Ermelo, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

🇿🇦 Ermelo is the educational, industrial and commercial town of the 7,750 km² Gert Sibande District Municipality in Mpumalanga province, Republic of South Africa. It is both a mixed agriculture and mining region. It is located 210 km east of Johannesburg.

History Some of the earliest inhabitants of the area were the Leghoya people. Not much is known about them, but ruins of their settlements dating back to c.1400 can be found in the area.

During the mid-1800s, the area prior to the formation as a village, was an outspan area for resting teams of draw animals transporting goods across the region mainly due to the water of the small lakes dotting the area.  Modern Ermelo was founded by Dutch Reformed Church Reverend Frans Lion Cachet (1835–1899).  He would minister to the many farms in the area.  A congregation was started by Cachet in 1870, and was recognised by the 5th annual general meeting of the church in April 1872.

The town was formed on the farm Nooitgedacht purchased from P.J. Fourie in 1879 and proclaimed on 12 February 1880.  It was managed by the church until 1895 when the government of the South African Republic took over its management.  Cachet named it after a town in the Netherlands.  Cachet was an outspoken preacher, who had a strong interest in evangelism to Jews, his own family having Jewish heritage. Cachet had met and been influenced by Hermanus Willem Witteveen from Ermelo in the Netherlands as a young man, and named the settlement in honour of Witteveen.

In 1901, the town was reduced to a single standing home by the British during the Second Boer War.: 303  The town would be rebuilt in 1903. 

Economy: Agriculture Mixed farming such as maize, cattle, potatoes, beans, wool, pigs, sunflower seeds, nuts, sub-tropical fruits, lucerne and sorghum take place around the district.  The town is the home of the Nooitgedacht Agriculture Development and Research Centre that researches crop production and animal husbandry. 

Economy: Mining Mining is important to the district with anthracite, coal and torbanite mined. 

Transport It is also a railway junction between Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal. The rail junction connects to Machadodorp which is on the Pretoria and Maputo railway line. The town also lies on the railway line that connects the coalfields with the Port of Richards Bay on the Indian Ocean. Coal trains shipping to the coast from the mines change electric locomotives here, as power converts from Direct current to Alternating current - a legacy of the British and Afrikaner histories of the area.

Transport: Road Ermelo is the crossroads of three national highways, N2, N11 and the N17, only Pretoria and Johannesburg are crossed by more. The N2 freeway connects Ermelo south east to Piet Retief 105 km away and eventually Richards Bay 417 km from the town. The N11 South connects the town to Newcastle, 152 km to the south and Ladysmith 250 km away and the N3 to Durban. The N11 north connects it to Middelburg, 108 km away and the N4 freeway west to Pretoria. The N17 West connects the town to the southern suburbs of Johannesburg and N17 east to eSwatini.