Page 37 - Heritage Streets of KwaMashu 2025

Kwa-Mashu township is made up of several ‘sections’, or neighborhoods.
Kwa Mashu has 14 sections, from A to H, (no section I), then sections J to N (no section O), and lastly section P. It is not well understood why certain letters of the alphabet were skipped. There are many interesting stories about Kwa-Mashu which
are not necessarily reflected in official history. Each Section of the township has its unique colloquialisms and urban legends, and some of these will be shared through the names of each Section. The people of Kwa-Mashu have a unique culture and the naming of places reveals a lot about how certain events are incorporated permanently into the history of the Township.
While the chosen names of the various sections are letters
from the alphabet and therefore lack imagination, the local naming of places is far richer, descriptive, interesting, and even entertaining. As an example, F-section is known as France, J-section is known as “Boy-Boy”, M-section is known as “Moscow”, the L-section as “London”, there is part of Section C is known as “Ireland”, the other as eMaklabishini and another area at section B near Thembalihle Station closer to Kwa Mashu Hostel is called “KwaVezunyawo, etc.
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