Komatipoort: Mpumalanga's Kruger Lowveld Gem

The Bushmen were the first people to live in the area around Komatipoort. Their artwork, which date from a hundred to thousands of years ago, have been found hidden beneath rock ledges. In 1887, the town of Komatipoort was founded. The Swazi name "Komati" River, which translates to "river of cows or hippos," and the Afrikaans word "poort," which means valley, are the sources of the town's name.

In Mpumalanga, halfway between Middelburg and Bethel, the Komati Power Station was built with a capacity that was more than twice that of any other power plant in South Africa at the time. In June 1957, preparations for this station got under way. Its maximum output was to be 1,000 kW, generated by four generators (Nos. 6 to 9) each producing 125,000 kW and five generators (Nos. 1 to 5) each producing 1,000 kW. Every generator has a separate boiler. The first generator began operation at the end of 1961, and the final machine was put into service at the beginning of 1966. The Komati power station, South Africa's oldest coal-fired power plant, was shut down by Eskom after 60 years of coal-fired electricity production. Eskom, a power company, issued the following statement: "the facility will be transformed into a wind and solar energy production site. After serving South Africa since 1961, the coal-fired Komati power station has today reached the end of its operating life and has been shut down from midday!”

Article Courtesy of www.sahistory.org.za/place/komatipoort