Botha's Hill

Botha's Hill is a small town outside Hillcrest in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It remains a peaceful beautiful hill where regular country style food and craft markets are held. It is the gateway to the Valley of a Thousand Hills. Kearsney College moved to Botha's Hill in 1939. Alan Paton, a famous author who wrote novels such as Cry, the Beloved Country and Too Late the Phalarope moved here and resided here until his death on the 12th of April, 1988.

Botha's Hill
Botha's Hill in 2010
Botha's Hill
Botha's Hill
Coordinates: 29°45′7.2″S 30°44′24″E
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceKwaZulu-Natal
MunicipalityeThekwini
Government
 • TypeWard 8
 • CouncillorMichael Shelembe (ANC)
Area
 • Total7.38 km2 (2.85 sq mi)
Population
 (2001)[1]
 • Total1,992
 • Density270/km2 (700/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2001)
 • Black African29.8%
 • Coloured0.5%
 • Indian/Asian9.5%
 • White60.2%
First languages (2001)
 • English67.6%
 • Zulu25.5%
 • Afrikaans4.1%
 • Xhosa1.5%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)
3610
PO box
3660
Area code031

Culturally, Botha's Hill is home to Trash Studios, a hub for the broader eThekwini psychedelic music scene where bands such as Black Math, MOUSE, Return to Worm Mountain, Taekwondo Sleepover and others have recorded albums, EPs and singles. The studio is owned and run by Cameron Lofstrand who is also an active musician in the psychedelic music scene in South Africa.

The village is 37km north-west of Durban, on the old main road to Pietermaritzburg before the N3 highway was built.

There have been different opinions about the origin of the name of Botha's Hill. The Dictionary of Southern African Place Names claims it was named after a settler, Philip Rudolph Botha, grandfather of General Louis Botha (1862-1919), first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa.[2] However, extensive research was undertaken by Robin W. Lamplough and published in the journal of the Natal Society, which demonstrates that Botha's Hill was named after Cornelis Botha, a former harbour master of Port Natal.[3]

  • Railway, Bothas Hill
  • Railway station Bothas Hill (app. 1890)

References
  1. "Main Place Botha's Hill". Census 2001.
  2. "Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)". Human Science Research Council. p. 91.
  3. "Natalia v12" (PDF). The Natal Society. p. 27-34.

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