Breyten is a small farming town in Mpumalanga,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

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

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 Rive ...

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

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

. 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 ( af, Eerste Vryheidsoorlog, literally "First Freedom War"), 1880–1881, also known as the First Anglo–Boer War, the Transvaal War or the Transvaal Rebellion, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881 betwee ...

. The farm was later sold to Nicolaas Breytenbach, a

field cornet A 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 equival ...

during the

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

, 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 greatly developed because of a railway station or junction at its site. North America During the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, tempor ...

. Passenger and freight trains departed and connected in Breyten to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to De ...

, Nelspruit,

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

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

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. 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 extraction of iron from ...

. Due to losses in the manufacturing sector, the town has since become depressed with high

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

. Breyten is now a

stopover 250px, Layover for buses at LACMTA's Warner Center Transit Hub, Los Angeles ">Los_Angeles.html" ;"title="Warner Center Transit Hub, Los Angeles">Warner Center Transit Hub, Los Angeles In scheduled transportation, a layover (also waypoint, way ...

for tourists who are headed to either the Lowveld or

Highveld The Highveld (Afrikaans: ''Hoëveld'', where ''veld'' means "field") is the portion of the South African inland plateau which has an altitude above roughly 1500 m, but below 2100 m, thus excluding the Lesotho mountain regions to the south-east o ...

. 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. Historic mining communities Australia * Ballarat, Victoria * Bendigo ...

, 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 institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grants. De ...

called Xtensive ICT Academy, which is centered around

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology syste ...

training.

Notable people

Ahmed Timol Ahmed Timol (3 November 1941 – 27 October 1971) was an anti-apartheid activist in the underground South African Communist Party. He died at the age of 29 from injuries sustained when he fell from the top floor of John Vorster Square police s ...

- Anti-apartheid activist and

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

* Naas Botha - 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 Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane, a member of the African National Congress, who was appointed in March 2018. She took offi ...

, 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