SANParks.org Forums

Nkulu - Natal Mahogany

Balule - is a shortening of "Rimbalule", the Tsonga name for the Olifants River.

Pafuri - is a distortion of "Mphaphuli", the dynastic name of the Venda chief through whose area the Luvuvhu River flows.

Makhadzi - Venda name for 'father's or chief's sister.

Taken from KNP PLACE NAMES.

One from the Dictionary of Place Names in the KNP that I found very interesting was Sirheni..apparently means "place of the grave". Where the present dam wall is constructed there was a water hole. During the 1959/60 Anthrax outbreak an elephant died at this water hole. Because the carcase was too large to burn, it was buried. This "elephant grave" is the origin of the name...(personally I think it MUST be easier to burn an elephant than to bury it... )