Breyten

The town was built upon the Bothasrust farmstead, which itself was granted to one Lukas Potgieter as compensation for his losing a leg during the First Boer War. The farm was later sold to Nicolaas Breytenbach, a field cornet during the Second Boer War, after whom the town was named in 1906.

Breyten was once a vibrant railway town. Passenger and freight trains departed and connected in Breyten to Johannesburg, Nelspruit, Witbank, Pretoria and other areas of South Africa. Common freight was agricultural produce and livestock, but most predominantly coal from the local collieries. Due to losses in the manufacturing sector, the town has since become depressed with high unemployment. Breyten is now a stopover for tourists who are headed to either the Lowveld or Highveld. Tourists can be served by a local hotel and a few guest houses.