Izotsha is a small rural settlement on the South Coast of the

KwaZulu-Natal province KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, just inland from Shelly Beach and approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south-west of

Port Shepstone Port Shepstone is a large town situated on the mouth of the Mzimkhulu River, the largest river on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast of South Africa. It is located halfway between Hibberdene and Margate, KwaZulu-Natal, Margate and is positioned 120&nbs ...

. The name ‘Izotsha’ translates to 'it will burn’ in the

Zulu language Zulu ( ), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu languages, Southern Bantu language of the Nguni languages, Nguni branch spoken in, and indigenous to, Southern Africa. Nguni dialects are regional or social varieties of the Nguni language, ...

Overview

Izotsha is essentially a small settlement that mainly involves a group of commercial and residential farms as well as light industrial property that have been built around the P55 and P200 roads. It also forms part of the Izotsha Industrial Development Corridor which is a series of small industrial activity stretching along the section of the P200 Izotsha Road from Izotsha to

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

Geography

Located in the hilly countryside of the Lower South Coast, Izotsha lies just south of the Zotsha River after which it is named after. The village is positioned approximately 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) north-west of Shelly Beach and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south-west of

Education

Izotsha Primary School, situated in the centre of the settlement, is one of the oldest schools on the South Coast, established in 1883 around the same time the Port Shepstone School (present-day Port Shepstone Primary School and Port Shepstone High School) was also established. In 1991, the primary school made history by becoming the first “only-whites” school on the Lower South Coast to open its doors to children of other race groups.

Attractions

Touted as the largest reptile farm in Africa, Pure Venom Reptile Park is situated just south of Izotsha on the P200 Izotsha Road and includes guided tours and daily demonstrations of the variety of snakes, iguanas and crocodiles on the farm.

Religion

The Bethany Lutheran Church situated on the P55 Izotsha Road was established in 1903 by German missionary, Reverend Peter Stoppel arrived on the South Coast to do missionary work after being sent by the

Hermannsburg Mission The Hermannsburg Mission () was founded as the Hermannsburg Mission Centre (''Missionsanstalt Hermannsburg'') in 1849 in Hermannsburg, near Celle, North Germany, by Louis Harms. In 1977, the independent mission society was merged into the work ...

to start a mission station in the area. Today, the Lutheran church stands as testament to the strong German heritage that still remains on the Lower South Coast.

Transport

Rail

Izotsha once formed part of the

Alfred County Railway Alfred County Railway is an abandoned Narrow gauge railway, narrow gauge railway in South Africa, which runs from the southern transport hub of Port Shepstone on the Indian Ocean, via Izotsha and Paddock, South Africa, Paddock for to Harding, ...

which was an 2 ft (610 mm)

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

railway which ran from

in the north-east, through Izotsha, to

Paddock A paddock is a small enclosure for horses. In the United Kingdom, this term also applies to a field for a general automobile racing competition, particularly Formula 1. Description The most common design provides an area for exercise and is ofte ...

and Harding in the north-west. After the standard gauge

Transnet Transnet SOC Ltd is a large South African rail, port and pipeline company, headquartered in the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg. It was formed as a limited company on 1 April 1990. A majority of the company's stock is owned by the Department ...

passenger services shut down in 1986, the ACR continued operations until 2005, when the famous '' Banana Express'' ceased operation.

Roads

Izotsha lies at the intersection of the P55 and P200. The P55 (Izotsha Road) connects Izotsha with Shelly Beach to the south-east and with

to the north-west and provides access to the R61 highway (to

and Port Edward). The P200 (Izotsha Road) connects Izotsha with

to the north and with

Gamalakhe Gamalakhe is a township situated about inland on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Geography Gamalakhe is situated north of the Vungu River, approximately 19 km (12 mi) from Port Shepstone and 15 km (9 mi) from ...

and

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...

to the south.

Tolling

The

R61 R61 may refer to: * R61 (South Africa) The R61 is a long provincial route in South Africa that connects Beaufort West with Port Shepstone via Graaff-Reinet, Komani (previously Queenstown), Mthatha and Port Edward. The R61 is co-signed with th ...

, forming part of the South Coast Toll Route, involves the payment of

toll Toll may refer to: Transportation * Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway ** Toll road, a type of road which for which payment is required for passage ** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use ** Road to ...

at the toll booths of the Izotsha Ramp Toll Plaza, situated on the off and on-ramps of the Izotsha Road interchange (Exit 39). Traffic arriving from the south to turn off at exit 39 and traffic joining the R61 ''S'' from Izotsha Road must pass through the respective ramp plazas. The R620 from Shelly Beach to

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

and

serves as the untolled alternative route to the R61.

References

{{Ugu District Municipality Populated places in the Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipality