Komatipoort

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Komatipoort | settlement_type = [[Town]] | image_skyline = Komatipoort.JPG | image_caption = A street in Komatipoort | pushpin_map = South Africa Mpumalanga#South Africa#Africa | coordinates = {{coord|25|26|S|31|57|E|region:ZA|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type = [[Country]] | subdivision_name = [[South Africa]] | subdivision_type1 = [[Provinces of South Africa|Province]] | subdivision_name1 = [[Mpumalanga]] | subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of South Africa|District]] | subdivision_name2 = [[Ehlanzeni District Municipality|Ehlanzeni]] | subdivision_type3 = [[List of municipalities of South Africa|Municipality]] | subdivision_name3 = [[Nkomazi Local Municipality|Nkomazi]] | subdivision_type4 = Main Place | established_title = Established | leader_title = Councillor | area_footnotes = <ref name="census2011">{{cite web |url=http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/876004 |title = Main Place Komatipoort |work=Census 2011}}</ref> | area_total_km2 = 11.71 | population_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | population_total = 4683 | population_as_of = 2011 | population_density_km2 = auto  | demographics_type1 = Racial makeup (2011) | demographics1_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | demographics1_title1 = [[Bantu peoples of South Africa|Black African]] | demographics1_info1 = 61.0% | demographics1_title2 = [[Coloureds|Coloured]] | demographics1_info2 = 1.2% | demographics1_title3 = [[Indian South African|Indian]]/[[Asian South African|Asian]] | demographics1_info3 = 2.8% | demographics1_title4 = [[White South African|White]] | demographics1_info4 = 34.4% | demographics1_title5 = Other | demographics1_info5 = 0.6%  | demographics_type2 = [[First language]]s (2011) | demographics2_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | demographics2_title1 = [[Afrikaans]] | demographics2_info1 = 30.8% | demographics2_title2 = [[Tsonga language|Tsonga]] | demographics2_info2 = 28.4% | demographics2_title3 = [[Swazi language|Swazi]] | demographics2_info3 = 27.7% | demographics2_title4 = [[South African English|English]] | demographics2_info4 = 7.6% | demographics2_title5 = Other | demographics2_info5 = 5.5%   | timezone1 = [[South African Standard Time|SAST]] | utc_offset1 = +2 | postal_code_type = [[List of postal codes in South Africa|Postal code]] (street) | postal_code = 1340 | postal2_code_type = [[Post-office box|PO box]] | postal2_code = 1340 | area_code_type = [[Telephone numbers in South Africa|Area code]] | area_code = 013 }} '''Komatipoort''' is a town situated at the confluence of the [[Crocodile River (Mpumalanga)|Crocodile]] and [[Komati River]]s in [[Mpumalanga]] province, [[South Africa]]. The town is 8 km from the Crocodile Bridge Gate into the [[Kruger Park|Kruger National Park]], just 3 km from the [[Mozambique]] border and 65 km from the [[Eswatini]] 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 ({{convert|47.7|°C|1|abbr=on}} on 12 December 1944) in the height of summer, but also with a perfect winter climate around {{convert|24|°C|0|abbr=on}}.

==History==

'Komati' also takes its name from [[Khoekhoe language|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 language|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 Mozambique|Portuguese East Africa]] on 1 July 1891 after the completion of the rail bridge over the Komati River.

Between 1900 and 1902 during the [[Second Boer War|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 [[Veld|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.

== Infrastructure == This town has a railway station for the loading and unloading of passengers and cargo on the [[Pretoria–Maputo railway]].<ref name="Atlassian">[https://dlca.logcluster.org/display/public/DLCA/2.4+Mozambique+Railway+Assessment Mozambique Logistics Infrastructure: Mozambique Railway Assessment]. Atlassian Confluence. 10 de dezembro de 2018.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/seven-year-long-construction-delagoa-bay-railway-line-starts%C2%A0%C2%A0|work=South African History Online|access-date=2014-06-24|title=The seven-year long construction of Delagoa Bay railway line starts.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230104507/http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/seven-year-long-construction-delagoa-bay-railway-line-starts%C2%A0%C2%A0|archive-date=2013-12-30}}</ref>

The town is the site of a [[dry port]].

== See also == * [[Railway stations in Mozambique]]

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20131213061838/http://www.komatipoort.co.za/ Unofficial Town Portal]

[[Category:Populated places in the Nkomazi Local Municipality]] [[Category:Mozambique–South Africa border crossings]] [[Category:Komati River]] [[Category:1874 establishments in Africa]]