The Midmar Mile, The Royal Agricultural Show, Garden Shows, Art and Cars in the Park. and has recently sucessfully hosted an International event viz. The 2010 UCI-BMX World Championship.
It has a choice of Architectural heritage and close association with highly respectable individuals such as Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Alan Paton and many more.
Its location has a strong influence on regional channels of investment, movement and restructuring of the Provincial Spatial Framework for growth and development
Despite all the above competitive advantages, the City is challenged with growing unemployment, poverty and uneven development and infrastructural backlogs owed to apartheid spatial planning in the urban, peri-urban and rural areas.