oThongathi, previously and still commonly known as
Tongaat, is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Durban and 28 kilometres (17 mi) south of KwaDukuza. It now forms part of eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, or the Greater Durban area. The area is home to the oldest Indian community in South Africa, having been where the first indentured Indian laborers settled in 1860 to work in the sugar-cane plantations. Much of the architectural style in the town was the work of Ivan Mitford-Barberton, and many buildings are in the Cape Dutch style of architecture.