Balfour is a small mining and maize farming town situated along the R51 and R23 Provincial Routes in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. It is part of the Dipaleseng Local Municipality in the Gert Sibande District.
Balfour should not be confused with another town (Balfour, Eastern Cape) of a similar name in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
The town and post office, approximately 80 km south-east of Johannesburg, was established on the farms Vlakfontein No. 101 and No. 108 which belonged to Frederick Stuart McHattie, and named McHattiesburg after him in 1897.
Proclaimed on 16 February 1898, the town was renamed Balfour on 15 February 1905, after Arthur James Balfour, Prime Minister of Great Britain, 1902–1905, who visited South Africa in that year and gave a speech on the town’s train station platform.
Located south east of Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, just off the R23 Provincial Route that leaves the N3 National Route north of Heidelberg and heads into the province of Mpumalanga, Balfour nestles in a region given over mostly to farms, game farms and bushveld.
Balfour lies in what is known as Cosmos Country, the south western area of Mpumalanga that is at the centre of the country’s coal mining. It is called Cosmos Country because it is this area that annually explodes with varying pink and white cosmos flowers during autumn, a breathtaking sight for any visitor.
It is also Big 5 country, and the grasslands, vleis and low lying hills provide not only the perfect space for cattle farming but also for various game farms. This makes a game spotting holiday close to home more than possible for Gautengers and fleeting visits to Johannesburg, ensuring that one gets a taste of the Bush without having to travel all the way to the Kruger National Park.
Balfour is home to the black township of Siyathemba.
