Empangeni is a town in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa, situated at the intersection of the R34 Provincial Route and the R102 Regional Route, just off the N2 National Route.
Situated in hilly countryside, overlooking a flat coastal plain, Empangeni is located approximately 169 km north-east of Durban and just 17 km east of the major harbour town of Richards Bay.
The N2 National Route passes east of Empangeni, intersecting with the John Ross Highway (R34 Provincial Route), which connects Empangeni and Richards Bay.
Empangeni falls within the City of uMhlathuze Local Municipality, which is part of the King Cetshwayo District Municipality.
Empangeni’s climate is sub-tropical with an average temperature of 28.4°C in summer and 14.5°C in Winter. The town is said, by residents, not to have a real winter, as temperatures are seldom very low.
Empangeni is home to Ngwelezane, a township situated on its outskirts.
History
Humble beginnings
In 1851, the Norwegian Missionary Society established a mission station on the banks of the eMpangeni River. The river was named after the profusion of Mpange trees (Trema guineensis) growing along its banks. The mission was later moved to Eshowe, 61 kilometres north-west.
In 1894, a magistracy was established. The Zululand Railway reached the town in January 1903 and linked the area to Durban and Eshowe. The government planted eucalyptus trees in 1905 as part of an experimental timber plantation. The plantation was a success and led to large-scale planting along the coastal belt.
In 1906, Empangeni became a village. Rapid expansion began when a sugar mill was erected at Felixton. The establishment of the Empangeni Sugar Mill set the area on the road to rapid development. Empangeni was officially proclaimed as a township on 15 January 1931 and declared a borough on 13 October 1960.
The reign of the Hammerman
A small town, Empangeni, made the headlines in the early 1980s for a very unfortunate reason. Serial killer Simon Mpungose was terrorising the citizens of Empangeni during his spree of violent murders. The 35-year-old Mpungose was given the name ‘Hammerman’ because he would break into homes in the dead of night and kill the occupants with a hammer before robbing them of their possessions. When he was brought to trial in November 1984, shortly after his arrest that same year, the Empangeni court was told that Mpungose attacked many other people during violent robberies, but never touched the children of his victims. During the trial Mpungose stated that he wanted to die as he had a hard life, complicated by the actions of people who did not understand his plight.
He sentenced him to hang, whereupon Mpungose threw his blue tracksuit into the public gallery, shouted, and threatened to expose his penis to the court before he was restrained with handcuffs. He was hanged a year later on Friday, 29 November 1985, in Pretoria.
The Riots of 2021
Empangeni was one of the towns severely damaged during the riots and subsequent looting that broke out in parts of South Africa in July 2021. Several businesses did not reopen following the carnage. By 2024, most of the Central Business District had been repaired and rebuilt.
Sanlam Centre, which is a large shopping centre in the Empangeni Central Business District, went through extensive renovations in response to the damage caused by the riots and installed a fence along the perimeter of the centre’s parking lot in case of future events similar to the 2021 riots.
