Komatipoort

History

'Komati' also takes its name from Khoekhoe, one of RSA's first languages, referring to the once wealthy cattle owners on this land, with 'koma' meaning cows and 'ti' meaning my. 'Komati' takes its name from the Komati River whose original native Swazi name is Nkomazi, translated as "river of cows". It is where the Crocodile and Komati Rivers meet to flow through the 'Poort' (mountain pass) through the Lebombo Mountains into Mozambique. In the 1890s Komatipoort was a wild and uproarious construction camp for the railway being built from Lourenco Marques (modern Maputo). Conditions were not the best with the area gripped by a malaria epidemic; it was in the zone called 'fever country'. Komatipoort was the last stop in the South African Republic (ZAR) Pretoria - Delagoa Bay Line constructed by the Netherlands-South African Railway Company (NZASM) with the first train crossing the border at Komatipoort from the ZAR to Portuguese East Africa on 1 July 1891 after the completion of the rail bridge over the Komati River. Between 1900 and 1902 during the Anglo/Boer War, the town was used as a base by Major F. Von Steinaecker and his group known as 'Steinaecker's Horse'. They were a bunch of mercenaries and bushwhackers and were recruited by the British in order to fight Boer guerrillas in the bushveld. Near Komatipoort is the site where the former Mozambique's President Samora Machel died in a plane crash at Mbuzini village in the Lebombo mountain, the natural barrier between South Africa and Mozambique. At the site of the accident stands the Samora Machel Monument. The Nkomati Accord was signed in Komatipoort in 1984.

Most-observed species

• Egyptian Goose

  Alopochen aegyptiaca (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,307
• Blacksmith Lapwing

  Vanellus armatus (Burchell, 1822) · Aves
  2,030
• Fork-tailed Drongo

  Dicrurus adsimilis (Bechstein, 1794) · Aves
  1,881
• Hadada Ibis

  Bostrychia hagedash (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  1,843
• Laughing Dove

  Spilopelia senegalensis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,756
• Helmeted Guineafowl

  Numida meleagris (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,713
• Black-backed Puffback

  Dryoscopus cubla (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  1,647
• Ring-necked Dove

  Streptopelia capicola (Sundevall, 1857) · Aves
  1,601