Mbombela

In October 2009, the South African government renamed the city "Mbombela", the name of the local municipality.[3] The Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism subsequently approached the High Court of South Africa to challenge the decision, citing a lack of both consultation and city funds available to pay for road and website name changes.[4] Ultimately, the name change was upheld in May 2014 by the North Gauteng High Court.[5][6]

The Main Road (Old N4) entering the City

Mbombela is on the Maputo Corridor, a major trade route linking Pretoria to Maputo in Mozambique which, with the Trans-Kalahari Corridor, forms a transport trunk that crosses the entire sub-continent from Walvis Bay in Namibia on the Atlantic Ocean to Maputo on the Indian Ocean. The N4 toll route is the main arterial route with a double lane highway all the way to Johannesburg and Pretoria.

The new Northern Bypass was built for the N4 toll route, so the old road through the city centre (Samora Machel Drive) is now designated as the R104 route. Other roads in the area include the R40 route (which connects to Barberton, a border with Eswatini in the south and with White River in the north) and the R37 route (which connects to Mashishing in the north-west).

Nelspruit railway station lies on the Pretoria–Maputo railway.

Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport, located about 27 km (17 mi) north east of the city, began operations in October 2002.[9] Scheduled flights operate to locations within South Africa and abroad (to Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique). The R360,000,000 complex has a 3.1 km (10,170.6 ft) runway which can accommodate aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 747. The airport currently handles about 250,000 passengers per annum.

Nelspruit Airport, located about 9 km (6 mi) south west of the city, is the city's original airport owned and operated by the municipality. It primarily handles general aviation aircraft, and several aircraft maintenance, firefighting, charter and training companies are based at the airport.

The Alkmaar Raceway is a motocross track. It hosted the 2008 FIM Motocross World Championship South African Motocross Grand Prix.[10]

Mbombela Stadium was built as an association football and rugby union stadium for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Finished in November 2009, it cost R1,200,000,000 and has a capacity of 43,500; the construction process contained several controversies.[11] The stadium hosted four 2010 FIFA World Cup matches and is the current home of the Pumas rugby team.

In 2013 it hosted two rugby test matches, Italy played Samoa followed by South Africa against Scotland. The Stadium hosts regular Premier Soccer League matches with Bidvest Wits, Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mpumalanga Black Aces regularly playing host.

Mbombela Golf Club was originally the Nelspruit Golf Club until 2017. Following a racial incident in which a black cabbie was assaulted the club's name was changed, alongside other commitments to increase the number of black staff and pay caddies a basic salary.[12]

Lowveld Media is a major printer and publisher of newsprint materials in the region. Major newspapers include the Lowvelder, Mpumalanga News and Nelspruit Post. African Eye News Service is an established news agency in Mbombela which writes articles for national newspapers and websites.

The SABC has a regional office in the city. Jacaranda FM operates a studio near the Emnotweni Casino.

Ligwalagwala FM is the largest SABC-owned radio station in the city and the Mpumalanga Province. It is a public broadcaster which primarily broadcasts in the Swazi language.

RISE FM (originally named MPowerFM before it was bought out by the Times Media Group) is an independent commercial radio station broadcasting in English from studios in Mbombela and eMalahleni to the province of Mpumalanga,[13] and the Afrikaans local community radio station Radio Laeveld 100.5fm broadcasts to the Lowveld area from Mbombela.[14]

Mbombela is the financial and banking capital of Mpumalanga.

The city has a strong consumer-based retail industry boosted significantly by neighbouring Mozambican and Swazi tourists. There are various major shopping centers, notably the Riverside and Ilanga malls. Recent developments include The Crossing Shopping Center and The City Center.

The city is home to the Manganese Metal Company (MMC) and Delta EMD, which together form one of the largest manganese processing facilities in the world. There are several medium industries which support the agriculture and forestry sectors. There is also a thriving construction industry which, despite the 2008 recession, has kept growing.

Mbombela is a key agricultural processing hub for northeastern South Africa. The macadamia industry is centered within the city of Mbombela, with an annual production for the 2017/18 production year of 26,400 tons NIS (nut-in shell at 1.5% kernel moisture content). There are many citrus farms and the canning, juicing and extract of citrus fruit and other produce is a large business for the area. Fertile soils and the subtropical climate provide perfect conditions for the growing of citrus and tropical fruits, mainly mango, banana, avocado, papaya and macadamia nuts.

Sugar is also big business in the region. TSB, the producer of Selati sugar, is located a few kilometers east of the city. The low-lying areas in the region is dotted with sugarcane farms.

The economy is heavily reliant on the forestry sector. SAPPI has a paper mill west of the city which was recently upgraded to produce cellulose fibers for various applications. Mbombela is the global headquarters of KISHUGU which is the parent company of Working on Fire. KISHUGU is also a major player in the forestry sector. The region has several timber-related industries such as lumber and saw mills as well as furniture, crate and carton manufacturing businesses.