Mac-Mac is a historical area in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, and the site of the country's earliest gold rush. It is located near the town of Sabie, 5 km from Pilgrim's Rest.[1]
While a number of small gold deposits had been discovered in the northern parts of South Africa between 1840 and 1870, Mac-Mac was the first place where payable quantities of gold were found.[1] In 1873 gold was discovered on the farm Geelhoutboom. President Burgers officially named the area the New Caledonian Gold Fields,[1] but it became known as Mac-Mac because of the amount of Scottish diggers at the camp.[2] Within one year, 1,500 diggers made 4,000 claims.[3]
The nearby Mac Mac twin falls, originally a single stream, acquired their current appearance when gold miners blasted the stream to reach the gold-bearing reef over which it drops.[4]
In the late 1990s the old forestry station and forester houses were used to start the Mac Mac Forest Retreat.[2]