Rustenburg

Rustenburg is a working city at the foot of the Magaliesberg, a little over 1,200 m up. It dates from 1851, and platinum has been mined here since 1929. Today no city on earth produces more of the metal, and mining accounts for about half of everything earned locally. It is a practical base for the mountains to the south and the game reserves to the north rather than a sightseeing town in its own right.

Getting there

Most visitors drive from Gauteng, about an hour and a half from either Johannesburg or Pretoria. From Pretoria, the quickest way is the tolled N4 (the Platinum Highway), which carries on west to Botswana. From Johannesburg, take the R24 through Krugersdorp. If you want to avoid tolls, the R104 runs roughly alongside the N4, but expect a slow, winding road with stops along the way. No passenger trains stop here and the local airfields take no scheduled flights, so fly into O.R. Tambo (roughly 140 km away) or Lanseria and hire a car. Pilanesberg International Airport is about 50 km north.

When to go

Summers, December to February, are warm and bring most of the rain, around 660 mm a year in total. Winters, June to August, are mild and dry. Malaria is only occasionally transmitted in North West province and antimalarials are not considered necessary, though insect repellent is still sensible.

What to do

Kgaswane Mountain Reserve starts about 5 km south-west of town. Sable are among its 800-plus antelope. Cape vultures breed here, and the reserve’s bird list runs past 300 species. For a short leg stretch there is the 2 km Vlei Trail or the Peglarae Trail of about 5.5 km. Serious walkers can sleep out on the Baviaanskrans (19.5 km) or Summit (25.3 km) routes. The North West Parks and Tourism Board manages it, with campsites, a cottage and a group camp.

Take the R565 towards Sun City for about 20 km and you reach Boekenhoutfontein, Paul Kruger’s farm. Four old houses survive as the Paul Kruger Country House Museum, and their floors were made with peach pips and cow dung. The Bronkhorst house, the oldest, goes back to around 1840. The museum is inside the grounds of Kedar Heritage Lodge.

Further north, Pilanesberg National Park fills the worn-down rings of a volcano that erupted about 1.2 billion years ago. The 572 km² park was old farmland until Operation Genesis brought in around 6,000 animals of 22 species, and today it has the Big Five. Sun City is on its southern boundary.

Good to know

Rustenburg hosted 2010 World Cup matches at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium. Wikivoyage reported no public bus routes as of 2012, so plan on a car.

Last updated 6 October 2026. Sources: Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, Wikipedia (Kgaswane Mountain Reserve), Wikipedia (Boekenhoutfontein), BusinessDay, Wikipedia (Pilanesberg National Park), SA-Venues (malaria risk areas).