Matsulu

History

The township was established in the 1970s. Its existence came to be when African natives were forcefully removed from the nearby lands to form sugarcane plantations then relocated to the land which now forms Matsulu Township. It is alleged that the area was named after a resident who had informally settled there prior to the forced allocation; the name of the resident was Matsulu. From the 1970s to 1994 the township was administrated by the now defunct KaNgwane District Bantustan. It played a major role as an official residency for Members of Parliament (KaNgwane District Bantustan). Like many South African townships, Matsulu was embroiled in Apartheid-era violence during the 1980s and the early '90s. In 1994 the administration of the township was handed over to the then Greater Nelspruit City Council, ending the Bantustan administration.

Most-observed species

• Fork-tailed Drongo

  Dicrurus adsimilis (Bechstein, 1794) · Aves
  1,331
• Lilac-breasted Roller

  Coracias caudatus Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,257
• Cape Starling

  Lamprotornis nitens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,150
• Ring-necked Dove

  Streptopelia capicola (Sundevall, 1857) · Aves
  1,097
• Egyptian Goose

  Alopochen aegyptiaca (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,082
• Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill

  Tockus leucomelas (M.H.K.Lichtenstein, 1842) · Aves
  1,029
• Gray Go-away-bird

  Corythaixoides concolor (A.Smith, 1833) · Aves
  1,027
• Red-billed Oxpecker

  Buphagus erythrorhynchus (Stanley, 1814) · Aves
  1,026

Most recent

• M 4.6 — 2013-07-07
  43 km WSW of Nelspruit, South Africa