[7] Commercial farming, which consists of pine and bluegum plantations, tobacco, cotton, sub-tropical fruits and vegetables, is practised in the municipality's countryside.

Mapulaneng proper stretches from the Eswatini border to Ermelo in the south, Olifants River (Lepelle) in the north, Lebombo Mountains in the east and also includes the whole town of Hazyview, Nelspruit, Sabie, Graskop, Hoedspruit, Barberton, Lydenburg and Dullstroom in the west.

Mapulana are descendants of Morolong and their origin can be traced back to Kgalagadi before they settled in Thaba Chueu, in what is today eastern Lesotho and Shakwaneng (Carolina) in the 1500s.

Mapulana successfully defended the area from Swazi armies who they annihilated at the battle of Moholoholo in December 1864.

The citizens of Bushbuckridge were unhappy with this arrangement, and became embroiled in a dispute with the government, demanding inclusion of the area in Mpumalanga province.

In the election of 1 November 2021 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of fifty-three seats on the council.