For many years, City of Mbombela was known as a far-flung north-eastern outpost of South Africa, offering not much more than easy access for visitors to the world-famous Kruger National Park. In those days, it was a frontier town. Times have changed. Political change and economic development of the N4 Maputo Corridor have transformed the city into a gateway for neighbouring markets, a business centre and a provincial capital.

The town was essentially created on 28 August 1884, when the Republican Volksraad approved plans to build a railway from the newly discovered Lowveld goldfields to Johannesburg. The line was finally opened in 1895 and growth followed as people quickly rushed to buy land in and around the Mbombela City area. Today, property prices are soaring again and the city’s economy benefits from its proximity to Mozambique and Swaziland while tourism has also been identified as a growth area.

City of Mbombela offers easy access to many of the world’s finest game parks and is close to the Eastern Escarpment, a 1 200-metre wall of jagged mountain towering above the African bush. The city is also home to the National Botanical Gardens, set in 154 hectares of land along the eastern bank of the Crocodile River, containing no fewer than 512 plant species indigenous to the area.