Musina

This article is about the city in South Africa. For the city in Italy, see Messina, Italy.

Musina Messina
—  Town  —
Musina
Coordinates: 22°20′17″S 30°02′30″E
Country	South Africa
Province	Limpopo
District municipality	Vhembe
Local municipality	Musina
Established	1968
Population (2001)
• Total	40,826
Time zone	+2
Post Code	0900
Area code(s)	015
Website	http://www.musina.gov.za

Musina or Messina (see name situation below) is the northernmost town in the Limpopo province of South Africa near the Limpopo River border to Zimbabwe. It has a population of between 20,000 and 40,000. Iron ore, coal, magnetite, graphite, asbestos, diamonds, semi-precious stones and copper are mined in the region.

History

The Musina tribe discovered copper and settled here. In the 20th century European prospectors rediscovered the large copper desposits and established the town of Messina. The spelling of the name was changed to Musina in 2003 to correct the colonial-era misspelling of the name of the Musina people.

Geology

The Limpopo River is a dry river bank which flows annually in rains when lichen and other plant species of the desert region come alive. Sometimes, it floods. The low-shrub and thorny tree lands that surround Musina and thrive in rains are alive with animals in sanctuaries that offer experienced-only camping safari accessible by sand and rock road tracks. Access is generally good, with the road from Johannesburg to Musina being wide tar, as are most other roads in the area.

Border with Zimbabwe

The link with Zimbabwe has become one of the busiest roads in the world and the busiest in Africa, due to black market importers from Zimbabwe and people looking for employment. This is mainly due to thousands crossing (and fleeing) the border into South Africa every day. According the New York Times, in January 2009 Musina had a shifting population of about 15,000 foreigners, overwhelmingly Zimbabweans, many of whom lived in a refugee camp at the showground or in the streets. [1]

Name

The city and surroundings have been called Messina since the very day Europeans arrived in the area. The town, which was founded and settled by white people, was also named Messina. However, in 2003, the Limpopo government (while changing the names of other cities in Limpopo) changed the name to Musina. Unlike other towns in South Africa, it was one of the very few which underwent very little riots or oppositions, such as Pretoria and Louis Trichardt. The reason is probably because the name change was only a misspelling, rather than a whole new name.

Current usage

Although Musina is becoming more widely accepted, Messina is still often used, especially by the white community.

Climate

Musina experiences a hot semi-arid climate (Koppen Bsh) with hot temperatures dominating year-round. Average annual precipitation amounts to 372 mm (14.6 in), and is highly concentrated in the summer months from October to April when severe late-afternoon and evening thunderstorms are common. Winter is extremely dry, with almost zero precipitation typically recorded in the driest months from June to August. Clear skies and exceptionally low humidity at this time of the year enable temperatures to plunge close to freezing at night, although frost is fairly uncommon. Droughts frequently occur during the winter months, and infrequently during summers when very little rain falls and dry conditions prevail. These erratic summer droughts are becoming more common as climate change continues.

Climate data for Musina, South Africa
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	33 (91)	32 (90)	31 (88)	30 (86)	28 (82)	25 (77)	25 (77)	27 (81)	29 (84)	31 (88)	32 (90)	32 (90)	30 (86)
Average low °C (°F)	21 (70)	21 (70)	19 (66)	16 (61)	12 (54)	8 (46)	8 (46)	10 (50)	14 (57)	17 (63)	19 (66)	20 (68)	15 (59)
Precipitation mm (inches)	61 (2.4)	65 (2.56)	42 (1.65)	26 (1.02)	12 (0.47)	4 (0.16)	1 (0.04)	2 (0.08)	15 (0.59)	33 (1.3)	55 (2.17)	56 (2.2)	372 (14.65)
Avg. precipitation days	8	8	5	4	2	2	1	1	3	5	7	9	55
Source: World Climate Guide