White River (Afrikaans: Witrivier) is a small holiday and farming town situated just north of Mbombela in Mpumalanga, South Africa.

The first year round settlement in the White River area was an isolated farm only in 1873 by Bill Sanderson a Scottish gold prospector, hunter and trader.

Initially, the colonial administration provided settlers with farming equipment and a weekly salary until they began to make an income from their tobacco, citrus, maize and other vegetable crops.

[6][13] In 1968, the Bantu Affairs Department forcibly removed 3000 people from the White River location to a newly established township at Ngodini.

[14] It is a popular holiday destination for those looking to visit the Crocodile River Valley, Panorama and Lowveld Legogote Tourism Routes and the Kruger National Park.

Once a mango plantation, the centre now has a cinema, a vintage motor museum and restaurants and hosts art exhibitions, plays and concerts.

[15] White River is in the Mbombela A Municipal Zone, falling under Ward 30 and is governed by the Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa's official opposition party.

After a 26 km canal to channel water from the river was built, new farmers planted fruit trees and established new cultivation methods.

The area is especially prone to frost, veld fires and droughts that pose food production threats and economic risks to farmers.

[18] As of 2016, Mbombela, the municipality that White River falls under, had a housing backlog of 34 000 units, impacting low income families especially hard.

This, combined with the economic opportunities and employment, mainly in White River and Mbombela mean that informal settlements around Rocky Drift (Msholozi and Phumlani) and other nearby areas have been established in recent years.