VISITORS TO DURBAN may struggle to find a definitive phrase that fits the city and its suburbs. For Durban, or eThekweni as it is also called, contains such a vast spectrum of cultures, beliefs and physical and economic landscapes, that it is indeed difficult to encapsulate the place in a well-worded phrase.

But it is precisely in this difficulty of finding a central metaphor or description, that the secrets and riches of this lively African city reside. For Durban is a city of fusion, of cross-pollination, of wild eclecticism. Here Africa, Europe, America, and the East meet at a single geographical point.

Muslims, African Christians, Catholics, Jews and Hindus build monuments to their gods and prophets that become defining elements of our physical and cultural skylines. Our menus reflect a cuisine that is truly global while strongly attached to its local roots. Our artists and performers create cutting-edge works that explore and celebrate the polyphonic symphony of a place that seems to be both at the very edge of the world, and at its centre.

Of course, there are many such places on earth where cultures meet and marry. But what makes Durban different is that our diverse cultures all exert an equal influence on the gradually forming collective culture of the city. And while the melting pot is a defining element of 21st century life on earth, there are few places where people from such different backgrounds live together in harmony, without having to sacrifice their individual points of view.

The word ‘cosmopolitan’, which so often means many cultures converging into one, takes on a fuller meaning in this city where freedom of association isn’t so much a political slogan, as something that has happened organically in post-apartheid Durban. While we are still in the process of negotiating our collective future, it doesn’t mean that we have to sacrifice our personal identities. And it is perhaps this realisation, consciously or not, together with the fact that we are at the edge of the world, which makes Durban a place where the spirit of freedom resides.

But this freedom is not an end point. It is a beginning. A place and context from which we can confront the challenges that face us. And they are many.

We are still in the process of coming to terms with the social and economic legacies of apartheid. We have the relatively new legacy of HIV to fight. And we find ourselves in a newly globalised world, where the political and economic goalposts have shifted considerably.

The past cannot be changed, but the future is ours to define, and all these challenges will make us stronger. And as we rapidly make our way into the worlds of tomorrow, we do so in a place that, even with all of these challenges, is very much akin to paradise. Remarkably so. Throw down a pawpaw (one of the many exotic gifts from afar that thrives in Durban) and shortly you will have a tree. The creative soil of Durban is equally nurturing, and the confluence of many cultures and many pasts has lead to a city that is profoundly creative. So much so that Durban is often recognised by those in other centres as an engine of creativity and a source of much of the country’s cultural wealth. And sure enough, if you go to those other South African cities, you will often find Durbanites at their creative centres. And even those who spend only a short sojourn in Durban invariably go away freshly inspired.

But Durban doesn’t necessarily give away its secrets quickly to visitors, and its uncommodified beauty and adventure take time to explore. So this booklet is a shortcut; a way of getting to the heart of the city and its people. So that when you arrive in Durban/eThekwini, you will already in some small way, know a little about how it feels, and recognise its idiosyncratic pulse.