Mpumalanga, the place of the rising sun, is located adjacent to South Africa’s economic heartland, Gauteng, and also shares borders with Swaziland, Mozambique, and the provinces of KwaZulu- Natal, Free State and Limpopo. With a number of major investments being made in the province, in the mining and tourism sectors, Mpumalanga seems set to reap a post-World Cup dividend.

The province has excellent roads and railway connections and is well served by airports, airstrips and heliports. The Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport opened in 2002, but the old Nelspruit airport is still operational. Comair announced new and additional fl ights into the province in the weeks leading up to the soccer tournament in 2010.

The Maputo Development Corridor, linking the province with Gauteng and Maputo, is the fi rst international toll road in Africa. This international initiative emphasises Mpumalanga’s excellent location as a logistics and transport hub. Among the key aspects for future growth, identified by the province’s leaders at economic summits are:
• the establishment of a university
• the establishment of a tertiary hospital
• the construction of an international convention centre
• the repair and maintenance of the road system that supports the coal industry.

A special conference dealing with infrastructure and tourism was held after the Soccer World Cup where a number of local and foreign investors were introduced to a variety of projects which, if successful, will boost the local economy and increase employment opportunities.

Mpumalanga’s 11 coal-fired power stations, mostly located near the extensive coalfields in the west, provide the bulk of South Africa’s electrical power. South Africa needs more power to drive its economy and so several of these power stations are being returned to service after a period of inactivity or are having their capacity increased. This is creating a demand for coal and resource companies are responding quickly to this need, investing in new equipment and opening new mines.

Maputo Development Corridor (MDC)
The MDC is a transportation corridor comprising road, rail, border posts, port and terminal facilities, running from Pretoria in Gauteng through Mpumalanga to the Port of Maputo in Mozambique. The corridor supports high volumes of cross-border freight services and aims to boost trade within and beyond the region. Industry and tourism benefit from the concentration of resources and ease of transportation.

Successful infrastructure projects already achieved by the MDC include the construction of the toll road to Maputo, the upgrading of Maputo Port, improvements at the Lebombo border post, the development of the Pande-Tamane gas field in Mozambique and the construction of a pipeline to SA by Sasol and ENH (Mozambique).

Geography
The geography of the province is defined by the Drakensberg escarpment which forms the dividing line between the western grasslands at high altitude (Highveld) and the subtropical component to the east, the Lowveld. The central region of the province is mountainous, with some dramatic landscapes presenting exciting vistas for visitors. The Lebombo Mountains rise in the east. The area south of the capital city of Mbombela (Nelspruit), near Barberton, has some of the world’s oldest rocks forming the Crocodile River Mountains.

Most of the province receives summer rainfall, often via thunderstorms. Frost is common on the Highveld, but is almost absent in the subtropical regions where fruit, nuts and citrus thrive. Differences in temperature and rainfall between the Highveld and Lowveld can be considerable.

Large parts of the province are located in the so-called Middleveld comprising high-plateau grasslands. Forestry operations are found in central and south-eastern Mpumalanga, but the heart of this important industry is around Sabie.

Economy
Mpumalanga is one South Africa’s smallest provinces in terms of landmass but it has the fourth-biggest economy. Power generation is a major sector and the already active coal-mining sector is booming in response to greater demand. Synthetic fuel is produced by Sasol at its liquid-fuel-from-coal plant at Secunda, in western Mpumalanga. This is now the only plant in the country using this process as the other plant, in the Free State, focuses on chemicals and other petroleum by-products.

More than 80% of South Africa’s coal is sourced in Mpumalanga, with the town of Witbank being the centre of the industry. Other minerals found in the province include gold, platinumgroup minerals, chromite, zinc, cobalt, copper, iron and manganese. These minerals support a strong manufacturing sector.

Columbus Stainless in Middelburg is a major producer of stainless steel, while Middelburg Ferrochrome, Samancor, Ervaz Highveld and the Manganese Metal Company are among other important heavy industrial companies. After mining and quarrying (29.8% of provincial GDP), manufacturing, power generation, tourism and agriculture are the province’s other major sectors.

The southern and northern Highveld regions produce large quantities of field crops such as barley, soybeans, maize, grain and sorghum. Potatoes also flourish in this area.

The Kruger National Park is a major national asset and is home to the Big Five. The park receives more than a million visitors annually. Some of the most luxurious private game lodges in the world are located along the park’s edge. Mpumalanga boasts a range of natural attractions second to none: parks, reserves, botanical gardens, rivers and lakes, including the largest freshwater water body in South Africa at Chrissiesmeer, near Ermelo.

The Nelspruit district in the Lowveld is South Africa’s second biggest producer of citrus fruit, while vegetables of all sorts do well in this area too. Further east and south, sugar is the major crop. The Mpumalanga forestry sector is one of the most important in the country: 11% of the total land area of Mpumalanga is covered either by plantations or natural forests.

Nkangala District Municipality
Towns: Middelburg, Delmas, Kriel, Witbank, eMakhazeni (Belfast), Dullstroom, Emgwenya (Waterval Boven).
This area straddles the north-west. It contains a rural and traditional area in the north-west where the King of the Ndebele is still revered, a coal-mining and steel-producing area in the industrial centre, as well as a trout-fishing triangle in the north-east. The district is at the centre of the fly-fishing sector that includes hatcheries and accommodation establishments. Just over a million people live in the district.

Gert Sibande District Municipality
Towns: Bethal, Secunda, Standerton, Ermelo, Volksrust, Mkhondo (Piet Retief), Carolina.
Power stations abound in this region, which stretches across the southern half of the province and is the home of the giant Sasol facilities at Secunda. The area is also on the top of South Africa’s maize triangle and agriculture and food processing are well developed sectors.

Sheep, chicken, sunflower and sorghum are just some of the areas’s many agricultural products. Nestlé has a processing plant at Standerton and Mondi has a pulp and paper facility in the south-east. About 900 000 people live in the Gert Sibande district.

Ehlanzeni District Municipality
Towns: Mbombela (Nelspruit), Malelane, Hazyview, White River, Sabie, Lydenburg, Barberton.
The urban centres are nodes of manufacturing in this region, which is also at the heart of Mpumalanga’s tourism offering. The Kruger National Park, the Blyde River Canyon, Bourke’s Luck Potholes, God’s Window and other attractions make this a highly desirable place to visit. Citrus, sugar and forestry are the major agricultural products, all being major contributors to export earnings. The Sappi paper mill at Ngodwana is one of the biggest of its kind while Tsb Sugar operates two large mills in the east. The population is about 1.5 million.