Mankweng or Turfloop is also the de facto name for the neighbourhoods surrounding the township and the university, though relatively small to the likes of Grahamstown.

Mankweng developed in the 1960s when the University-College of the North was established by the apartheid regime in pursuit of its policy of racially segregated education.

[4] Mankweng as a community is very dynamic, and draws skilled professionals into the area because the area houses a leading regional hospital, Mankweng Campus Hospital, a university (in the form of University of Limpopo), a regional Magistrate court, and a public library.

In recent times, the area has been growing rapidly with local residents next to the University converting their homes into rental space in order to house the growing population of students from many parts of the country, with some coming from as far as East and North Africa.

The R71 which is the main road to Mankweng and Tzaneen has thousands of vehicles driving on it daily, and congestion usually is seen in the morning and afternoons.