The town of Komatipoort came in to being in 1887 as the chosen junction point where a new Selati railway line would meet the main Johannesburg to Lourenço Marques line. The early pioneers of the line suffered considerable hardships from local fauna ranging from lions to malarial mosquitoes.
Prior to these incursions by Europeans the area between modern Mozambique, Swaziland and the Kruger National Park was verdant bush veldt country peopled by Swazi and Shangaan clans. Both of these tribes are members of the larger Nguni family of southern African people of whom the most famous element is the Zulus.
Komatipoort remained a rough border settlement for a number of years. During the Anglo-Boer War of 1899 – 1903 the area served as the base for a unit of irregular horsemen, serving the British cause, raised by the colourful personage of Francis Christian Ludwig von Steinaecker. A Bavarian with prior service in the Prussian army, Steinaecker was described as a little over five feet (1.5m) tall, hook nosed, bushy eye-browed and as wearing a uniform entirely of his own design. That description was by Col. J. Stevenson-Hamiliton who was based in Komatipoort while setting up the Sabi Game Reserve, forerunner of the Kruger National Park. Because of his mission to clear the reserve of inhabitants, the local Shangaan people dubbed Stevenson-Hamilton ‘Skukuza’ – meaning 'he who sweeps clean'. The largest camp in Kruger Park is named in his honour.
Komatipoort was confirmed as a town in 1903 and grew into a farming community
specialising in sugar, bananas and
citrus fruits. Between the two World wars it
would have been a significantly larger community than say Nelspruit, now a major
city and provincial capital. The wars in Mozambique from the early ‘seventies to
early ‘nineties made Komatipoort the end of the road to nowhere. During the days
of the Apartheid Komatipoort was very much in the front line of the struggle
between that regime’s security forces and those wishing to affect change.
Peace in Mozambique and the creation of the new South Africa presents Komatipoort with an opportunity of rebirth. It is now a frontier town on a highway linking two friendly nations – the economies of both of which are growing fast. The next chapter in this history could be the most exciting yet.