Varkie™ is an Amandla Pumps registered trade name for the S-series pumps. These versatile sludge/slurry pumps have proved to be very effective with solids handling. The name Varkie™ is a well-known name used in the South African industry for these horizontal vortex submersible pumps.

In the late 1970s, severe floods disrupted operations at a platinum mine in the Rustenburg area for about eight months. A strange noise was heard coming from deep inside the one shaft as the mine was being dewatered. It sounded like a wild pig snorting in the water (known as a "Varkie" in Afrikaans). The miners believed a wild pig had fallen into the mine and become trapped in the shaft. The miners dashed down the shaft to where the noise was coming from, expecting to find a weak, terrified trapped animal. As they got closer, instead of finding a wild pig, they discovered a pump that was still working. Because the water level had dropped, the pump had reached a snorting height, resulting in the pump making a snorting sound and earning the nickname Varkie™