Clermont under the apartheid days was a black middle income township. Its immediate surroundings include KwaDabeka to the north, New Germany to the west, Westville to the south and Reservoir Hills to the east. Its main road is called Clermont road and is named after Sir Clermont, a farmer who sold his land. It was the only place in Durban where black people were able to buy property and build houses. Since the end of apartheid Clermont has been sprawling with shacks as people from the rural areas come and seek work opportunities in the nearby suburbs of Westville and New Germany, Pinetown and Durban.
Community Justice in a Volatile South Africa: Containing Community Conflict, Clermont, Natal by Daniel Nina (Social Justice 20 (3-4) (Fall-Winter 1993): 129-42)