Nelspruit, a history of the town’s name
When and how the central urban section of the current City of Mbombela was named, is well documented by local historian Hans Bornman in his latest book. Below is a small excerpt from said book entitled Historical Lowveld Across the Ages.
How the town was established
Nelspruit, the proclaimed capital of Mpumalanga in 1994, was established with the advent of the Eastern Railway Line.
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The city was named after the three Nel Brothers, Gert (1844-1932), Louis (1846-1919) and Andries (1855-1933), who came down to the Lowveld from the Highveld during the winter months, from 1883 until 1896, with their sheep and cattle.
The town is situated next to the Crocodile River, 20 kilometres south-west of White River and 52 kilometres north-west of Barberton. The creek, west of Hoërskool Nelspruit, was officially named by Dr AM le Roux on August 28, 1981. The memorial plaque was unveiled by Louis Nel, grandson of Gert and Louis. This plaque has been vandalised.
Louis Johannes Nel (1821-1860)
Louis undertook a journey in 1851 to Lydenburg, founded September 20, 1849, and on his way procured the farms Doornhoek and Goedehoop at the foot of Nelsberg, between Badplaas and Barberton, and also acquired a stand in Lydenburg.
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He returned to Natal to prepare for the move, but had to wait for the birth of his youngest son, Andries, who arrived on April 25, 1855.
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Louis Nel, however, became ill and had to be treated in Greytown where he died in 1860. He was buried on the farm, Welgegund, which belonged to “Vaal Lewies” Nel, near Greytown.
The brothers
The Nel brothers moved to Wakkerstroom where Gert got married. Shortly afterwards they obtained freehold farms. Gert obtained the farm Witbank and Louis and Andries the adjoining farm, Bankfontein, 13 kilometres north-east of Breyten.
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The Nels and their brothers-in-law were all stock farmers and during the winter months moved their animals to the farms at the base of Nelsberg, which were named after the Nel family. When grazing was poor, they proceeded to the Crocodile mountain range, south-east of present-day Nelspruit:
- Andries used to camp near Renosterkop,
- Louis had his camp where Absa bank is now situated,
- Gert Nel used to have his camp near Crocodile Gorge and
- The Vermaak family, their brothers-in-law, used to camp where Rob Ferreira Hospital is now situated.
The emergence of the railway line
The Eastern Railway Line was to have been built in two stages:
- The first was to the foot of the Great Escarpment, which would be outside the tsetse fly area.
- The next stage to Pretoria was to be undertaken when funds were available.
During April and May 1884 the railway engineers began to carry out a survey of the route on the Transvaal side as proposed by General Machado.
While the engineers were surveying the proposed route, they met the Nel brothers on the slopes of the Crocodile River mountains close to a stream. Hundreds of sheep were grazing on the slopes and cattle on the banks of the stream, and that in tsetse fly country. The Nels assured the engineers that the tsetse fly was to be found east of the Crocodile Gorge, in the low-lying areas, and not westward towards the escarpment.
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The engineers decided to name the spruit where they met the Nels, Nel’s Spruit and noted it down on their maps.A proposal was made to the government that the railway line be built to Nel’s Spruit and not to the foot of the Drakensberg.
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On August 12 and 13, 1884, the government appointed a railway commission to investigate the proposal and report back on their findings. The commission reported to the government on August 23, 1884. The commission’s report was published in the Government Gazette of Augustus 28, 1884 and thus Nelspruit was officially named.
Historical Lowveld Across the Ages will be available soon at the tourism information centre at Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism next to Mica at Crossing Centre in Mbombela. Price: R350.
To book for the launch, contact 073-329-9238. The cost is R50 per person paid at the door. This includes an excellent meal of baked lasagne and a green salad served at the table. A cash bar is available. The event will also comprise an introduction by Bornman as well as a presentation of rare old photographs of the Lowveld, many of which have never been on display before.
