The Maputo Corridor is reshaping the economic geography of Mpumalanga. With freight through the Port of Maputo hitting record levels and border modernisation efforts underway at Lebombo, Mbombela (Nelspruit) is now a logistics-and-services city at the heart of cross-border trade. That shift is fuelling demand for secure, well-located housing close to the provincial hub.
The first families moved into their new homes at Matumi Valley this month, a development in the Valley View precinct that reflects how housing supply is responding to structural change.
Reinier van Loggerenberg, CEO of Craft Homes, says: “Free-standing duplexes with gardens and fibre connectivity may seem like a micro story, but they speak to a macro reality: as trade volumes climb and the Nkomazi Special Economic Zone takes shape, the city is drawing in a new layer of middle-income professionals whose work is tied to the corridor economy.”
That demand goes deeper than logistics. Mbombela combines a stable provincial government payroll with a fast-expanding university sector. The University of Mpumalanga has grown from just 140 students in 2014 to close to 10 000 today, with a corresponding rise in professional staff and service jobs. This creates a pool of households with salaried incomes seeking family-scale homes close to work.
Connectivity adds another layer. With airlines reinstating and expanding routes into Kruger Mpumalanga International – new direct services from Cape Town and Johannesburg were added in the past 18 months – the city is benefitting from improved access for business, tourism and semigration alike.
Van Loggerenberg adds: “What we’re seeing in Mbombela is the convergence of multiple growth drivers, from cross-border logistics to education and tourism, and that requires a new layer of housing supply in the right locations. Matumi Valley is part of that response: building homes that fit the needs of young families and professionals who want security and proximity to the city’s core.”