Hibberdene

Hibberdene
Hibberdene Hibberdene
Coordinates: 30°34′20″S 30°34′20″E
Country	South Africa
Province	KwaZulu-Natal
District	Ugu
Municipality	Ray Nkonyeni
Area
• Total	14.26 km2 (5.51 sq mi)
Population  (2011)
• Total	4,037
• Density	280/km2 (730/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	67.1%
• Coloured	1.2%
• Indian/Asian	1.8%
• White	29.4%
• Other	0.4%
First languages (2011)
• Zulu	60.9%
• English	18.1%
• Afrikaans	15.8%
• Xhosa	3.2%
• Other	2.0%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	4220
PO box	4220
Area code	039

Hibberdene is a small coastal town on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast in South Africa, approximately 23 km (14 mi) north-east of Port Shepstone and 90 km (56 mi) south-west of Durban and halfway between coastal towns of Scottburgh and Margate. It was named after C. Maxwell-Hibberd, the former postmaster-general of Natal.

Law and government

Municipal administration

Previously an independent municipality and part of the defunct Hibiscus Coast Local Municipality, Hibberdene now forms part of the Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipality and the larger Ugu District Municipality.

Municipal re-demarcation

As the 2024 national government elections near, there have recently been several demarcation proposals made by the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) to relocate Ward 13 of the Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipality which includes Hibberdene and its neighbouring settlements of Woodgrange-on-Sea, Umzumbe (Umzumbe Village), Fairview/Fairview Mission and eNtaba to the adjoining Umzumbe Local Municipality.

However, Umzumbe Village and Fairview would still remain part of Ray Nkonyeni. It has also been highlighted that the relocation of most of Ward 13 to Umzumbe Municipality is in a bid to stimulate economic activity in the Greater Umzumbe area, a rural municipality plagued with administrative mismanagement, high levels of unemployment and little economic and social development. The reason for the relocation is also attributed to the fact that Hibberdene serves as the nearest urban service centre to the Greater Umzumbe area. A final decision on the demarcation proposals is yet to made regarding the relocation of Hibberdene to Umzumbe Municipality.

Geography

Hibberdene is situated on a coastal hillside between the uMhlungwa River to the north and the uMzimayi River to the south, both of which drain into the Indian Ocean.

The 2011 census divided the main area of Hibberdene into seven “sub places”: Hibberdene proper (pop. 790), the coastal areas of Catalina (pop. 455) to the north, Woodgrange-on-Sea (pop. 292) to the immediate south, Umzumbe (pop. 366) to the far south and the inland rural areas of Fairview (pop. 1,606) and Fairview Mission (pop. 527) to the west.

Retail

Hibberdene serves as a shopping centre for the small settlements and countryside surrounding it such as Mthwalume and Mathulini. The town centre of Hibberdene is located adjacent the R102 road and includes a shopping centre, Hibberdene Village Mall (anchored by Superspar), a PicknPay store and a number of other retailers, hardware stores and local businesses.

Culture and comptemptory life

Tourism

Similarly to most towns along the South Coast, Hibberdene mostly depends on tourism for its small-scale economy. Lying at the gateway to the Hibiscus Coast, Hibberdene is popularly known as an affordable holiday destination and for its beaches. Hibberdene has five popular beaches, four of which are netted and thus are safe for swimming. Hibberdene's beaches are popular because of the warm Indian Ocean flowing across its shoreline, making diving, snorkelling and scuba diving very pleasant. Two of its beaches, Hibberdene Beach and Umzumbe Beach are accredited with the international Blue Flag beach status.

Transport

The R102 is the main road connecting Hibberdene with Sipofu and Pennington to the north and with Umzumbe and Port Shepstone to the south that passes through Hibberdene Central and provides access to the N2 freeway (to Durban and Port Shepstone) by-passing Hibberdene to the west. The R102 between Hibberdene and Port Shepstone is commonly used by motorists wishing to avoid tolling on the N2 in Port Shepstone.

A twice daily shuttle bus stops in Hibberdene connecting the town with Margate, Port Shepstone, Durban and King Shaka International Airport.