Indwe

History

Indwe was the fourth town after Johannesburg, Cape Town and Kimberley to have electricity. The “Indwe Railway Collieries and Land Company” was formed in Kimberley in late 1894. De Beers played a big part in it. The railway line was completed in March 1896. By 1899 the mine produced well over 100 000 tons of coal a year. By 1917 the coal mine closed down since in the intervening years better quality coal had been discovered in the Transvaal. Indwe Railway station was one of the busiest stations in South Africa, offering people from the rural Transkei a port of entry to Johannesburg and Cape Town up until 1994. Indwe compromises five townships, namely Mavuya, Manyano, Mzamomhle, Phumlani and Sonwabile township. Mavuya is the biggest township in Indwe, and one of the oldest townships in South Africa. Mavuya township is considered to be older than Langa (Cape Town) and Alexandra (Johannesburg).

Most-observed species

• Cape Wagtail

  Motacilla capensis Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  405
• Bokmakierie

  Telophorus zeylonus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  249
• Ring-necked Dove

  Streptopelia capicola (Sundevall, 1857) · Aves
  247
• African Stonechat

  Saxicola torquatus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  241
• Egyptian Goose

  Alopochen aegyptiaca (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  233
• Southern Anteater-Chat

  Myrmecocichla formicivora (Wilkes, 1817) · Aves
  223
• Hadada Ibis

  Bostrychia hagedash (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  222
• Southern Fiscal

  Lanius collaris Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  211