Molteno (/mɒlˈtiːnoʊ/ mol-TEE-noh; Xhosa: eMolteno [emolˈtɛːno]) is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

High in the Stormberg Mountains, Molteno has recorded South Africa's coldest temperatures at the famous Buffelsfontein weather station and it is close to the country's only ski resort.

At its founding, the town was officially named after an immigrant John Molteno, who had been born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family.

[8][9] Soon after its founding, the town became the major supplier of coal to the region, with a large portion going to supply the diamond fields in Kimberley.

[11] In 1887, the newly founded Molteno Chamber of Commerce was influential in urging the Cape Government to extend its railway system northwards into the Boer republics, so as to open up new markets.

[13] During the Second Boer War, Molteno was used as a mustering point for troops prior to the famous Battle of Stormberg, as it was the closest railway station.

[14] In the 20th century, growing oppression by the Apartheid government was met by resistance that manifested in the town as protests and battles between Molteno residents and police.

When the Group Areas Act was enforced across South Africa in the 1960s, the mixed neighbourhoods in Molteno were destroyed and the entire town was divided.

Resistance came to a head on 12 August 1985, when local residents and students confronted the Apartheid police in the area around the town's Ethiopian Church.

[15][16] Since liberation in 1993, the town has begun the task of reuniting its communities and reversing the damage it has sustained from decades of segregation and oppression.

[17] Although hot and arid in summer, in winter Molteno is the coldest town in South Africa, being located near the highest point in the Cape in the heart of the Stormberg Mountains.

It contains a range of artifacts, from Stone-Age tools to Khoisan, Xhosa and Voortrekker relics including a large collection of vintage guns.

The area around the town offers ample opportunity to view rock paintings, fossils and Stone Age tools uncovered in caves and diggings close to Molteno.

[30] The rocks preserve a record of gradual desertification over millions of years, starting from the Upper Triassic when the area was a warm swampland, and continuing into the late Jurassic when the region had become a desert.