ULUNDI

town, capital of KwaZulu/Natal province, South Africa. It lies on the north bank of the White Mfolozi River. The site was chosen by Cetshwayo for his new capital when he became king of the Zulu in 1873. He called it UluNdi (the High Place). The village was captured and burned by the British in 1879 in the last battle of the Anglo-Zulu War, in which Cetshwayo was defeated. A memorial has been erected on the site. In the 1970s the South African white government decided to build the new capital of what was then KwaZulu at Ulundi. KwaZulu/Natal province was created out of Natal province and KwaZulu in 1994, and Ulundi was named its capital that same year. Light industries in the area process foodstuffs, tobacco, and timber. Roads and a railway link the town with Vryheid and Richards Bay. The population is predominantly Zulu, and Christianity is the dominant religion. Pop. (1985) 4,312.