About the town » Wakkerstroom, Gert Sibande District Municipality, Mpumalanga, South Africa

Wakkerstroom, (Awake Stream), is the second oldest town in Mpumalanga province in South Africa. Town on the Natal border, 27 km east of Volksrust and 56 km south-east of Amersfoort. It was laid out on the farm Gryshoek, proclaimed in 1859, and administered by a village council from 1910. Originally named Marthinus-Wesselstroom, it became known as Wesselstroom and then Wakkerstroom, ‘awake stream’, ‘lively stream’, after the river, which also gave its name to the district, namely the Mzinyati. It was established in 1859 and its name is an Afrikaans translation of the Zulu name for the river that flows near the town, uThaka, (Awake). Sheep and cattle farming are the primary industries. Mountainous with kloofs, mountain springs, vlei areas, dams - Conservation and Heritage site. It is internationally renowned as a "Birders" paradise.