About Overport

Overport, Durban

Overport, in similar fashion to the Berea against which it borders, is made up of a number of different suburbs – Overport, Sydenham, Sparks and parts of Essenwood.

Historically the hilly suburb has sat on the lower end of the city's ridge - that extends all the way to the University of Durban on one end, and Morningside on the other - its boundaries established by Julia, Springfield, Essenwood (Stephen Dlamini) and Brickfield (Felix Dlamini) roads.

Ridge Park College (formerly Berea Girls' High), McCord Hospital and Overport City (now Atrium Berea shopping centre) lie at the heart of the suburb, a major intersection where Peter Mokaba meets Overport Drive.

Today Overport is a mixture of cultures, the major arteries of its western flank largely Indian and thus dominated by spice shops, Hindu temples and Islamic mosques. The Overport Mosque – Soofie Masjid - at 64 Glenearn Road, sports particularly eye-catching minarets.

And you won't go hungry in Overport. Halaal pizza parlours, fabric and textile shops, and an Halaal butchery selling grassfed meat, raised on free range farms dominate the scene. Even the new Chippewa Spur is Halaal.

Felix Dlamini (Brickfield) and Moses Kotane (Sparks) in particular are jam-packed with eateries, bakeries, fresh fruit and vegetable stores, clothing stores, dress makers and hair and beauty salons. Where Brickfield Road used to be a narrow, two-way and busy road, today it has been widened and, thankfully, upgraded.

The only problem is parking. Overport is understandably busy, and finding a place to leave your car may entail driving round the block more than a couple of times.