Stanger is best known for being the home of King Shaka's memorial monument. King Shaka was murdered on 22nd September 1828 by his two half-brothers, Dingane and Mhlangane, and his servant, Mbopa. After murdering him they threw his body into a grain pit, over which the monument was erected in 1932. The town of Stanger was established on the old Dukuza site in 1872, and named after the first Surveyor General of Natal, William Stanger. The whole of this region of KwaZulu-Natal is peppered with sites related to King Shaka in one-way or another. Just a few kilometres away from Stanger the High Rock, once used as an execution rock. Another rock called Observation Rock is where King Shaka used to sit and reflect. The nearby Mavivane Execution Cliff is where King Shaka had his enemies killed and thrown over.

Stanger / KwaDukuza forms part of the rich sugar belt that stretches down the KwaZulu-Natal coast, and is also home to the Sappi Paper Mill. The town has developed a distinct suggestion of the East, as may be seen in the Annual Divali celebrations. This is an area of great historical and cultural importance.