Quiz

[James Attwell]

No prizes for the winner, anyone know where this station is?

[John Ashworth]

Well I hope I'm not cheating as I have a huge wall map of the South African rail system on the wall above my desk, so I can immediately see a Komga between Prospect and Tanga on the line from Amabele to Umtata in the East London area. Is that the one?

[Stefan Andrzejewski]

Thats correct as the give away is the Amebele which is on the way to Butterworth on the N2. Blink and you will miss it

[Steve Appleton]

Of course not being an English name, it's not pronounced "Com gaa" but rather "cum gha" with a gutteral 'g'.
This letter published in East London's Daily Dispatch, January 5, 2002 explains:

isiXhosa spelling preferred.
RE. the Chiel's column (DD, Dec 27) about the correct spelling of Komga.
The correct isiXhosa spelling is Qumra; the isiXhosa "r" sounds like the Afrikaans letter "g". Kwelera is also not Kwelega. Both place names have been westernised.
There are other names that need to be spelt and pronounced correctly -- like Gqunube (Gonubie), Ngqushwa River (Gnushe River), Xhalanga (Cala). Nxaruni (Nahoon), and Ngquru (Coega). This does not mean that the names of these places are being changed, just their spelling and pronunciation.
This should be part of the African Renaissance.
Mafuza ka-Siyapi (Radebe)
Amalinda

[James Attwell]

Correct, this is along the Amabele to Umtata line which has the Kei rail on it. When I last saw the station in August last year, the station had been given a coat of paint, NO litter to be seen and two secuirity guirds whith AK 47 on guard. So hats off to the Kei Rail for doing a great job.