Komatipoort is a town situated at the confluence of the

Crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

and

Komati River The Komati River, also known as the Inkomati River or Incomati River (in Mozambique, from Portuguese Rio Incomati), is a river in South Africa, Eswatini and Mozambique. Originating in north-western Eswatini, it is joined by the Crocodile R ...

s in

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

province,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The town is 8 km from the Crocodile Bridge Gate into the

Kruger Park Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from eas ...

, and just 5 km from the

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

border and 65 km from the

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

border. It is a small, quiet town within the Lowveld with some attractive tree-lined streets. It is one of the hottest towns in South Africa where temperatures can reach almost 48 °C ( on 12 December 1944) in the height of summer, but also with a perfect winter climate around .

History

'Komati' also takes its name from

Khoekhoe Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also '' Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 May 2018. Citing G. S. ...

, one of RSA First languages and once the wealthiest cattle owners on this land, 'koma' meaning cows and 'ti' meaning my. 'Komati' takes its name from the

whose original native

Swazi Swazi may refer to: * Swazi people, a people of southeastern Africa * Swazi language * Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked coun ...

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 The Lebombo Mountains, also called Lubombo Mountains ( pt, Montes Libombos), are an , narrow range of mountains in Southern Africa. They stretch from Hluhluwe in KwaZulu-Natal in the south to Punda Maria in the Limpopo Province in South Africa in ...

into Mozambique. In the 1890s Komatipoort was a wild and uproarious construction camp for the railway being built from Lourenco Marques (modern

Maputo Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...

). Conditions weren't 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 The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...

(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 Portuguese Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique) or Portuguese East Africa (''África Oriental Portuguesa'') were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese colony. Portuguese Mozambique originally ...

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 The Bushveld (from af, bosveld, af, bos 'bush' and af, veld) is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands, sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa. It encompasses most of Limpopo Province and a small part of ...

. Near Komatipoort is the site where the former Mozambique's President

Samora Machel Samora Moisés Machel (29 September 1933 – 19 October 1986) was a Mozambican military commander and political leader. A socialist in the tradition of Marxism–Leninism, he served as the first President of Mozambique from the country's ...

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 Samora Machel Monument in Mbuzini, near Komatipoort in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, marks the spot where the plane carrying the then-President of Mozambique crashed in 1986. It resulted in the deaths of President Machel and seve ...

. The

Nkomati Accord The Nkomati Accord (officially known as the ''Agreement on Non-Aggression and Good Neighbourliness between Mozambique and South Africa'' ) was a non-aggression pact signed on 16 March 1984 between the People's Republic of Mozambique and the Rep ...

was signed in Komatipoort in 1984.

Infrastructure

This city has a railway station for the loading and unloading of passengers and cargo on the

Pretoria–Maputo railway Pretoria–Maputo railway, also called Delagoa Bay railway, Iron railway and Eastern railway, is a railway that connects the city of Maputo, Mozambique, to the city of Pretoria, in South Africa. It is 567 km long, in 1067 mm gauge.

.Mozambique Logistics Infrastructure: Mozambique Railway Assessment
Atlassian Confluence. 10 de dezembro de 2018. The town is the site of a

dry port A dry port (sometimes referred to as an inland port) is an inland intermodal terminal directly connected by road or rail to a seaport, operating as a centre for the transshipment of sea cargo to inland destinations. In addition to their role in ...

References

External links

Unofficial Town Portal
Populated places in the Nkomazi Local Municipality Mozambique–South Africa border crossings Komati River 1874 establishments in Africa {{Mpumalanga-geo-stub

History

Infrastructure

See also

References

External links