Middelburg, Mpumalanga

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There are two Middelburgs in South Africa, for the other Middelburg, Eastern Cape or see Middelburg (disambiguation).

Middelburg is a large farming and industrial town in the South African province of Mpumalanga. Columbus Stainless, a large stainless steel plant, is situated here.

Middelburg was established as Nasareth, (root from dry land), in 1864 by the Voortrekkers on the banks of the Klein Olifants River. The name was changed in 1872 to Middelburg to mark its situation midway between the Transvaal capital Pretoria and the gold mining town of Lydenburg. A Dutch Reformed Church was built in 1890 and became a focal point in the area. The British built a large concentration camp in Middelburg during the Second Boer War. The Memorial Museum was built at the site next to the 1,381 graves of women and children died here.

The township of Mhuzi was developed simultaneously to keep the whites separate from the blacks with a ridge in between the two towns. Many of the houses in Mhuzi did not have electricity for many years and in winter smoke from the coal stoves created a lot of pollution which rolled over the ridge into Middleburg. Much later a due to the industrial growth, another township to house coloreds was laid out near Columbus Stainless and was named Nasareth after Middelburg's original name.