​Vryheid, a town of northern Natal, 291 m. by rail N. by W. of Durban. Pop. (1904) 2287, of whom 1344 were whites. It is the chief town of a district, of the same name, rich in mineral wealth, including copper, coal and gold. The coalfields of Hlobane are S.E. of the town. Originally part of Zululand the district of Vryheid was ceded by Dinizulu to a party of Boers under Lucas Meyer, who aided him to crush his opponents, and was proclaimed an independent state under the title of the New Republic in 1884. In 1888 it was incorporated with the Transvaal and in 1903 annexed to Natal (see Transvaal, § History; and Zululand, § History).