Nseleni (M11)

Name: Nseleni

Nseleni, about 15km inland from the industrial hub of Richards Bay, prides itself on its clean air and peaceful country atmosphere.

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Nseleni is a so­called black township, situated about 15km west of Richards Bay on the highway from Durban to Swaziland. It had a population of about 8 000 in 1980 and 15 000 in 1990. Unlike Esikhaweni, Nseleni had for a long time no proper infrastructure, no electricity and piped water. Many of the houses were no more than mere shacks. Poverty was apparent everywhere and the the town had a rampant crime-rate. In the early nineties, the people in the town suffered much as a result of violent clashes between two rival political parties, the African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party. People were killed by unknown attackers in the middle of the night, houses were burnt down and many left homeless. The situation has somewhat stabilized since the general election in April 1993.

In 1971, Fr. Matthew Brunner (1898­1985) began to do pastoral work in Nseleni. He was then parish priest of Kwambonambi. Bro. Jacob Riedmann (1913­1980) drew up plans for a church and a hall. After he had finished building the hall in mid-1978, he started work on the church. It was completed early in November 1978 and can accommodate two hundred people. The church, which is dedicated to Saint Hedwig, was blessed by Bishop Mansuet Biyase on November 12, 1978.

The Saint Hedwig's Parish had one outstation and about five hundred Catholics in 1990. Nseleni was incorporated into the Saint Lwanga's Parish, Ngwelezana, in Janaury 1991. Since then no separate statistics have been kept for Nseleni.



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