Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa

🇿🇦 Mpumalanga, also widely known as Hammarsdale, is a town in eThekwini in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. It is a township about 10 km south-south-east of Cato Ridge and some 50 km west of Durban. Derived from Zulu, the name means 'sunrise', 'the sun comes out'. The township boasts of a local library known as Mpumalanga Library and a shopping centre which has become the heart of the township known as the Hammarsdale Junction. There is a local stadium and an Elangeni college campus located in the heart of Mpumalanga. Among amenities such as clinics, police stations, a SASSA and a home affairs office, the township has a variety of schools. Georgedale, adjoining Mpumalanga to the west was the birthplace of James Mpanza who became known as the "Father of Soweto".

Geography Mpumalanga forms the easternmost boundary of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality (Greater Durban region) with the adjoining Mkhambathini Local Municipality in the uMgungundlovu District along with Cato Ridge to the north.

Mpumalanga lies within the hilly region between Durban and Pietermaritzburg known as the Valley of a Thousand Hills and is located north of the uMlazi River. Mpumalanga spans an extensive area of 21,66 km² and is largely subdivided into multi-sections primarily in the form of letters from A to H as well as other areas with names such as Elangeni, Hammars Estate, Mpumalanga East and Zamani.

The nearest regional urban centre to Mpumalanga is Pinetown, located approximately 35 km to the west whilst Pietermaritzburg, approximately 39 km to the north-west also serves as an urban centre to Mpumalanga as opposed to the larger city of Durban which is considerably further. Other neighbouring towns include Cato Ridge (10 km), Camperdown (16 km) and Hillcrest (24 km).

Transport: Road Mpumalanga is centred on two roads, namely the M50 also named Mthoko Mkhize Drive leading to Cato Ridge and Inchanga and Buthelezi/Sibisi Drive leading to Shongweni and Hillcrest. The M50 leading to Inchanga provides direct access to the N3 highway between Pietermaritzburg and Durban at the Hammarsdale interchange, just outside Mpumalanga.