Haenertsburg is a village situated on the edge of the Great Escarpment in the
Limpopo Province
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 capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while th ...
of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, on the
R71 road between
(formerly: ''Pietersburg'') and
Tzaneen
Tzaneen () is a large tropical garden town situated in the Mopani District Municipality of the Limpopo province in South Africa. It is situated in a high rainfall fertile region with tropical and subtropical agriculture taking place in a region. ...
en route to 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 ea ...
.
Farming and tourism are the main economic activities on "The Mountain" as it is fondly called by the locals; Haenertsburg is in hilly terrain. The Iron Crown mountain is the highest point in Limpopo and is a well-known landmark.
Frequent mists and relatively high rainfall have created a lush vegetation with
afromontane
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 ...
forest patches occupying the ''kloofs'' (gullies) which dot the rolling grasslands and surrounding mountains. However, large areas of rare, and botanically very diverse, grassland (Woodbush Granite Grassland) have been planted to timber (primarily timber for pulping). These monoculture plantations extract a great deal of water and the resulting water shortages downstream (in the Kruger National Park and Mozambique) are cause for concern. A local volunteer group, FROHG (Friends of the Haenertsburg Grasslands) helps to conserve the indigenous flora and fauna. Funds are raised to create educational materials, maintain a hiking trail, remove alien invasive plants and alert the authorities to illegal developments like bulldozing for pipelines, fencing and even squatting.
The scenic beauty of the Haenertsburg area attracts many tourists. It is a favoured spot for cycling, biking and fishing. Sailing and other watersport take place on nearby Ebenezer Dam. The 20th steepest mountain pass in South Africa, the
Magoebaskloof
Magoebaskloof (Makgoba) Pass is situated in the Limpopo Province, on the R71, the road between Tzaneen and Polokwane, in South Africa.
It is a lush green mountainous area, covered by natural evergreen subtropical forest. This is an area where ...
pass, leads one down from the
Highveld
The Highveld (Afrikaans: ''Hoëveld'', where ''veld'' means "field") is the portion of the South African inland plateau which has an altitude above roughly 1500 m, but below 2100 m, thus excluding the Lesotho mountain regions to the south-east of ...
of the Haenertsburg area to the
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 ...
adjoining 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 ea ...
, gaining/losing 446m altitude in 5.15 km.
Haenertsburg is also famous for the annual Spring Fair where various crafts and flower displays are exhibited. July sees the advent of the Holistic Fair which displays the diverse creative talents of the Mountain folk. Every Friday and Saturday morning the Morning Market is run by the Duchess of Atholl.
The town was established in 1886 with the discovery of
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
by Carl Ferdinand Haenert.
References
{{Authority control
Populated places in the Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality