Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It constitutes 6.5% of South Africa's land area. It shares borders with the South African provinces of

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature ...

to the north, Gauteng to the west, the Free State to the southwest, and KwaZulu-Natal to the south. The capital is Mbombela. Mpumalanga was formed in 1994, when the area that was the Eastern

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

was merged with the former bantustans

KaNgwane KaNgwane () was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government to be a semi-independent homeland for the Swazi people. It was called the "Swazi Territorial Authority" from 1976 to 1977. In September 1977 it was renamed KaNgwan ...

KwaNdebele KwaNdebele was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government as a semi-independent homeland for the Ndebele people. The homeland was created when the South African government purchased nineteen white-owned farms and install ...

and parts of Lebowa and

Gazankulu Gazankulu was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government to be a semi-independent homeland for the Tsonga people. It was located in both the Northern Transvaal, now Limpopo province and Eastern Transvaal, now Mpumalanga ...

. Although the contemporary borders of the province were only formed at the end of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid wa ...

, the region and its surroundings has a history that extends back thousands of years. Much of its history, and current significance is as a region of trade.

History

Precolonial Era

Archeological sites in the Mpumalanga region indicate settlement by humans and their

ancestors An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...

dating back 1.7 million years. Rock paintings, engravings and other archeological evidence throughout the province indicate that Mpumalanga has a long history of human habitation by groups of hunter gathers. Excavations not far from the Mpumalanga border in the Origstad district, show evidence of

Middle Stone Age The Middle Stone Age (or MSA) was a period of African prehistory between the Early Stone Age and the Late Stone Age. It is generally considered to have begun around 280,000 years ago and ended around 50–25,000 years ago. The beginnings of p ...

habitation dating back to 40,000 years ago. The Lion Cavern, in

Ngwenya Ngwenya is a town in western Eswatini, lying near the border with South Africa, north west of Mbabane, on the MR3 road. The South African town opposite Ngwenya is Oshoek in Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The n ...

on the Eswatini border, shows evidence of people mining iron ore in the Mpumalanga region and surrounding areas from at least 28 000 years ago. Evidence from mine shafts and trade goods shows that there was notable industry in tin, copper, gold, iron, ochre, and bronze. The Lydenburg Heads, from around 500 CE, are Africa's oldest Iron Age artworks south of the equator were found in Mpumalanga. Evidence from a site near Mbombela shows evidence of agricultural societies from between the 6th to 17th century.

Bokoni Bokoni (meaning 'land of the people from the north') was a pre-colonial, agro-pastoral society found in northwestern and southern parts of present-day Mpumalanga province, South Africa. Iconic to this area are stone-walled sites, found in a varie ...

stone-walled sites on the Mpumalanga highveld are indicative of a large precolonial agropastoral society between ~1500 and 1820 CE. These societies became centers of trade, with increasingly large and centralised populations, a pattern that increased as they connected to the Portuguese trading post in Maputo Bay. In this era, groups that would become the Swazi, Pedi, Ndebele,

Mapulana The Pulana or Mapulana, are a low-veld Sotho-Tswana ethnic group found in the northeastern part of the Mpumalanga and southeastern Limpopo provinces. Their language is called Sepulana (SeKutswe and Pai) and is considered dialect of the Northern ...

and others established themselves in the area that is now Mpumalanga.

Colonial Era

In 1845, as part of the Great Trek, the first Dutch-speaking colonial settlers arrived in what they called the eastern Transvaal. The rest of the 19th century in the region was characterised by colonial encroachment and conflict over land and political control. In 1852, the Boers established the South African Republic. The well established Pedi, Swazi and Zulu kingdoms put up significant resistance against the settlers. The Pedi fought wars with the

Boers Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this area ...

in 1876 (see Sekhukhune Wars) and the Zulu fought with

British settlers The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, settled by the government of the United Kingdom and the Cape Colony authorities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820. Origins After the ...

in 1879 (see

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coup ...

). These interconnected conflicts played a role in shifting the balance of power in southern Africa to colonial control. After 1860, missionaries, especiailly German missionaries like

Alexander Merensky Alexander Merensky (8 June 1837 in Panten near Liegnitz – 22 May 1918 in Berlin) was a German missionary, working in South Africa (Transvaal) since 1859. Life Alexander was orphaned early in life and grew up among relatives. In 1855, h ...

set up mission stations in the region, spreading Christianity and European values. Just as the region had been a center for trade in the precolonial era, in the colonial era, the Eastern Transvaal region became an important thoroughfare for trade between Johannesburg and Delagoa Bay (now Maputo). Gold mining around areas like Pilgrims Rest and Barberton and farming were the main forms of economic activity. On farms in the Transvaal, under a system known as

Inboekstelsel Inboekstelsel was a system of indentured child labour instituted by Europeans in Southern Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries. The word is derived from the Dutch verb ''inboeken'' (register; literally "in-book"), referring to the requirement o ...

, Boers carried out raids to capture children and forced them into indentured labour. During the South African War, the region was the site of notable battles.

Apartheid

When the National Party came to power in 1948, their policy of

intensified the segregation that had defined communities in the

. Under a policy of forced removals, Black South Africans were evicted from areas reserved for white people and moved into homelands, including

, Lebowa and

. As the apartheid regime implemented oppressive

policies Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

that defined almost every aspect of life, activists responded with resistance. In 1959, the small town of

Bethal Bethal () is a farming town in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The farms in the region produce maize, sunflower seeds, sorghum, rye and potatoes. The town lies east of Johannesburg on the N17 National Route. History The town originated on an old farm ...

on what is now the Mpumalanga highveld was the center of the anti-apartheid consumer potato boycott in response to the working conditions Black South African labourers faced on farms in the area. The region was influenced by dynamics in exile and elsewhere in the country, for instance

Black Consciousness The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Afri ...

, the

Sharpeville Massacre The Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960 at the police station in the township of Sharpeville in the then Transvaal Province of the then Union of South Africa (today part of Gauteng). After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd ...

and the 1976 Soweto Uprisings. In the 1980s, under intense repression, youth and labour organizations moblized against the government and townships and Bantustans erupted in political unrest and violence. In 1986, an avoidable disaster killed 177 mine workers in Kinross Mine in the region's highveld. The response to the disaster by the National Union of Mineworkers was a key point in the South African labour struggle. By the late 1980s, the intensity of resistance across South Africa (including areas like Mpumalanga, which hadn't previously been seen as key areas of resistance) combined with economic factors and international pressure was strong enough to end apartheid. On 27 April 1994, when South Africa held its first democratic elections, Mpumalanga province was formed. It was orginally called the "Eastern Transvaal" province, but the name was later changed to Mpumalanga on the 24th of August 1995.

Post-apartheid

The liberation movement turned leading party, the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election installe ...

(ANC) came into power in Mpumalanga after white minority rule ended. A program of

land redistribution Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

, aimed at granting land back to the black communities who were forcibly moved during apartheid, had redistributed tens of thousands of hectares to these communities and their descendants. However, the process has been marked by corruption, controversy and has been seen as inadequate to address the extent of apartheid spatial planning. In 2001, 1,270 hectares of the Boomplaats farm near Mashishing was the first farm in South Africa to be expropriated. The post-apartheid era brought significant economic growth to Mpumalanga including notable progress in extending housing and basic services. However, poor governance, corruption and high levels of wealth and income inequality present persistent challenges to the province.

Geography

The Drakensberg escarpment divides Mpumalanga into a westerly half consisting mainly of high-altitude

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natu ...

called the Highveld and an eastern half situated in low-altitude subtropical

Lowveld Veld ( or ), 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, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswa ...

Bushveld The Bushveld (from af, bosveld, af, bos 'bush' and af, veld) is a sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa. It encompasses most of Limpopo Province and a small part of the North West Province of South Africa, the Central and Nort ...

, mostly

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

habitat. The southern half of the

Kruger National Park Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from e ...

is in the latter region. The Drakensberg exceeds heights of 2000 m in most places, with this central region of Mpumalanga being very mountainous. These regions have alpine grasslands and small pockets of

Afromontane forest The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions of ...

. The Lowveld is relatively flat with interspersed rocky outcrops. The

Lebombo Mountains The Lebombo Mountains, also called Lubombo Mountains ( pt, Montes Libombos), are an , narrow range of mountains in Southern Africa. They stretch from Hluhluwe in KwaZulu-Natal in the south to Punda Maria in the Limpopo Province in South Africa in ...

form a low range in the far east, on the border with Mozambique. Some of the oldest rocks on earth have been found in the Barberton area; these ancient greenstones and

metamorphosed Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causi ...

granites Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergr ...

form the Crocodile River Mountains in the southeast of the province. The Lowveld is underlaid by African Cratonic Basement rocks of ages in excess of 2 billion years. The Highveld is mostly Karoo Sequence sedimentary rock of a younger,

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carboniferous ...

to Permian age. Mpumalanga is the only South African province to border two provinces of Mozambique (

Gaza Province Gaza is a province of Mozambique. It has an area of 75,709 km2 and a population of 1,422,460 (2017 census), which is the least populous of all the provinces of Mozambique. Xai-Xai is the capital of the province. Inhambane Province is to t ...

to the northeast and

Maputo Province Maputo Province is a province of Mozambique; the province excludes the city of Maputo (which comprises a separate province). The province has an area of and a population of 1,968,906 (2017 census). Its capital is the city of Matola. Geograp ...

to the east), as well as all four

regions of Eswatini Eswatini (formerly ''Swaziland'') is divided into four regions: Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, and Shiselweni. Each region is further divided into tinkhundla. There are 55 tinkhundla in Eswatini and each elects one representative to the House of As ...

( Lubombo, Hhohho, Manzini, and

Shiselweni Shiselweni is a region of Eswatini, located in the south of the country. It has an area of 3,786.71 km² and a population of 204,111 (2017). Its administrative center is Nhlangano. It borders Lubombo in the northeast and Manzini Region in ...

Districts).

Climate

The Lowveld is subtropical, due to its latitude and proximity to the warm Indian Ocean. The Highveld is comparatively much cooler and drier, due to its elevation of 1700 m to 2300 m above sea level. The Drakensberg escarpment receives the most precipitation, with all other areas being moderately well-watered by mostly-summer

thunderstorms A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...

. The Highveld often experiences considerable freezing, while the Lowveld is mostly frost-free. Winter rainfall is rare, except for some drizzle on the escarpment. The differences in climate are demonstrated below by comparing the capital, Mbombela, which is in the Lowveld, with

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, which is an hour away on the Highveld. * Mbombela averages: January maximum: 29 °C (min: 19 °C), July maximum: 23 °C (min: 6 °C), annual precipitation: 767 mm * Belfast averages: January maximum: 23 °C (min: 12 °C), June maximum: 15 °C (min: 1 °C), annual precipitation: 878 mm With climate change in the province, rainfall is becoming more variable, temperatures and evaporation rates are rising and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent. It is predicted that these changes will shift biomes so that most of the province will be savanna. Spitskop

Ecology

Some of the earliest signs of life on Earth have been found in Mpumalanga. In the Makhonjwa mountain range's greenstone belt near Barberton, a fossil layer shows microbial activity that is 3.22 billion years old. This discovery indicates that life emerged on Earth 300 million years earlier than previously thought. Mpumalanga has a high plant and animal diversity. Many species are endemic to the province.

Endemic species

A partial list of species that are endemic to Mpumalanga * Roust Golden Mole (''Amblysomus robustus''), a mammal in the golden mole family. * Treur River Barb (''Enteromius treurensis''), a river fish. * Barberton sugarbush (''Protea curvata)'', a

protea ''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos''). Etymology The genus ''Protea'' was named in 1735 by Carl Linnaeus, possibly after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his form ...

plant threatened by mining activity. * Sim's Spotted Aloe ''(Aloe simii)'' an aloe threatened by road construction. * Komati Waterberry ''(Syzygium komatiense)'' a species of waterberry tree. * ''Thorncroftia lotterii'' , a flowering plant. * '' Acontias albigularis,'' a lizard species. * '' Procrica mariepskopa,'' a moth species. * Inkomati Mountain Catfish ''(Amphilius engelbrechti'') * Yellow Baberton Grass Aloe ''(Aloe craibii)'' * Longtom oneye (''Monopsis kowynensis)'' * Graskop cliff aloe (''Aloe nubigena)'' Kruger National Park Summer

Conservation areas

The diverse and special flora and fauna of the province enjoys protection in a range of nature reserves. * Barberton Nature Reserve *

Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve (or Motlatse Canyon Provincial Nature Reserve) is situated in the Drakensberg escarpment region of eastern Mpumalanga, South Africa. The reserve protects the Blyde River Canyon, including sections of the Ohri ...

Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park is a 35,000 km² peace park that is in the process of being formed. It will link the Limpopo National Park (formerly known as Coutada 16) in Mozambique, Kruger National Park in South Africa, Gonarezhou Nat ...

, previously known as Gaza-Kruger-Gonarezhou Transfrontier Park. This international game park brings together some of the best and most established wildlife areas in southern Africa. The park is managed as an integrated unit across an unprecedented three international boundaries which includes the

(South Africa),

Limpopo National Park The Limpopo National Park ( pt, Parque Nacional do Limpopo) was born when the status of Coutada 16 Wildlife Utilisation Area in Gaza Province, Mozambique, was changed from a hunting concession to a protected area. It forms part of the Great Limpop ...

( Mozambique) and

Gonarezhou National Park Gonarezhou National Park is a national park located in southeastern Zimbabwe. It is situated in a relatively remote corner of Masvingo Province, south of Chimanimani along the Mozambique border. Owing to its vast size, rugged terrain and its loc ...

( Zimbabwe). * Lowveld National Botanical Garden in Mbombela *

Sabi Sand Game Reserve Sabi Sand Game Reserve is located adjacent to the Kruger National Park in the Lowveld of Mpumalanga, South Africa. Officially named Sabi Sand Wildtuin, the Sabi Sand Game Reserve consists of a group of private game reserves. The Newington Gate ...

, which is built up of numerous private reserves: Nottens Bush Camp, Idube Safari Lodge, Chitwa Chitwa Game Lodge, Djuma Game Reserve, Exeter Game Lodge, Inyati Private Game Reserve, Leopard Hills Private Game Reserve, Lion Sands Private Game Reserve, Londolozi Game Reserve, Mala Mala Game Reserve, Savanna Private Game Reserve and Ulusaba Game Lodge. * Verloren Vallei near Dullstroom Many species of plants are unique to the different geological formations within Mpumalanga. Some examples of these formations include serpentines of Barberton Mountains,

norite Norite is a mafic intrusive igneous rock composed largely of the calcium-rich plagioclase labradorite, orthopyroxene, and olivine. The name ''norite'' is derived from ''Norge'', the Norwegian name for Norway. Norite also known as orthopy ...

s of Sekhukhuneland, quartzites of

Blyde River Canyon The Blyde River Canyon is a 26km long Canyon located in Mpumalanga, South Africa. It is the one of the larger canyons on Earth but much smaller than those of Asia, the Grand Canyon and the Fish River Canyon. Unlike the Grand and Fish River Canyo ...

, and the

dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form pa ...

in the northern plateaus.

Law and government

Mpumalanga is governed by the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature, a unichameral system of 30 legislators democratically elected though a

closed list Closed list describes the variant of party-list systems where voters can effectively only vote for political parties as a whole; thus they have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters had some inf ...

system. Under the constitution of South Africa, the legislature is intended to create laws, promote public participation and provide oversight. From 1994 to the present, the African National Congress has been the leading party in the Mpumalanga legislature. As of the 2019 elections, the Economic Freedom Fighters, Democratic Alliance and Freedom Front Plus are in opposition in the legislature. Elected every five years, the premier of Mpumalanga is the head of government in the province. Since 2018, Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane has held the office of premier.

Municipalities

Map of Mpumalanga with districts labelled (2011)

Mpumalanga Province is divided into three district municipalities. The district municipalities are in turn divided into 18 local municipalities:

District municipalities

* Ehlanzeni District ** Bushbruckridge ** Mbombela ** Nkomazi ** Thaba Chweu ** Umjindi * Gert Sibande District **

Albert Luthuli Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli ( – 21 July 1967) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, traditional leader, and politician who served as the President-General of the African National Congress from 1952 until his death in 1967. Luthuli w ...

** Dipaleseng **

Govan Mbeki Govan Archibald Mvuyelwa Mbeki (9 July 1910 – 30 August 2001) was a South African politician, military commander, Communist leader who served as the Secretary of Umkhonto we Sizwe, at its inception in 1961. He was also the son of Chief Sike ...

** Lekwa ** Mkhondo ** Msukaligwa ** Pixley ka Seme * Nkangala District **

Delmas Delmas may refer to: People * Antoine Guillaume Delmas (1766–1813), French revolutionary and Napoleonic general * Benjamin Delmas (born 1976), French ice dancer * Bert Delmas (Albert Charles Delmas, 1911–1979), American baseball player * C ...

** Dr JS Moroka **

Emalahleni 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 wag ...

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia * So ...

Steve Tshwete Steve Vukhile Tshwete (12 November 1938 in Springs, Transvaal – 26 April 2002 in Pretoria, Gauteng) was a South African politician and activist with the African National Congress. Involved in Umkhonto we Sizwe, Tshwete was imprisoned by the a ...

** Thembisile

Economy

Farming

68% of land area in the province is used by agriculture. The climatic contrasts between the drier Highveld region, with its cold winters, and the hot, humid

allow for a variety of agricultural activities. Mpumalanga has been an important supplier of fruit and vegetables for local and international markets for decades. A history of dispossession mean that farming land is largely white owned, although policies of land redistribution era aim to address this. Crops include maize, wheat, sorghum, barley,

sunflower seed The sunflower seed is the seed of the sunflower (''Helianthus annuus''). There are three types of commonly used sunflower seeds: linoleic (most common), high oleic, and sunflower oil seeds. Each variety has its own unique levels of monounsat ...

, soybeans,

macadamia ''Macadamia'' is a genus of four species of trees in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. They are indigenous to Australia, native to northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland specifically. Two species of the genus ...

s, groundnuts, sugar cane, vegetables, coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco,

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

, subtropical and deciduous fruit. Natural grazing covers approximately 14% of Mpumalanga. The main products are beef,

mutton Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries''. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. Older sheep meat is mutton. Gen ...

, wool, poultry and dairy. Farming in the province is driven by both a combination of

seasonal A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

, permanent and temporary labourers. Conditions on farms vary widely but seasonal and temporary workers, many of whom are migrant workers from nearby Mozambique, face intense insecurity. Forestry is extensive around

Sabie Sabie is a forestry town situated on the banks of the Sabie River in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The name Sabie is derived from the siSwati word " Ulusaba" which means "fearful river" because the river was once teeming with dangerous Nile crocodi ...

and

Graskop Graskop is a small town in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. It was set up in the 1880s as a gold mining camp but it now serves as a tourist destination and the timber industry. “ God’s Window”, a scenic view from the escarpment of the Lo ...

. Located near the forests, Ngodwana is the site of one of South Africa's largest paper mills (

Sappi Sappi Limited, originally incorporated as ''South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limited'' in 1936, is a South African pulp and paper company with global operations. Products and operation South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limite ...

Mining

Extensive mining is done and the minerals found include gold,

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platin ...

group metals, silica,

chromite Chromite is a crystalline mineral composed primarily of iron(II) oxide and chromium(III) oxide compounds. It can be represented by the chemical formula of FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. The element magnesium can su ...

, vanadiferous

magnetite Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula Fe2+Fe3+2O4. It is one of the oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetized to become a permanent magnet itself. With the ...

, argentiferous zinc, antimony,

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, pro ...

, copper, iron, manganese, tin, coal,

andalusite Andalusite is an aluminium nesosilicate mineral with the chemical formula Al2SiO5. This mineral was called andalousite by Delamétehrie, who thought it came from Andalusia, Spain. It soon became clear that it was a locality error, and that the spe ...

, chrysotile

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere ...

, kieselguhr, limestone, magnesite, talc and shale. Gold was first discovered in Mpumalanga province in 1883 by Auguste Roberts in the mountains surrounding what is now Barberton. Gold is still mined in the Barberton area today. Mpumalanga accounts for 83% of South Africa's coal production. 90% of South Africa's coal consumption is used for electricity generation and the synthetic fuel industry. Coal

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many pow ...

s are in proximity to the coal deposits. A coal liquefaction plant in Secunda (

Secunda CTL Secunda CTL is a synthetic fuel plant owned by Sasol at Secunda, Mpumalanga in South Africa. It uses coal liquefaction to produce petroleum-like synthetic crude oil from coal. The process used by Sasol is based on the Fischer–Tropsch process. I ...

) is one of the country's two petroleum-from-coal extraction plants, which is operated by the synthetic fuel company

Sasol Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa and built on processes that were first developed by German chemists and engineers in the early ...

. The high density of coal power stations on the Mpumalanga highveld means that the region has the highest levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution in the world.

Attractions

Mpumalanga is popular with tourists.

, established in 1898 for the protection of Lowveld wildlife, covering , is a popular destination. The other major tourist attractions include the Sudwala Caves and the

. Many activities including the big jump, mountain and quad biking, horse trails, river rafting and big game viewing are endemic to the region. This is " Big Five" territory. Towns in the

are Barberton, Mbombela, White River,

Hazyview Hazyview is a sub-tropical farming town in Mpumalanga, South Africa, renowned for its large banana and macadamia nut industries, contributing about 20% of South Africa's bananas and 30% of macadamia output. Bordering the Kruger National Park, the ...

Malelane Malalane (formerly Malelane) is a farming town in Mpumalanga, South Africa situated on the N4 national highway. The farms in the region produce sugarcane, subtropical fruit and winter vegetables. The town was proclaimed in 1949 after which it was ...

, Pilgrim's Rest, Lydenburg and Nkomazi. In 2008, a

Haute Cuisine ''Haute cuisine'' (; ) or ''grande cuisine'' is the cuisine of "high-level" establishments, gourmet restaurants, and luxury hotels. ''Haute cuisine'' is characterized by the meticulous preparation and careful presentation of food at a high pric ...

route was formed, trickling from Mbombela down to Hazyview. The Lowveld Gourmet Route covers the four top fine dining restaurants the area has to offer. The restaurants include Summerfields Kitchen, Oliver's Restaurant, Orange and Salt.

Culture

Ndebele Village, Mpumalanga, South Africa (20329039339)

Mpumalanga is home to a diverse range of cultures, including Swazi, Ndebele, Afrikaans, Tsonga, Zulu, Mapulana, Portuguese and Pedi communities. The Ndebele Cultural Village at

Botshabelo Botshabelo, meaning "a place of refuge", is a large township set up in 1979 by the then apartheid government. It is located 45 km east of Bloemfontein in the present-day Free State province of South Africa. Botshabelo is now the largest ...

is a renowned center of cultural heritage, with displays of Ndebele house painting. Ndebele artist Esther Mahalangu gained international acclaim for her artwork rooted in Ndebele traditions and geometric patterns. Prominent South African artist Gerard Sekoto was born in

. Many celebrated South African musicians, such as Ray Phiri, Rebecca Malope and

Pretty Yende Pretty Yende (born 6 March 1985) is a South African operatic soprano. She has performed leading roles at opera houses internationally, including La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera. Early life and education Born in Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, Ye ...

, are from Mpumalanga, Since 2003, Mpumalanga's capital city, Mbombela, has hosted the

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 grad ...

national arts festival Innibos. The festival features music, comedy, arts, crafts and theatre.

Gallery

File:Landscape kruger-park.jpg,

. File:Motlatse Canyon Bourke's Luck Potholes bridge (2).jpg, Bourke's Luck Potholes. File:Three Rondavels Blyde River Canyon.jpg, ''Three Rondavels'' of the

. File:Eastern Transvaal.jpg, Escarpment. File:Lisbon Falls - Tvl.jpg, ''Lisbon Falls''. File:Pilgrim Rest.jpg, '' Pilgrim's Rest''. File:Blyde.jpg,

Treur River The Treur River (from Afrikaans: mourning river) is a small river in the Drakensberg escarpment region of eastern Mpumalanga province, South Africa. The R532 motor route intersects it twice. Its ultimate origin is inside the Blyde River Canyon Nat ...

Demographics

Mpumalanga's population is 4,039,939 people (according to the 2011 census). The average population density is 52.81 people per km². Some 30% of the people speak

siSwati The Swazi or siSwati language is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Eswatini and South Africa by the Swati people. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 2.4 million. The language is taught in Eswatini and so ...

, the language of neighbouring Eswatini, with 26% speaking isiZulu, 10.3% isiNdebele, 10.2% Northern Sotho and 11.6% Xitsonga. As of the 2011 census, approximately 90.65% of Mpumalanga's population are Black, 7.51% are White, and 0.91% are

Coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

and 0.69% are Indian or Asian.

References

External links

Mpumalanga Provincial Government

Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency
{{Authority control Provinces of South Africa States and territories established in 1994 1994 establishments in South Africa