Towns now extinct as namesake quagga

JOHANNESBURG: The quaggas are long gone and nowtown names are following them into oblivion.

On Friday, the Department of Arts and Culture officially approved eight more changes to place names, including the renaming of two towns called Kwaggafontein in Mpumalanga.

Kwaggafontein in Nkangala now becomes Ekukhanyeni, while the Kwaggafontein near KwaMhlanga becomes Mthombomuhle.

Kwagga is the Afrikaans translation of quagga, a now extinct species resembling a zebra.

Six of the changes are in Mpumalanga and two are in the Eastern Cape.

The other Mpumalanga changes are: Matheyzensloop becomes Entokozweni, Enkeldoorin becomes KwaMusi, Gemsbokspruit becomes Mzimuhle, and Sybrandskraal becomes Moloto South. All are in the Nkangala area.

Nkangala also has two places with their first official names: Phola Village and Zithabiseni.

Travellers should not be surprised if they miss Aliwal North and Jamestownin the Eastern Cape, as they won’t be on the map anymore. Aliwal North is now Maletswai, while Jamestown becomes James Calata (who in 1936 became ANC secretary general). Also in the Eastern Cape, the new settlement of Boyce Nondala has been officially named in the Barkly East area.