I still live in Durban. Here are my thoughts. You will probably be working in the Umhlanga Ridge area where all of the new office development is. There is a lot of property to rent within a 10 to 15km range of there. Much of it is quite pricey though & most of the newer developments may have no, or very small gardens (I find "small" is a relative term if you are from the UK..!) An older suburb worth looking at is Durban North & further up the coast there are some lovely places such as Ballito, Willards Beach, Umdloti etc. All depends on your budget & tolerance of commuting time. Traffic (compared to the UK) is not such a problem. I agree that you should try to find somewhere with a semblance of communal security if you will be alone. Try Google to find sites which offer property for rental in and around Durban.