Ladysmith (renamed uMnambithi in 2024[3][4][5]) is a town in the Uthukela District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

[3][4][5] In 1847, after buying land from the Zulu king Mpande, a number of Boers settled in the area and called it the Republic of Klip River with Andries Spies as their commandant.

[9] Starting on 29 October 1899, a number of short-lived battles were fought for control of the town, but after suffering heavy casualties British forces retreated to Ladysmith, though the Boers did not make use of this opportunity to follow up their successes and take control of the town.

Following the battles, while British forces under White regrouped in the town, the Boers surrounded Ladysmith.

[10] Three attempts by General Sir Redvers Buller to break the siege resulted in Boer victories at the battles of Colenso, Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz.

British forces under Buller finally broke the siege on 28 February 1900 after defeating the Boers by using close cooperation between his infantry and artillery.

[11][12][13] Mohandas Gandhi, along with the stretcher-bearing corps that he had established earlier during the war, was involved in a number of actions that took place in and around Ladysmith during the relief.

[20] Traffic traveling between Durban and Johannesburg used to pass through Ladysmith up until the late 1980s, but the completion of the N3 Toll Highway, bypassing Ladysmith 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the west, has caused a dramatic drop in traffic volumes through this town as well as others that are now bypassed.

[26][27] On Platrand there are memorials to the Imperial Light Horse, the Devonshire Regiment, the Earl of Ava and a number of others.

One such structure includes the Anglican All Saints Church, built in 1902 from cut flagstones from a quarry in the area.

The origins of the structure date back to 1895 when Hazrath Soofie Saheb arrived in South Africa.

[30][31] For Hinduism, Sanathan Dharma Sabha was inaugurated to promote religious, social, cultural and education activities in Ladysmith in 1902.

The present site of the SDS temple (Sanathan Dharma Sabha aka Lord Vishnu Temple) also housed Mahatma Gandhi who established a non-White Stretcher-bearer service in the Ambulance Corps in the Ladysmith and Spioenkop during the Anglo-Boer War.

There are also Rastafarian devotees within the areas surrounding Ladysmith, residing in Waters Meet, Peace Town, eZakheni, Steadville, Saint Chads, Acaciaville and Roosbom.