With neighbouring cities Vereeniging and Sasolburg, it forms the Vaal Triangle, historically a major industrial region of South Africa.

The peri-urban black townships Boipatong, Muvango, Bophelong, Sebokeng, Evaton, Tshepiso and Sharpeville are close to the city.

[3] The town attained municipal status on 29 October 1952 when Governor General Dr EG Jansen opened ISCOR's second steel works.

[3]: 302  The founder of the town, Hendrik van der Bijl, had his old house situated in Grieg street, in the affluent SW5 proper suburb.

Investigations of late 2019 led to findings that R800 million was stolen by the mayor of the town within a short period of 8 months[citation needed].

Post-2020 pandemic Vanderbijlpark has proven to serve as a slow but optimistic "reset button" on the Vaal's local economy.

The post-2015 buyers market was capitalized on by many wealthy developers and local businesses that remain patriotic Vaaltonians, and still, continue to fight for the restoration of the town's former glory.

Challenges for investors buying up commercial properties still remain as they are faced with some of the highest land taxes in the country, yet with the lowest value for the expense to local government.

Making Vanderbijlpark investments a bit of a rich man's game, considering how much these property owners also spend on initiatives to take maintenance of infrastructure into their own hands.

The area is often also referred to as the "billionaires bend" as it houses some of the most expensive homes in Africa, ranging from R100 million upwards for a single property.

Helicopter sights are frequent as the wealthy property owners on Marlbank fly in and out from the city of Johannesburg 80km North of Vanderbijlpark.

[8] Vanderbijlpark has major influences of Dutch, French, German, and Italian architecture, due to the settlement of foreigners during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

[8] The town center also consists of many old buildings also showcasing the beautiful homes built during the late 1800s and early 1900s, some have fallen into dramatic decay over the years.

It caters for full-time and part-time studies for students as well as corporate training and consulting services for businesses and government departments.