Hello Brett,
Sorry again for the late reply, this week is ending just as the week before started, with precious little time for anything, my thoughts are as follows.
2035 is very typical of the famous Rand jeweller, List Brothers, they produced a great many badges for both the Imperial Light Horse and Imperial Light Infantry, with each letter incised from gilt brass and applied to a piece of square wire, either, at the bottom or usually in the centre of the three letters.
2136 is likely to have been made actually on the Rand and in my opinion will be a little later, because of the differing material used.
496 in that particular sale is also, in my opinion, probably, late rather than early, but, all very different than your own handsome example, which appears very similar to the large Bethune's Mounted Infantry badge, which I believe was worn on the helmet. given the size of the rectangular bar, the letters are attached to, clearly not made for a Torin or indeed, a humble Field Service Cap and rather strange for a slouch hat.
It is my belief that the founder members of this regiment, in common with, for example, Thorneycroft's MI, wore, at the point of inception, the Torin and the Helmet, with their officers obtaining the Slouch Hat very early on.
I was interested to note in your post, the date of September 1899 and Pietermaritzburg, in connection with the ILI, where does that information come from please?
To the very best of my knowledge the regiment was certainly disbanded in Pietermaritzburg, on the 15th of July 1901.
It had been raised, for official purpose, at least, on the 9th of November 1899 in Natal, but, a look through WO126 suggests to me that it was actually Durban, rather than Pietermaritzburg, certainly, very many founder members of the regiment actually joined there, including, I have to say, all those recipients in my collection, who were all founder members.
I very much like your badge and I think that in common with other examples, it is actually a pretty rare thing and I would be delighted with it.
It really cannot be compared with the Imperial Light Horse, the ILH went on in the SAMIF for rather longer before disbandment, with many shoulder titles, subsequently worn by members of the Transvaal Volunteers and Active Citizen Force, actually assumed to be worn in the Anglo Boer War.
Regards Frank