The town name was changed to Mokopane in 2003 in honour of a local Ma Nrebele leader, King Mghombane Gheghana, who ruled the area before being conquered by the Voortrekkers.

Two hours from Gauteng by road, the town acts as a getaway destination and as a stop-over for travelers "en route" to Botswana, Zimbabwe and Kruger National Park.

The area is typical bushveld with many Vachellia and Senegalia trees (formerly part of the acacia genus) as well as aloes, which blooms in June and July.

In 1852, Mokopane was called Vredenburg,[3] which means "the town of peace" thus named by the Voortrekkers, a pioneering group of Boers who had trekked north-eastward from the Cape Colony in the 19th century into South Africa's interior.

As the years progressed, many factors, such as malaria and hostility between the Voortrekkers and the Ndebele people, caused the trekkers to abandon the Potgieterus settlement in 1870.

The Arend Dieperink Museum portrays the history of the town, from the ape-man at Makapansgat, Bushmen paintings and early activities in the area up to the South African War and more recent times.

[5] The stunning bushveld environment and influences from North Sotho, Ndebele, Tsonga, Afrikaans, and English cultures give Mokopane a unique character.