Breyten is a small farming town in

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is situated at the foot of ''Klipstapel'', the highest point on the

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

between the westward-flowing

Vaal River The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Oce ...

system and the eastward-flowing Olifants and

Komati River The Komati River, also known as the Inkomati River or Incomati River (in Mozambique, from Portuguese Rio Incomati), is a river in South Africa, Eswatini and Mozambique. Originating in north-western Eswatini, it is joined by the Crocodile Riv ...

systems. The town is located 25 km (15 mi) west of

Chrissiesmeer Chrissiesmeer (Lake Chrissie) is a small town situated in Msukaligwa Local Municipality, in a wetland area of Mpumalanga province in South Africa, on the northern banks of the eponymous An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone o ...

, 30 km (19 mi) north of Ermelo, 32 km (20 mi) southwest of Carolina, and 35 km (21 mi) southeast of Hendrina. The main spoken languages are Zulu,

Swati Swati may refer to Films * ''Swati'' (1984 film), a Telugu film * ''Swati'' (1986 film), a 1986 Bollywood romantic drama film * '' Swati Mutyam'', a 1986 Telugu-language drama film written, directed by K. Viswanath * '' Swati Kiranam'', a 1992 ...

and

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

. The town was built upon the ''Bothasrust'' farmstead, which itself was granted to one Lukas Potgieter as compensation for his losing a leg during the

First Boer War The First Boer War (, ), was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and Boers of the Transvaal (as the South African Republic was known while under British ad ...

. The farm was later sold to Nicolaas Breytenbach, a

field cornet Field cornet () is a term formerly used in South Africa for either a local government official or a military officer. The office had its origins in the position of ''veldwachtmeester'' in the Dutch Cape colony, and was regarded as being equivalent ...

during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

, after whom the town was named in 1906. Breyten was once a vibrant

railway town A railway town, or railroad town, is a settlement that originated, or was expanded, as a result of a railway line being constructed there. North America During the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, temporary, ...

. Passenger and freight trains departed and connected in Breyten to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

Nelspruit Mbombela, formerly Nelspruit, is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River, the city lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, east of Johannesburg and north of ...

Witbank Witbank (), officially eMalahleni, is a city situated on the Highveld of Mpumalanga, South Africa, within the Emalahleni Local Municipality, Mpumalanga, Emalahleni Local Municipality. The name Witbank is Afrikaans for "white ridge", and is named ...

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

and other areas of South Africa. Common freight was agricultural produce and livestock, but most predominantly coal from the local

collieries Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

. Due to losses in the

manufacturing sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construction ...

, the town has since become depressed with high

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

. Breyten is now a stopover for tourists who are headed to either the

Lowveld Veld ( or , Afrikaans and Dutch: ''veld'', field), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide-open, rural landscape in Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, ...

Highveld The Highveld (Afrikaans: ''Hoëveld,'' , ) is the portion of the South African inland plateau which has an altitude above roughly , but below , thus excluding the Lesotho mountain regions to the south-east of the Highveld. It is home to some of t ...

. Tourists can be served by a local hotel and a few guest houses. Breyten continues to be a

mining community A mining community, also known as a mining town or a mining camp, is a community that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine or a quarry. Historical mining communities Australia * Ballarat, Victoria * Bendi ...

, with the majority of the population still employed in collieries such as ''Tselentis'' and ''Spitzkop'' of the Imbawula Group. Coal is still the most transported good out of Breyten. A leather factory named JCB Leather Works can also be found in Breyten. Breyten now features a

private college Private universities and private colleges are higher education institutions not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. However, they often receive tax breaks, public student loans, and government grants. Depending on the count ...

called Xtensive ICT Academy, which is centered around

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

training.

Notable people

* Ahmed Timol - Anti-apartheid activist and

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

Naas Botha Hendrik Egnatius 'Naas' Botha (born 27 February 1958) is a South African former rugby union player who played as a Fly-half for Northern Transvaal, Rugby Rovigo and South Africa (the Springboks). He was voted SA Rugby Player of the Year in ...

- National rugby union team player * Vusi Shongwe - Politician, former acting

Premier of Mpumalanga The premier of Mpumalanga is the head of government of Mpumalanga province in South Africa. The current premier of Mpumalanga is Mandla Ndlovu, a member of the African National Congress. He took office on 18 June 2024. Functions In terms of th ...

, current MEC for the Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs

References

Populated places founded by Afrikaners Populated places in the Msukaligwa Local Municipality {{Mpumalanga-geo-stub