Mbombela is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River, Mbombela lies about 110km by road west of the Mozambique border, 330km east of Johannesburg and about 82 kilometres (51 mi) North of the Swaziland border.HistoryMbombela was founded in 1895 by three brothers of the Nel family who grazed their cattle around the site of Mbombela during the winter months. During the Boer War, Mbombela served briefly as the seat of government for the South African Republic (not to be confused with the Republic of South Africa), an independent Boer republic. The leadership of the South African Republic included Paul Kruger.The settlement was a key stopover for the Eastern railway built by the Netherlands-South African Railway Company in the late 19th century which ran from the newly discovered Witwatersrand goldfields to Delagoa Bay (modern day Maputo) in Portuguese East Africa (modern day Mozambique).The discovery of gold in the region at places like Pilgrim's Rest and Barberton, Mpumalanga further spurred on development.
