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87-572: Volksrust is a town in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa near the KwaZulu-Natal provincial border, some 240 km southeast of Johannesburg , 53 km north of Newcastle and 80 km southeast of Standerton . The town was laid out in 1888 on the farms Boschpad Drift, Rooibult or Llanwarne, Verkyk and Zandfontein, and proclaimed in 1889. It lies at an elevation of 5,429 feet (1,655 m), and 4 miles (6.4 km) north of

174-584: A laager camp at the mouth of the Mvoti River , they proceeded on horseback, but were halted by a flooded Tugela River and forced to return to the laager . The Kommissietrek left Port Natal for Grahamstown with a stash of ivory in early June 1835, following more or less the same route back to the Cape, and arrived at Grahamstown in October 1835. On Piet Uys's recommendation, Bantjes set to work on

261-450: A Haute Cuisine 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. 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

348-617: A closed list 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

435-601: A Nation ( Die Bou van 'n Nasie ) was made in 1938 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Great Trek. The film tells the Afrikaans version of the history of South Africa from 1652 to 1910 with a focus on the Great Trek. A number of Afrikaans organisations such as the Afrikaner Broederbond and Afrikaanse Taal en Kultuurvereniging continued to promote the centenary's goals of furthering

522-569: A Zulu warrior, were massacred at Inhambane by an impi (a force of warriors) of Manukosi . Those of Tregardt's party that had set up around Soutpansberg moved on to colonise Delagoa Bay , with most of the party, including Tregardt, perishing from fever. A party led by Hendrik Potgieter trekked out of the Tarka area in either late 1835 or early 1836, and in September 1836 a party led by Gerrit Maritz began their trek from Graaff-Reinet. There

609-529: A class of Boers who pursued semi-nomadic pastoral activities, were frustrated by the apparent unwillingness or inability of the British government to extend the borders of the Cape Colony eastward and provide them with access to more prime pasture and economic opportunities. They resolved to trek beyond the colony's borders on their own. Although it did nothing to impede the Great Trek, Great Britain viewed

696-544: A few short decades, the Cape had become home to a large population of "Glidden" , also denoted as "burgers" (free citizens), former Company employees who remained in Dutch territories overseas after completing their contracts. Since the primary purpose of the Cape settlement at the time was to stock provisions for passing Dutch ships, the VOC offered grants of farmland to its employees under the condition they would cultivate grain for

783-410: 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. A partial list of species that are endemic to Mpumalanga The diverse and special flora and fauna of the province enjoys protection in

870-464: A lack of public discussion about the war within the Afrikaans community helped set the scene for a large increase in interest in Afrikaans national identity. The celebration of the centenary of the Great Trek along with a new generation of Afrikaners interested in learning about the Afrikaans experiences of the Boer War catalysed a surge of Afrikaans nationalism. The centenary celebrations began with

957-535: A poem written by Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven referring to the Great Trek, was chosen to be the words of the pre-1994 South African national anthem. The post-1997 national anthem of South Africa incorporates a section of " Die Stem van Suid-Afrika " but it was decided to omit the section in "reference to the Great Trek (' met die kreun van ossewa '), since this was the experience of only one section of our community". When apartheid in South Africa ended and

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1044-671: A public holiday, first called Dingane's Day, later changed to the Day of the Vow . Post-apartheid , the name was changed to the Day of Reconciliation by the South African government, in order to foster reconciliation between all South Africans. Conflict amongst the Voortrekkers was a problem because the trek levelled out the pre-existing class hierarchy which had previously enforced discipline, and thus social cohesion broke down. Instead

1131-542: A range of nature reserves. Many species of plants are unique to the different geological formations within Mpumalanga. Some examples of these formations include serpentines of Barberton Mountains, norites of Sekhukhuneland , quartzites of Blyde River Canyon , and the dolomites in the northern plateaus. Mpumalanga is governed by the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature , a unicameral system of 30 legislators democratically elected though

1218-575: A re-enactment of the trek beginning on 8 August 1938 with nine ox wagons at the statue of Jan van Riebeeck in Cape Town and ended at the newly completed Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria and attended by over 100,000 people. A second re-enactment trek starting at the same time and place ended at the scene of the Battle of Blood River. The commemoration sparked mass enthusiasm amongst Afrikaners as

1305-525: A result of the Treaty of Paris . At the onset of the British rule, the Cape Colony encompassed 100,000 square miles (260,000 km ) and was populated by about 26,720 people of European descent, a relative majority of whom were of Dutch origin. Just over a quarter were of German ancestry and about one-sixth were descended from French Huguenots, although most had ceased speaking French since about 1750. There were also 30,000 African and Asian slaves owned by

1392-588: A site near Mbombela shows evidence of agricultural societies from between the 6th to 17th century. Bokoni 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 This pattern increased as they connected to the Portuguese trading post in Maputo Bay . In this era, groups that would become

1479-478: A treaty for land in what is now Kwa-Zulu Natal . King Dingane, suspicious and untrusting because of previous Voortrekker influxes from across the Drakensberg, had Retief and seventy of his followers killed . Various interpretations of what transpired exist, as only the missionary Francis Owen 's written eye-witness account survived. Retief's written request for land contained veiled threats by referring to

1566-551: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Mpumalanga Mpumalanga was formed in 1994, when the area that was the Eastern Transvaal was merged with the former bantustans KaNgwane , KwaNdebele and parts of Lebowa and Gazankulu . Although the contemporary borders of the province were only formed at the end of apartheid , the region and its surroundings have a history that extends back thousands of years. Much of its history, and current significance

1653-648: Is a popular destination. The other major tourist attractions include the Sudwala Caves and the Blyde River Canyon . 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 Lowveld are Barberton , Mbombela , White River , Sabie , Graskop , Hazyview , Malelane , Pilgrim's Rest , Lydenburg and Nkomazi . In 2008,

1740-587: 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 Botshabelo . Many celebrated South African musicians, such as Ray Phiri , Rebecca Malope and Pretty Yende , are from Mpumalanga. Since 2003, Mpumalanga's capital city, Mbombela, has hosted

1827-582: Is an hour away on the Highveld: 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. Some of the earliest signs of life on Earth have been found in Mpumalanga. In the Makhonjwa mountain range's greenstone belt near Barberton ,

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1914-633: Is as a region of trade. Archeological sites in the Mpumalanga region indicate settlement by humans and their ancestors 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 gatherers. Excavations not far from the Mpumalanga border in the Origstad district, show evidence of Middle Stone Age habitation dating back to 40,000 years ago. The Lion Cavern, in Ngwenya on

2001-410: Is done and the minerals found include gold, platinum group metals, silica , chromite , vanadiferous magnetite , argentiferous zinc , antimony , cobalt , copper, iron, manganese , tin , coal, andalusite , chrysotile asbestos , kieselguhr , limestone , magnesite , talc and shale . Gold was first discovered in Mpumalanga province in 1883 by Auguste Roberts in the mountains surrounding what

2088-541: 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 stations are in proximity to the coal deposits. A coal liquefaction plant in Secunda ( Secunda CTL ) is one of the country's two petroleum-from-coal extraction plants, which

2175-400: Is operated by the synthetic fuel company Sasol . 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. Mpumalanga is popular with tourists. Kruger National Park , established in 1898 for the protection of Lowveld wildlife, covering 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi),

2262-499: Is the only South African province to border two provinces of Mozambique ( Gaza Province to the northeast and Maputo Province to the east), as well as all four regions of Eswatini ( Lubombo , Hhohho , Manzini , and Shiselweni districts). 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

2349-478: The Afrikaans national arts festival Innibos. The festival features music, comedy, arts, crafts and theatre. 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 language of neighbouring Eswatini , with 26% speaking isiZulu , 10.3% isiNdebele , 10.2% Sepedi and 11.6% Xitsonga . As of

2436-575: The Anglo-Boer Wars , was largely to blame. In November 1838 Andries Pretorius arrived to assist in the defence. A few days later on 16 December 1838, the trekkers fought against Zulu impis at the Battle of Blood River . Pretorius's victory over the Zulu army led to a civil war within the Zulu nation as King Dingane's half-brother, Mpande kaSenzangakhona , aligned with the Voortrekkers to overthrow

2523-482: The British Empire in 1843. The Voortrekkers' guns offered them a technological advantage over the Zulu's traditional weaponry of short stabbing spears, fighting sticks, and cattle-hide shields. The Boers attributed their victory to a vow they made to God before the battle: if victorious, they and future generations would commemorate the day as a Sabbath . Thereafter, 16 December was celebrated by Boers as

2610-540: The Cape of Good Hope area was populated by Khoisan tribes. The first Europeans settled in the Cape area under the auspices of the Dutch East India Company (also known by its Dutch initials VOC ), which established a victualling station there in 1652 to provide its outward bound fleets with fresh provisions and a harbour of refuge during the long sea journey from Europe to Asia (Hunt, John (2005)). In

2697-474: 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 and were found in Mpumalanga. Evidence from

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2784-494: The Kruger National Park 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 Lowveld is relatively flat with interspersed rocky outcrops. The Lebombo Mountains form a low range in the far east, on the border with Mozambique . Some of

2871-766: The Second Boer War the British authorities built a Boer concentration camp in Volksrust. Visiting officials and army officers described the conditions of the camp as poor, though it suffered a death rate below the Transvaal average. A memorial exists in Volkrust town square to the Boer women and children who died in the camp. Volksrust has important beef , dairy , maize , sorghum , wool and sunflower seed industries. This Mpumalanga location article

2958-687: 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 in 1876 (see Sekhukhune Wars ) and the Zulu fought with British settlers in 1879 (see Anglo-Zulu War ). These interconnected conflicts played a role in shifting the balance of power in southern Africa to colonial control. After 1860, missionaries, especially German missionaries like Alexander Merensky set up mission stations in

3045-572: The Swazi , Pedi , Ndebele , Mapulana and others established themselves in the area that is now Mpumalanga. 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

3132-844: The Xhosa on the eastern Cape frontier, the Zulus killed women and children along with men, wiping out half of the Natal contingent of Voortrekkers. The Voortrekkers retaliated with a 347-strong punitive raid against the Zulu (later known as the Flight Commando), supported by new arrivals from the Orange Free State . The Voortrekkers were roundly defeated by about 7,000 warriors at Ithaleni , southwest of uMgungundlovu. The well-known reluctance of Afrikaner leaders to submit to one another's leadership, which later hindered sustained success in

3219-526: The 2011 census, approximately 90.65% of Mpumalanga's population are Black, 7.51% are White, and 0.91% are Coloured and 0.69% are Indian or Asian. Great Trek Battles The Great Trek was a northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyond the Cape's British colonial administration. The Great Trek resulted from

3306-542: The Afrikaner cause and entrenching a greater sense of unity and solidarity within the community well into the 20th century. The Great Trek was used by Afrikaner nationalists as a core symbol of a common Afrikaans history. It was used to promote the idea of an Afrikaans nation and a narrative that promoted the ideals of the National Party . In 1938, celebrations of the centenary of the Battle of Blood River and

3393-612: The Boer leaders of Uitenhage and Grahamstown discussed a Kommissietrek ('Commission Trek') to visit Natal and to assess its potential as a new homeland for the Cape Boers who were disenchanted with British rule at the Cape. Petrus Lafras Uys was chosen as trek leader. At the same time at Graaff-Reinet , Jan Gerritze Bantjes heard about the exploratory trek to Port Natal and, encouraged by his father Bernard Louis Bantjes, sent word to Uys of his interest in participating. Bantjes wanted to help re-establish Dutch independence over

3480-680: The Boers and to get away from British law at the Cape. In early August 1834, he set off with some travellers headed for Grahamstown 220 kilometres (140 mi) away, a three-week journey from Graaff-Reinet . Sometime around late August 1834 he arrived in Grahamstown, contacted Uys and made his introductions. Bantjes was already well known in the area as an educated young man fluent both in spoken and written Dutch and in English. Because of these skills, Uys invited Bantjes to join him. Bantjes's writing skills would prove invaluable in recording events as

3567-476: The Boers belonged, explicitly refused to endorse the Great Trek. Despite their hostility towards the British, there were Boers who chose to remain in the Cape of their own accord. For its part, the distinct Cape Dutch community had accepted British rule; many of its members even considered themselves loyal British subjects with a special affection for English culture. The Cape Dutch were also much more heavily urbanised and therefore less likely to be susceptible to

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3654-458: The Boers in their new homeland. At Port Natal, Uys sent Dick King, who could speak Zulu, to uMgungundlovu to investigate with King Dingane the possibility of granting them land. When Dick King returned to Port Natal some weeks later, he reported that King Dingane insisted they visit him in person. Johannes Uys , brother of Piet Uys, and a number of comrades with a few wagons travelled toward King Dingane's capital at uMgungundlovu, and after making

3741-443: The Boers was particularly amplified by the decision to abolish slavery in all its colonies in 1834. All 35,000 slaves registered with the Cape governor were to be freed and given rights on par with other citizens, although in most cases their masters could retain them as apprentices until 1838. Many Boers, especially those involved with grain and wine production, were dependent on slave labour; for example, 94% of all white farmers in

3828-782: The Cape Colony's white population or 20% of the white population in the eastern district in 1830s) trekked. The first two parties of Voortrekkers left in September 1835, led by Louis Tregardt and Hans van Rensburg . These two parties crossed the Vaal river at Robert's Drift in January 1836, but in April 1836 the two parties split up, just 110 kilometres (70 mi) from the Soutpansberg mountains, following differences between Tregardt and van Rensburg. In late July 1836 van Rensburg's entire party of 49, except two children who were saved by

3915-529: The Company warehouses, and released them from their contracts to save on their wages. Vrijburgers were granted tax-exempt status for 12 years and loaned all the necessary seeds and farming implements they requested. They were married Dutch citizens, considered "of good character" by the Company, and had to commit to spending at least 20 years on the African continent. Reflecting the multi-national character of

4002-639: The Great Trek mobilised behind an Afrikaans nationalist theses. The narrative of Afrikaner nationalism was a significant reason for the National Party's victory in the 1948 elections . A year later the Voortrekker Monument was completed and opened in Pretoria by the newly elected South African Prime Minister and National Party member Daniel Malan in 1949. A few years later, " Die Stem van Suid-Afrika " ('The Voice of South Africa'),

4089-694: The Transvaal, under a system known as Inboekstelsel , 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. When the National Party came to power in 1948, their policy of apartheid intensified the segregation that had defined communities in the Transvaal . Under a policy of forced removals, Black South Africans were evicted from areas reserved for white people and moved into homelands, including KaNgwane , KwaNdebele , Lebowa and Gazankulu . As

4176-413: The VOC's workforce, some German soldiers and sailors were also considered for vrijburger status as well, and in 1688 the Dutch government sponsored the resettlement of over a hundred French Huguenot refugees at the Cape. As a result, by 1691 over a quarter of the colony's European population was not ethnically Dutch. Nevertheless, there was a degree of cultural assimilation through intermarriage, and

4263-478: The Voortrekker's defeat of indigenous groups encountered along their journey. The Voortrekker demand for a written contract guaranteeing private property ownership was incompatible with the contemporaneous Zulu oral culture which prescribed that a chief could only temporarily dispense land as it was communally owned. Most versions agree that the following happened: King Dingane's authority extended over some of

4350-412: The Voortrekkers' cattle. On 20 October 1836, Potgieter's party was attacked by an army of 4,600 Ndebele warriors at the Battle of Vegkop . Thirty-five armed trekkers repulsed the Ndebele assault on their laager with the loss of two men and almost all the trekkers' cattle. Potgieter, Uys and Maritz mounted two punitive commando raids. The first resulted in the sacking of the Ndebele colony at Mosega ,

4437-596: The almost universal adoption of the Dutch language. Cleavages were likelier to occur along social and economic lines; broadly speaking, the Cape colonists were delineated into Boers , poor farmers who settled directly on the frontier, and the more affluent, predominantly urbanised Cape Dutch . Following the Flanders Campaign and the Batavian Revolution in Amsterdam , France assisted in

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4524-434: The apartheid regime implemented oppressive policies that defined almost every aspect of life, activists responded with resistance. In 1959, the small town of Bethal 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

4611-533: The country, for instance Black Consciousness , the Sharpeville Massacre 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

4698-729: The culmination of tensions between rural descendants of the Cape's original European settlers, known collectively as Boers , and the British . It was also reflective of an increasingly common trend among individual Boer communities to pursue an isolationist and semi- nomadic lifestyle away from the developing administrative complexities in Cape Town . Boers who took part in the Great Trek identified themselves as voortrekkers , meaning "pioneers" or "pathfinders" (literally "fore-trekkers") in Dutch and Afrikaans . The Great Trek led directly to

4785-400: The death of 400 Ndebele, and the taking of 7,000 cattle. The second commando forced Mzilikazi and his followers to flee to what is now modern day Zimbabwe . By spring 1837, five to six large Voortrekker colonies had been established between the Vaal and Orange Rivers with a total population of around 2,000 trekkers. In October 1837 Retief met with Zulu King Dingane to negotiate

4872-520: 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

4959-725: The drier Highveld region, with its cold winters, and the hot, humid Lowveld 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 , soybeans , macadamias , groundnuts, sugar cane, vegetables, coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, citrus , subtropical and deciduous fruit. Natural grazing covers approximately 14% of Mpumalanga. The main products are beef, mutton , wool , poultry and dairy. Farming in

5046-630: The establishment of a pro-French client state, the Batavian Republic , on Dutch soil. This opened the Cape to French warships. To protect her own prosperous maritime shipping routes, Great Britain occupied the fledgling colony by force until 1803. From 1806 to 1814, the Cape was governed as a British military dependency, whose sole importance to the Royal Navy was its strategic relation to Indian maritime traffic. The British formally assumed permanent administrative control around 1815, as

5133-556: The first draft of the Natalialand Report. Meetings and talks took place in the main church to much approval, and the first sparks of Trek Fever began to take hold. From all the information accumulated at Port Natal, Bantjes drew up the final report on "Natalia or Natal Land" that acted as the catalyst which inspired the Boers at the Cape to set in motion the Great Trek. The first wave of Voortrekkers lasted from 1835 to 1840, during which an estimated 6,000 people (roughly 10% of

5220-671: The founding of several autonomous Boer republics , namely the South African Republic (also known simply as the Transvaal), the Orange Free State and the Natalia Republic . It also led to conflicts that resulted in the displacement of the Northern Ndebele people , and conflicts with the Zulu people that contributed to the decline and eventual collapse of the Zulu Kingdom . Before the arrival of Europeans,

5307-400: The journey unfolded. On 8 September 1834, the Kommissietrek of 40 men and one woman, as well as a retinue of coloured servants, set off from Grahamstown for Natal with 14 wagons. Moving through the Eastern Cape , they were welcomed by the Xhosa who were in dispute with the neighbouring Zulu King Dingane ka Senzangakhona , and they passed unharmed into Natal. They travelled more or less

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5394-429: The king and impose himself. Mpande sent 10,000 impis to assist the trekkers in follow-up expeditions against Dingane. After the defeat of the Zulu forces and the recovery of the treaty between Dingane and Retief from Retief's body, the Voortrekkers proclaimed the Natalia Republic . After Dingane's death, Mpande was proclaimed king, and the Zulu nation allied with the short-lived Natalia Republic until its annexation by

5481-514: The land in which the Boers wanted to settle. As prerequisite to granting the Voortrekker request, he demanded that the Voortrekkers return some cattle stolen by Sekonyela , a rival chief. After the Boers retrieved the cattle, King Dingane invited Retief to his residence at uMgungundlovu to finalise the treaty, having either planned the massacre in advance, or deciding to do so after Retief and his men arrived. King Dingane's reputed instruction to his warriors, " Bulalani abathakathi! " (Zulu for "kill

5568-424: The legislature. Elected every five years, the premier of Mpumalanga is the head of government in the province. Since 2024 Mandla Ndlovu has held the office of premier. Mpumalanga Province is divided into three district municipalities . The district municipalities are in turn divided into 18 local municipalities : 68% of land area in the province is used by agriculture. The climatic contrasts between

5655-403: The most precipitation , with all other areas being moderately well-watered by mostly-summer thunderstorms . 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 by comparing the capital, Mbombela , which is in the Lowveld, with Belfast , which

5742-484: The most suitable tracks to negotiate. Eventually, after weeks of extraordinary toil, the small party arrived at Port Natal, crossing the Congela River and weaving their way through the coastal forest into the bay area. They had travelled a distance of about 650 kilometres (400 mi) from Grahamstown. This trip would have taken about 5 to 6 months with their slow moving wagons. The Drakensberg route via Kerkenberg into Natal had not yet been discovered. They arrived at

5829-462: The movement with pronounced trepidation. The British government initially suggested that conflict in the far interior of Southern Africa between the migrating Boers and the Bantu peoples they encountered would require an expensive military intervention. However, authorities at the Cape also judged that the human and material cost of pursuing the settlers and attempting to re-impose an unpopular system of governance on those who had deliberately spurned it

5916-419: The oldest rocks on earth have been found in the Barberton area; these ancient greenstones and metamorphosed granites 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 to Permian age. Mpumalanga

6003-398: The party joined them and invited Dick King to become their guide. The Boers set up their laager ('wagon fort') camp in the area of the present-day Greyville Racecourse in Durban , chosen because it had suitable grazing for the oxen and horses and was far from the foraging hippos in the bay. Several small streams running off the Berea ridge provided fresh water. Alexander Biggar

6090-424: The pass through the Drakensberg known as Laing's Nek . Municipal status was attained in 1904. Dorothea de Jager, daughter of Dirk Uys, one of the battle victims, named the town Volksrust (Nation's Rest) . The name probably refers to the citizens resting here after the Battle of Majuba on 27 February 1881, a decisive battle leading to the Transvaal 's victory against the British in the First Boer War . During

6177-529: 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 Drakensberg escarpment divides Mpumalanga into a westerly half consisting mainly of high-altitude grassland called the Highveld and an eastern half situated in low-altitude subtropical Lowveld / Bushveld , mostly savanna habitat. The southern half of

6264-430: The province is driven by both a combination of seasonal , 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 and Graskop . Located near the forests, Ngodwana is the site of one of South Africa's largest paper mills ( Sappi ). Extensive mining

6351-490: The re-enactment trek passed through the small towns and cities of South Africa. Both participants and spectators participated by dressing in Voortrekker clothing, renaming streets, holding ceremonies, erecting monuments, and laying wreaths at the graves of Afrikaner heroes. Cooking meals over an open fire in the same way the Voortrekkers did became fashionable amongst urbanites, giving birth to the South African tradition of braaing . An Afrikaans language epic called Building

6438-473: 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

6525-527: The same route that Smith and Berg had taken two years earlier. The trek avoided the coastal route, keeping to the flatter inland terrain. The Kommissietrek approached Port Natal from East Griqualand and Ixopo , crossing the upper regions of the Mtamvuna and Umkomazi rivers. Travel was slow due to the rugged terrain, and since it was the summer, the rainy season had swollen many of the rivers to their maximum. Progress required days of scouting to locate

6612-450: The same rural grievances and considerations as those held by the Boers. In January 1832, Andrew Smith (an Englishman) and William Berg (a Boer farmer) scouted Natal as a potential colony. On their return to the Cape, Smith waxed very enthusiastic, and the impact of discussions Berg had with the Boers proved crucial. Berg portrayed Natal as a land of exceptional farming quality, well watered, and nearly devoid of inhabitants. In June 1834,

6699-430: The settlers, and about 17,000 indigenous Khoisan . Relations between the settlers – especially the Boers – and the new administration quickly soured. The British authorities were adamantly opposed to the Boers' ownership of slaves and what was perceived as their unduly harsh treatment of the indigenous peoples. The British government insisted that the Cape finance its own affairs through self-taxation, an approach which

6786-469: The settlers. This had the effect of further alienating the colony's white population. Boer resentment of successive British administrators continued to grow throughout the late 1820s and early 1830s, especially with the official imposition of the English language. This replaced Dutch with English as the language used in the Cape's judicial and political systems, putting the Boers at a disadvantage, as most spoke little or no English. Britain's alienation of

6873-478: The sweltering hot bay of Port Natal in February 1835, exhausted after their long journey. There, the trek was soon welcomed with open arms by the few British hunters and ivory traders there such as James Collis, including Reverend Allen Francis Gardiner , an ex-commander of the Royal Navy ship Clinker , who had decided to start a mission station there. After congenial exchanges between the Boers and British sides,

6960-431: The trek leaders became more reliant on patriarchal family structure and military reputation to maintain control over their parties. This had a large and lasting impact on Afrikaans culture and society. The celebration of the Great Trek in the 1930s played a major role in the growth of Afrikaans nationalism . It is thought that the experiences of the Second Boer War and the following period, between 1906 and 1934, of

7047-655: The vicinity of Stellenbosch owned slaves at the time, and the size of their slave holdings correlated greatly to their production output. Compensation was offered by the British government, but payment had to be received in London , and few Boers possessed the funds to make the trip. Bridling at what they considered an unwarranted intrusion into their way of life, some in the Boer community considered selling their farms and venturing deep into South Africa's unmapped interior to preempt further disputes and live completely independent from British rule. Others, especially trekboers ,

7134-560: The witches") may indicate that he considered the Boers to wield evil supernatural powers. After killing Retief's delegation, a Zulu army of 7,000 impis were sent out and immediately attacked Voortrekker encampments in the Drakensberg foothills at what later was called Blaauwkrans and Weenen , leading to the Weenen massacre in which 532 people were killed, including 282 Voortrekkers, of whom 185 were children, and 250 Khoikhoi and Basuto accompanying them. In contrast to earlier conflicts with

7221-465: Was alien to both the Boers and the Dutch merchants in Cape Town. In 1815, the controversial arrest of a white farmer for allegedly assaulting one of his servants resulted in the abortive Slachter's Nek Rebellion . The British retaliated by hanging at least five Boers for insurrection. In 1828, the Cape governor declared that all native inhabitants but slaves were to have the rights of "citizens", in respect of security and property ownership, on parity with

7308-405: Was also at the bay as a professional elephant-hunter and provided the trekkers with information regarding conditions at Port Natal. Bantjes made notes suggested by Uys, which later formed the basis of his more comprehensive report on the positive aspects of Natal. Bantjes also made rough maps of the bay - although this journal is now missing - showing the potential for a harbour which could supply

7395-594: Was formed. It was originally called the "Eastern Transvaal" province, but the name was later changed to Mpumalanga on 24 August 1995. The liberation movement turned leading party, the African National Congress (ANC) came into power in Mpumalanga after white minority rule ended. A program of land redistribution , 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,

7482-472: Was no clear consensus amongst the trekkers on where they were going to settle, but they all had the goal of settling near an outlet to the sea. In August 1836, despite pre-existing peace agreements with local black leaders, a Ndebele (Matebele) patrol attacked the Liebenberg family part of Potgieter's party, killing six men, two women and six children. It is thought that their primary aim was to plunder

7569-451: Was not worth the immediate risk. Some officials were concerned for the tribes the Boers were certain to encounter, and whether these tribes would be enslaved or otherwise reduced to a state of penury . The Great Trek was not universally popular among the settlers either. Around 12,000 of them took part in the migration, about a fifth of the colony's Dutch-speaking white population at the time. The Dutch Reformed Church , to which most of

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