The town of Musina , or often called Messina, is situated in the Northern Transvaal (Limpopo province) on the border of Zimbabwe and is the most northerly South African town.
The Beitbridge Border Post into Zimbabwe and to northern Africa is located along the great North Road which is the busiest road in Africa and is only 15 km north of this small town which is close to the Limpopo River. The town was founded in 1904 and named Messina which is a corruption of the African word Musina. The economy of the town and surrounding areas is dependent on mining.
Musina is best known for its magnificent Baobab trees. These trees are often known as “upside down trees” because of their appearance of having grown the wrong way up.
Copper was discovered in the area by the prehistoric Musina tribe and the rich veins of copper were mined in a very basic way for centuries. The deposits of copper were re-discovered after a prospector in Zimbabwe by the name of John Grefell heard about the existence of the ancient mines on the other side of the border and after the Anglo-Boer War ended he conducted a survey and found that there were extremely rich deposits of copper in the area. After that the town of Messina was established.
Musina is the centre of a mining area that besides copper has large deposits of iron ore, coal, magnetite, graphite, asbestos, diamonds and semi-precious stones
In 2003 the government of Limpopo began changing the names of many towns in the province the town of Messina was officially changed to Musina, though still referred to by many as Messina.
Not far from the town there is the site of a natural wonder which can be visited by appointment. It is a rock of Bulai Granite in one piece that is 38 hectares in size.
There are a number of interesting places to see in the Musina area. There is the Blaauberg Nature Reserve with more than 200 bird species and the world’s largest breeding colony of Cape vultures to be seen. Right along the border lies the Mapungubwe National Park, there is also the Soutpansberg Conservancy with its Baobab forests, lovely varieties of trees as well as the beautiful Lake Funduzi surrounded by mountains as well as the Ben lavin nature reserve.
It is worth making a trip there to soak up the culture of this wonderful place. The experience in itself will leave you wanting to see more and more of South Africa.