4 Coworking Spaces in Pietermaritzburg

About Pietermaritzburg

The birthplace of the author of "Cry the Beloved Country", Alan Paton, Pietermaritzburg is the capital of the 2nd largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Locally named "Maritzburg", the city's name is often abbreviated to "PMB". Maritzburg is an industrial hub that produces aluminum, timber and dairy products, plus it's the main economic hub of the Umgungundlovu District Municipality. There are a wealth of schools in the area from primary to tertiary education institutions plus the campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. With a population calculated to be around the 600,000 residents (including the neighboring townships), it has one of the largest population of Indian South Africans in South Africa.

Maritzburg was founded by the Voortrekkers in the early 1800s and it was in 1893 that Mahatma Gandhi stepped foot in the town when he was told to move from the first class carriage to the back of the train (he did have a first class ticket) because of a white person objecting to his presence. He refused, so the conductor told him to get off and it just so happened to be at Maritzburg. It was this momentous occasion that caused Gandhi to stay in South Africa and to fight the racial discrimination against the people there. It was this struggle that his unique version of "nonviolent resistance - Satyagraha" emerged. Today you will find a bronze statue of Gandhi sitting in the city heart.

Maritzburg may not be the hub that Cape Town is, but it still has its intrepid locals bent on creating their own unique dreams. Cape Town attracts some of the most dynamic entrepreneurs and is nicknamed "Silicon Cape". It has the most established startup ecosystem on the continent and is looked upon as the perfect base, not only to look after the South African market, but to service the rest of the continent as well. It's a perfect location for tech whisperers with its time-zone perspective putting it on an easy footing to access business hubs such as London. It has low setup costs and there is plenty of brainpower running around having internationally recognized tertiary institutions within its midst. Coworking venues are one more supporting step in the entire startup ecosystem that give out-of-the-box thinkers the place to mingle, share ideas, or to cry on each other's shoulders if need be.