Burgersfort is located in the valley of the Spekboom River at the edge of the Bushveld Complex in the Greater Tubatse Local Municipality, near the border of the two provinces Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The town was named after a hexagonal fort built there during the 1876-77 Second War against the Bapedi of Chief Sekhukhune, and was named after President TF Burgers of the ZAR. The region is rich in platinum and platinum group metals. The town's neighbouring towns are Mashishing (60 km), Steelpoort (16 km) and Ohrigstad (26 km).
