Scottburgh is a coastal resort town situated along the R102 Regional Route and the N2 freeway on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa, approximately 59 km south-west of Durban in eThekwini and 63 km north-east of Port Shepstone.
Scottburgh lies south of the mouth of the Mpambanyoni River, along the uMdoni Coast sub-region (also known as the Mid South Coast) of the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast.
The neighbouring towns of Scottburgh include Amahlongwa, Amandawe, Bazley Beach, Clansthal, Dududu, eMuziwezinto (famously known as Umzinto), KwaCele, Sezela, and Umkomaas.
Scottburgh is the main town and administrative centre/seat of the uMdoni Local Municipality, which is part of the Ugu District Municipality.
The 2011 census divided the main area of Scottburgh into seven “sub places”: Scottburgh SP, Scottburgh South, Pennington, Selborne Golf Estate, Park Rynie, Kelso, and Freeland Park.
Before 1 December 2023, vehicle registration plates in Scottburgh started with NX – N for Natal, X for Alexandra, as the town once formed part of the Alexandra County in the 1800s, along with Umzinto, Park Rynie, Umkomaas, and Sezela–Pennington. The reason why it was not registered as NA instead was that the town of Harding, 140 km south-west, already bore the vehicle registration “NA”.
History
Named after Natal Colony Governor John Scott, in 1860, it became the second township at the end of Durban, but was initially known as Devonport. Scottburgh then became a very promising port as well as a new attractive location for sugar farms and sugar mills.
In about 1850, the town started to attract immigrants, especially from Great Britain and Ireland, known as the Byrne Settlers. They came to take advantage of the good harbours, to export their sugar both internally and overseas. Scottburgh became an independent municipality in 1964.
Infrastructure
Roads
The N2 is a major freeway bypassing Scottburgh, connecting Durban to the north with Port Shepstone to the south, with an interchange at Dududu Road (Exit 110).
Scottburgh can also be accessed via the following main roads:
- The R102 Regional Route (the old main road between Durban and Port Shepstone) – bypasses Scottburgh and connects Umkomaas to the north with Park Rynie and Pennington to the south.
- The P188 (Dududu Road) – connects Scottburgh with Amandawe and Dududu and provides access to the N2.
