Polokwane
The centrally located city of Polokwane is the capital of Limpopo. Located on the Great North Road (N1 highway) and almost equidistant from the high-density population of greater Johannesburg and the neighbouring countries of Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, Polokwane’s recently upgraded international airport is ideally situated.

Polokwane is the province’s main centre for industry, commerce, education and medical services, and hosted matches in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Large industrial concerns such as Silicon Smelters (one of the biggest of its kind in the world) and a big brewery run alongside at least 600 industrial enterprises of a smaller scale. The range is broad, thus helping to protect Polokwane from downturns in the economic cycle: soft-drink and fruit-juice manufacture, confectionery, bricks, clothing, meat processing, packaging and jewellery.

The retail sector is strong, and will be stronger still when the Mall of the North is completed in 2011. This major project will cost approximately R1.2-billion to complete. Covering more than 70 000 square metres, the mall will offer a more convenient alternative to shoppers used to doing their monthly shopping in Johannesburg.

Polokwane has good hotel and conferencing facilities and is well situated as a starting point for tourism trips into the province and beyond. Unusually, the city has its own game reserve on 3 200ha of semi-bushveld land. The Hugh Exton Photographic Museum, boasting 23 000 prints that capture the town’s early history, is just one of several fine museums in a city proud of its heritage. Several annual festivals are held in Polokwane, including the Mapungubwe Arts Festival. The Easter celebrations of the Zion Christian Church at nearby Moria attract up to a million people every year.
www.polokwane.org.za

Thohoyandou
Situated in the north-east of the province, fairly close to the Punda Maria Gate of the Kruger National Park, Thohoyandou is the administrative centre of the Thulamela Local Municipality, Vhembe District Municipality and the University of Venda. The Tshivhase Tea estates are not far from the town and a new project is cultivating exotic trees and ornamental shrubs on a farm for the Middle East market.

The town is on the Ivory Route and hosts the Venda Cultural Museum. Other attractions include an ancient baobab tree, the Dzata Ruins, the Museum of the Drum, the mystical Lake Fundudzi and Nwanedi Provincial Park.
www.vhembe.org.za

Phalaborwa
Phalaborwa is the gateway to the Kruger Park. It has a good airport and is a tourism hub. Cruises on the Olifants River are popular and the Hans Merensky Country Club golf course hosts national tournaments. The prospect of meeting wildlife on the fairway adds spice to the golfing experience. P a l a b o r w a M i n i n g Company (PMC), a part of the Rio Tinto Group, is the major economic driving force in the area. PMC’s operations include an underground mine, a concentrator, a copper smelter and an acid plant. Stateowned phosphate and phosphoric acid producer, Foskor, is another major employer. Sasol Nitro Phalaborwa produces phosphoric acid and defluorinated acid.

The Marula Festival is held in Phalaborwa in February every year. The ‘Phalaborwa Express’ (national cricketer Dale Steyn) attended Hans Merensky High School.
www.phalaborwa.org.za

Tzaneen
A subtropical climate and fertile soils combine to make greater Tzaneen very productive in terms of fruit and vegetables. Limpopo’s second-most populous city has a population of 80 000. The Tzaneng Mall is the biggest shopping centre north of Pretoria.

The Letaba Valley produces a large proportion of South Africa’s mangos, avocados and tomatoes. Citrus fruits also thrive, as do macadamia nuts, litchis, paw-paws and bananas. Forty sawmills operate in the area, drawing on the heavily forested hills around the city. The Phalaborwa Spatial Development Initiative passes through the Greater Tzaneen Municipal Area, while one of the major road links between Gauteng and the Kruger National Park also passes through the area, providing excellent logistical links for tourism and business.
www.tzaneen.gov.za

Burgersfort<br>Burgersfort is an important town in the Sekhukhune District Municipality because of platinum mining. One of the biggest of these projects is Impala Platinum’s Marula Mine. Property prices have boomed in the area in recent years as the town has come to be known as ‘Platinum City’. The Dikolong Spatial Development Initiative is expected to further enhance development.

Burgersfort is on the Watervals River and near to the confluence of that river with the Steelpoort River. Good soil in the region also allows for fruit farming (mostly grapes and citrus), grain, cotton and tobacco planting and the commercial cultivation of several varieties of vegetable.
www.tubatse.gov.za

Lephalale
The town of Lephalale in the Waterberg District Municipality is at the heart of the region’s coal-mining and power-generation sectors. Eskom’s existing Matimba Power Station will soon be joined by the giant Medupi Power Station, a multi-billion-rand project that is already transforming the local economy. Exxaro’s Grootgeluk mine has begun a massive expansion project in order to supply the new power station with coal.

The town has a tarred airfield, three hospitals and the Lephalale FET College. Located on the Mokolo River, Lephalale is near to the D’Nyala and Mokolo nature reserves. Game farms and hunting are growing sectors of the tourist industry in the region.
www.lephalale.com