Wikipedia
Malamulele can refer to the town of Malamulele or the area of Malamulele. Both the town (approximately in the center of the area) and area are in the Limpopo province of South Africa and predominantly occupied by Tsonga people. Malamulele is flanked by two rivers, Levubu River (Rivhubye) to the west and Letaba River to the east, meanwhile the Shingwedzi River runs from Malamulele West to Malamulele East, joining the Limpopo River in Mozambique on its way to the Indian Ocean.
There are between 100 and 120 villages in the Malamulele area, with an approximate population of half a million. According to official Stats SA census 2011 results, some 82 Malamulele villages (excluding the township), were home to 206,646 people. In 2001, Thulamela calculated the population according to some 16 main areas (again, excluding the township), supposedly representing the number of independent chiefs, which add up to 199,807 inhabitants.
The Malamulele Area is situated between Giyani on the east, starting at Letaba river, and Thohoyandou on the north-west, starting at Rivhubye river. To the west of Malamulele Area is Waterval, famous for the Elim Hospital. The Malamulele Area is in the process of obtaining its own independent municipality separate from Thulamela but still under the Vhembe District Municipality.
To the north-east of Malamulele Town is the Kruger National Park, where it is located 63 km away from the Punda Maria gate, 72 km from the Punda Maria Rest Camp, 99 km from the Shingwedzi Rest Camp, 108 km from the Pafuri Rest Camp and 135 km from the Mopani Rest Camp. Malamulele Town is 243 km away from Polokwane (the capital of Limpopo Province), 453 km away from Pretoria and 508 km from Johannesburg.
The shortest straight-line distance from Malamulele Town to the Zimbabwe border is about 60 km, 60 km to the Mozambique border and almost 300 km to the Swaziland border. Its proximity to Zimbabwe and Mozambique makes Malamulele one of the northern-most towns in South Africa.