Malalane (formerly Malelane) is a farming town in
Mpumalanga, South Africa situated on the
N4 national highway. The farms in the region produce
sugarcane,
subtropical fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
and winter
vegetable
Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...
s. The town was proclaimed in 1949 after which it was named. The origin of the name is disputed but was corrupted from the
swazi Swazi may refer to:
* Swazi people, a people of southeastern Africa
* Swazi language
* Eswatini
Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked coun ...
. Either the expression "eMlalani" which means ''place of the palms'', or the expression "lala" which means ''to sleep'' is accepted origins of the name. The town started as the first rest-stop between
Lourenço Marques and
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...
. As of July 2007 the town was officially renamed from "Malelane" to "Malalane" as part of the governments renaming scheme by the
South African Geographical Names Council
The South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC) is the official government body of South Africa that advises the executive branch of the central government (in the form of the Minister of Arts and Culture) on new geographical names as well as ...
.
History
In the area surrounding Malalane is an ancient hematite mine at Dumaneni, one of the oldest mines in the world - dating back to 46 000 and 28 500 years ago during the
Middle Stone Age. One of Malalane's earliest colonists was Captain GJ (Mkonto) Elphick. After having fought in the
Anglo-Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...
(1899-1902), Elphick bought the old Malalane farm and successfully planted tomatoes, cotton, mangos, oranges and pawpaws. Elphick also pioneered the commercial aspect of Malalane by opening the first store in the vicinity.
[Marius Bakkes, Corridor Gazette, Thursday 14 January 2016]
![Elphic grafsteen 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Elphic_grafsteen_2.jpg)
Despite Elphick's operations, the Onderberg area was predominantly a bush area and formed part of The Kruger Shooting Concession. Leopard, lion and buffalo were often shot as a sport. In 1926 the area was proclaimed as The
Kruger National Park and hunting stopped. The effect of this was minimal as visitors to the area now visited to see the game instead of hunting it. With the formation of the national park a barbed wire fence was erected. This had little effect on the agricultural sector of the region except that animals were now more controlled and were limited in roaming onto farmers crops, although larger game such as buffalo and elephant still strayed onto farms.
In 1942 the government of the
Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal.
* South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...
commissioned a dirt road through the area for military use, that was later tarred. The road increased traffic through the area, however this had little effect on the local economy as the traffic was primarily passing through to Lourenço Marques (now
Maputo
Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,0 ...
). The odd traveller may have stopped at a local shop but the increase in trade had no real impact.
In 1963 the fence bordering the Kruger National Park was upgraded to meet international standards and was proclaimed proficient against the threat of foot and mouth disease in the park. The migration of larger game was severely restricted. Elephant, buffalo, lion and hippo now had extremely limited access to crops and farmers could invest more into their produce as the threat of them being destroyed by wild animals was minimal. Cattle were a popular choice as the threat of them being eaten by predators was now much less than before (although it still occurred).
1965 saw the upgrade of the foot and mouth fence. It was electrified and known as the
Snyman fence. It also saw the construction of the
Transvaal Suiker Beperk (TSB) sugar mill near the Malalane entrance of the Kruger National Park. Naturally this had the effect of mass planting of sugar cane in the area. The area soon began to flourish and was characterised by good sugar production and tourism. The mill still runs to this day and serves local farmers. The military road was upgraded again the meet the needs of the area but also to service
Eskom
Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). Eskom repre ...
operations in the area. This meant easier access for tourists to enter the region and to travel to
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
. The upgrade never saw any tangible benefit to farmers except that goods could be transported more easily.
Economy and tourism
A trend of growth was experienced until 1998 when the road servicing the area was upgraded yet again to a national road status. The road was named the ‘
N4’ and became a toll road. A government project was launched which saw significant growth in the area. This was known as the
Maputo Corridor The Maputo Corridor is a major trade corridor which connects the Gauteng, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa with Maputo, which is a port and the capital of Mozambique.
The corridor comprises roads - including the N4 toll road (from ...
.
Malelane Gate was then named as one of the main entrances to the
Kruger National Park. This led to a drastic increase in tourism in the area and many lodges were established. These include: Malelane Lodge, Pestana Lodge and some bed and breakfasts. The area also saw the establishment of Riverview Primary and Laerskool Malelane Primary. Due to the growth big corporations came to the area.
Sun International bought Malelane lodge and
Spar
SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...
and
Pick 'n Pay also invested in branches of their retail shops in the area.
The effect of this was very beneficial to the area but in particular the agricultural sector. Rather than buying goods from far away suppliers Spar and Pick 'n Pay bought from local farmers. This had an added benefit that farmers now had a stable market where their goods could be sold or bought. Unsurprisingly tourists of the area also bought goods from the new shops rather than bringing in their own goods from afar.
Due to the increase of tourist activities in the area, many contractors were brought in to meet the demands of new developments in the area. The growth of Malalane town was now at a peak as many people were now living in the town or nearby because their jobs entailed them working at lodges or similar establishments in the immediate area. This boosted the local economy greatly and local shops benefited greatly from the new influx of trade. More trade also came from
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
after the civil war.
Future developments saw sections of the Kruger National Park being outsourced to large companies and corporations. This had both negative and positive effects on the region. By outsourcing sections of the Kruger National Park the companies involved could attract more foreign tourists. The bonus of this was that the tourists injected large amounts of foreign exchange into the area's economy. This did have a bump-on effect though. Local companies lost out in trade to the corporations and consequently some local businesses suffered. The National Parks Board also declared a policy of no more peripheral development (i.e. no new camps, lodges or developments were to be built in the park). Together with the deregulation of open top game vehicles the park saw entrance admissions previously unheard of.
The development of the
Leopard Creek Golf Club and housing estate aided in giving the local economy a boost. An added bonus to this was the revenue brought in from
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...
tournaments, such as the
Sunshine Tour's
Alfred Dunhill Championship
The Alfred Dunhill Championship is a men's professional golf tournament which is played in South Africa. It is part of the Southern African Sunshine Tour and is one of several events in South Africa that are co-sanctioned by the more prestigious ...
, and was beneficial to the town. Other lodges and B&B's were also built in the area.
References
External links
*
*
On Google Maps
{{Authority control
Populated places in the Nkomazi Local Municipality