Bushbuckridge Municipality (; ) is a
local municipality within the
Ehlanzeni District Municipality
Ehlanzeni is one of the 3 districts of Mpumalanga province of South Africa. The seat of Ehlanzeni is Mbombela. The majority of its 944 665 people speak SiSwati (2001 Census). The district code is DC32.
Geography Neighbours
Ehlanzeni is surr ...
, in the
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 ...
province of
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 ...
.
Commercial farming, which consists of
pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae.
''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...
and bluegum plantations,
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
,
cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
, sub-tropical fruits and
vegetables
Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including flowers, fruits, ...
, is practised in the municipality's countryside. The municipality includes the southern part of
Kruger National Park
Kruger National Park () is a national park in South Africa covering an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in the country's northeast. It extends from north to south and from east to west. The administrative headquarters are i ...
.
Bushbuckridge is the largest local municipality in Mpumalanga in terms of land size.
History
The name Bushbuck Ridge was given because of the large herds of
bushbuck Bushbuck is a common name that may refer to one of the following African antelopes:
*Cape bushbuck
The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus''), also known as imbabala is a common, medium-sized bushland-dwelling, and a widespread species of ant ...
found there in the 1880s, and the prominent WNW-ESE ridge in the southeastern part of the municipality. The town of
Bushbuckridge
Bushbuckridge (also known as Mapulaneng) is the main town in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, Ehlanzeni District Municipality, Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga, South Africa. It grew around a trading store that opened in 1884, and is named after t ...
grew around a trading store that opened in 1884. Prior to the colonial and apartheid era, the land known today as Bushbuckridge and
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, t ...
was well known as Mapulaneng, it has been home to the Mapulana people for centuries before the
Shangaan people
The Tsonga people () are a Bantu ethnic group primarily native to Southern Mozambique and South Africa (Limpopo and Mpumalanga). They speak Xitsonga, a Southern Bantu language.
A very small number of Tsonga people are also found in Zimbabwe ...
and the
Swazi people
The Swati or Swazi ( Swati: ''Emaswati'', singular ''Liswati'') are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, inhabiting Eswatini, a sovereign kingdom in Southern Africa, and South Africa's Mpumalanga province. EmaSwati are part of the ...
were allowed to settled in the area during the reign of Mapulana chief Maripe Mashile. Mapulaneng was replaced during the white conquest and named Bushbuckridge. Mapulaneng proper stretches from the Eswatini border to Ermelo in the south,
Olifants River (Lepelle) in the north, Lebombo Mountains in the east and also includes the whole town of
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, t ...
, Nelspruit, Sabie, Graskop, Hoedspruit, Barberton, Lydenburg and Dullstroom in the west. In Sepulana, Mapulaneng means "Place of the Mapulana people"; the tribe derive their name from their founding leader, Lepulana who later changed his name to Chiloane. Mapulana are descendants of Morolong and their origin can be traced back to Kgalagadi before they settled in Thaba Chueu, in what is today eastern Lesotho and Shakwaneng (Carolina) in the 1500s. Mapulana of Matshwe I got their name from their leader Pulane and they are of Amazizi of Nguni origin and they join the other Mapulana of Mohlomi at Thaba Chueu after the death of their leader Tsosane. Mapulana successfully defended the area from Swazi armies who they annihilated at the battle of Moholoholo in December 1864.
1995-1996 Protest
In 1994, when the
Transvaal Province
The Province of Transvaal (), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Transvaal" refers to the province's ...
was dismantled and divided into four provinces, the area from Bushbuckridge to
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, t ...
was included in
Limpopo
Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...
province. The decision was based on the fact that most of the Bushbuckridge area had been part of three separate
bantustan
A Bantustan (also known as a Bantu peoples, Bantu homeland, a Black people, black homeland, a Khoisan, black state or simply known as a homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party (South Africa), National Party administration of the ...
s —
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 Mpumalang ...
,
Lebowa
Lebowa was a Bantustan ("homeland") located in the Transvaal Province, Transvaal in northeastern South Africa. Seshego initially acted as Lebowa's capital while the purpose-built Lebowakgomo was being constructed. Granted internal self-gover ...
and
KaNgwane — but the bigger sector fell within
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 Mpumalang ...
, which was incorporated into Limpopo. The citizens of Bushbuckridge were unhappy with this arrangement, and became embroiled in a dispute with the government, demanding inclusion of the area 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 ...
province. They were concerned that should the area be included into Limpopo, they would be marginalised and suffer poor service delivery since
, the capital city of
Limpopo Province
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 term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers ...
, is more than 300 km away, whereas
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 ...
, the capital of Mpumalanga is only 94 km away. For more than two years the government refused to place Bushbuckridge under Mpumalanga, leading to violent protests and resistance from the community, which included
stay-away
A stay away, also known as a ''stay-away'' or ''stayaway'', is a form of general strike where people are told to "stay away" from work. This term has often been used in local communications when organizing various strike actions in Zimbabwe betwee ...
s, road blocks with burning tyres and destruction of civil and government property.
A decision was taken at Cabinet level in 1998 to transfer the area to Mpumalanga. However, this was not done until 2000, when President
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...
and his Cabinet amended the Constitution to legalise the transfer. Because of red tape, it was not until 2005 that Bushbuckridge was officially transferred to Mpumalanga.
Geography

Bushbuckridge is bordered by
Mopani District Municipality
The Mopani District Municipality (; ) is one of the 5 districts of the Limpopo province of South Africa. The seat of the district is Giyani. According to the 2016 Community Survey, it had a population of 1,159,185. The district code is DC33. Aft ...
of
Limpopo Province
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 term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers ...
to the north, by
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
to the east, by
Mbombela
Mbombela, formerly Nelspruit, is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River (Mpumalanga), Crocodile River, the city lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, east o ...
and
Nkomazi Local Municipality
Nkomazi Municipality () is a Local municipality (South Africa), local municipality within the Ehlanzeni District Municipality, in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Malalane is the seat of the municipality.
Main places
The South African N ...
to the south, and by
Thaba Chweu and
Maruleng Local Municipality to the west.
The 2013 proposal to adjust the border between the municipal area of Mbombela (MP322) and Bushbuckridge Local Municipalities (MP325) was approved for implementation in 2016.
Demographics
The population of the municipality in the 2011 census was 541,248.
The most-spoken first language is
Tsonga
Tsonga may refer to:
* Tsonga language, a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa
* Tsonga people, a large group of people living mainly in southern Mozambique and South Africa.
* Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) ...
with about 57%, followed by
Northern Sotho language
Sepedi, also known as Northern Sotho, is one of South Africa’s twelve official languages and belongs to the Bantu language family, specifically the Sotho-Tswana group. The language is spoken mainly in Limpopo Province, and to a lesser exten ...
with about 25%.
Administrative subdivisions
Bushbuckridge Local Municipality consists of 135 settlements and is divided into thirty-seven wards.
Main places
The
2001 census divided the municipality into the following
main places: Main languages Spoken in Bushbuckridge are Sepulana (Northern Sotho/Sepedi), Tsonga(Shaangan) and Swati
Politics
The municipal council consists of seventy-six members elected by
mixed-member proportional representation
Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a type of representation provided by some mixed electoral system, mixed electoral systems which combine local Winner-take-all system, winner-take-all elections with a Compensation (el ...
. Thirty-eight councillors are elected by
first-past-the-post voting
First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...
in thirty-eight
wards
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
, while the remaining thirty-eight are chosen from
party list
An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...
s so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. In the
election of 1 November 2021 the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
(ANC) won a majority of fifty-three seats on the council.
The following table shows the results of the election.
References
External links
Bushbuckridge Local Municipality Official Website
{{Authority control
2000 establishments in South Africa
Local municipalities of the Ehlanzeni District Municipality