Country South Africa District Gert Sibande Established 1876 Local time Tuesday 9:22 AM | Province Mpumalanga Municipality Albert Luthuli Elevation 1,110 m (3,640 ft) Area code 017 | |
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Weather 17°C, Wind W at 10 km/h, 80% Humidity | ||
Badplaas, also known as eManzana, is a small town on the R38 road in eastern Mpumalanga, South Africa. It was established in 1876 on the Seekoeispruit, in the foothills of the Dhlumudhlumu Mountains (meaning "place of much thunder"), at the site of a sulphur spring that delivers ±30,000 litres of hot water (at ±50 °C) per hour.
Contents
Map of eManzana, 1190, South Africa
History
Swazi tribesmen were the first to discover the spring and called it "eManzana", which means "healing waters". It has been said that in about 1876 the Swazi chief presented this spring, in gratitude, to a hunter, Jacob de Clerq, who subsequently built a store nearby and developed the spring to allow for visitors’ use due to its believed medicinal properties.
Recreation
The spring became very popular when gold was discovered in the De Kaap Valley (near Barberton). Prospectors would visit there on weekends to get away from their strenuous work of digging for gold. On 6 November 1893, the government claimed the springs to develop a health resort for public use in perpetuity. It was proclaimed in December 1947. The Protea Group managed this Aventura Resort for a time, but the resort has now been purchased by the Forever Resorts Group.