Exploring Burgersfort - the Platinum City
- mokonetu
- Apr 25, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 26, 2019
The beauty of travel in South Africa is that you need not chase after big-name destinations to have a good time away. Take frontier town of Burgersfort for example. Just 20 years ago, then stopover dorpie was the butt of jokes even for local. The rural population here at the time thought real shopping was to travel by taxi to Polokwane, some 150km away!
That was a long way to go for shopping but thankfully Burgersfort has cast away its one-horse town monkey. So much has changed in recent years, and Burgersfort is now a boom town, thanks to platinum mining in the area. It has now adopted marketing moniker of Platinum City! The town is growing so fast, with shopping malls boasting major retail and service brands, even city ones like Woolies and Postnet.
Estates with double-storey houses are springing up where it used to be open grassland on mountain foothills; similarly impressive homes are also rising up in the villages.
One of the biggest recent investments should be Thaba Moshate Hotel Casino Convention Resort. It offers a variety of entertainment options for families and groups during the day and couples or individual adults mainly in the evening.
The colourful resort is perched on the west-facing slopes of a range of mountains, overlooking the final stretches of the busy R555 - from Middelburg in Mpumalanga - before it hits the CBD of Burgersfort.
The town's look rapid growth is being seriously let down by poor town planning. The people in the relevant office at the Tubatse municipality has some answering to do for allowing the town centre to grow into a mishmash forever clogging the narrow main street called Dirk Winterbach. (I wonder who he is or was.) Anyways, the main street is the continuation of the R37 from Polokwane, as it passes through to Lydenburg Mashishing in Mpumalanga.
In fact, Burgersfort also began life in the new South Africa in the Mpumalanga province. That was when the Tubatse River (some call it Steelpoort) stood as the natural border between Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces. And because someone travelling from the west needed to cross the Tubatse to get into Burgersfort, the town was therefore naturally in Mpumalanga.
But, because the vast rural population it served, including the farming community, were in Limpopo, the town would later also be redemarcated into Limpopo. Be that as it may, some sources of information still list Burgersfort as Mpumalanga town.
There's plenty of accommodation of varying degrees of luxury in town, villages and country lodges - good ones ranging from R300 a night to sums more than a thousand bucks!
So, what do I do in Burgersfort?
I come here to relax for a few days, or to take a breather on my travels to places still far ahead of here. Even when I stay a short while, I never get tired of exploring or visit sites.
Thaba Moshate I don't gamble, I come here for cocktails and chill time at Molecule bar. Your mood and weather notwithstanding, this superb bar just lifts up. Molecule hosts live entertainment in the evenings and it's also a great place to network. Though the bar has a light meals menu, the Platinum Aloe restaurant is a setting to behold for meals. I never get over its attractive, colourful design. The rooms are a small heaven; you won't regret the spend. Some people come to the resort to laze about the pool area, with its uniquely designed pools of average depth to avoid drownings. Overall, Moshate's pool area is a place that's hard to leave, even for non-swimmers who just love lying on its loungers.
Village chill There are many villages around Burgersfort to visit and soak in the country lifestyle, more so on the weekends when there are traditional ceremonies includings wedding - a big deal in these parts of the country. Chilling in the village you can also admire the picturesque surroundings of hills forming part of the Leolo mountains. Leole and other ranges closeby form part of the early stretches of the Drakensberg, Africa's second longest mountain range after Atlas Mountains. But the rolling vistas of unspoilt countryside are facing a mean threat from the ever expanding platinum mining in the area. This and the shabby town centre pose aesthetic challenges.
Shisanyama Some call it chesanyama or braai spot, but it's the same place where the favourite grilled meat treat is served and there's plenty to choose from in this hugely carnivorous area. Badikila Road House is my favourite meating place in Burgersfort. Located at GaMashamothane, a village a walking distance from town along the R37 to Polokwane, Badikila is the biggest braai spot I have seen in my travels around the country. The place is not only about the beef and the beer, it's also a perfect place to catch up with developments in the area as well as issues affecting Bapedi people in their different communities in Sekhukhune district. And due to the professional set Badikila attracts, business happens as well as networking and deals are struck here as the wors sizzles on the grill.
Tjate Heritage
This natural fortress it's where Sekhukhune set up his capital after usurping power from his brother Mampuru 200 years ago. There are many legends and interesting stories from Tjate, including how Sekhukhune used a network of caves to hide from enemies. These enemies include the British forces accompanied by Swazi warriors. Today Tjate valley is marked by a peaceful setting, with a plethora of churches from different denominations pointing to a largely religious community. The capital of Bapedi king along Sekhukhune's lineage is now at Mohlaletsi, a few kilometres as the crow flies over the platinum-laden Leolo mountains.
Stopover Sometimes I arrive here for a pit-stop before heading to the Panorama Route, Mpumalanga's premier tourist destination. Many other travelers also use Burgersfort to replenish their supplies, stretch their muscles or sleep over before heading to the Kruger National Park or other destinations.
How to get there
From Johannesburg travel on N12 to Middelburg from there get onto R555. (Distance: 340km)
From Polokwane travel eastwards via route R37. (Distance: 153km)
From Nelspruit via R37 through Lydenburg. (Distance 148km)
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