Phumelela Local Municipality

The Phumelela Local Municipality is a Category B municipality situated within the Thabo Mofutsanyana District in the Free State Province. It is the largest municipality in the district, making up a quarter of its geographical area.  Vrede (‘at peace') rests in the north-eastern Free State about 20km east of the N3, close to the Mpumalanga border. Vrede is surrounded by undulating Highveld hills. It is 220km from northern Johannesburg and about 30km from Cornelia on the R102 to Warden and Harrismith, on the Volksrust-Newcastle Road. It is the spine of the Drakensburg off the N3 highway from Durban to Mbombela (previously Nelspruit), and the alternative Durban to Johannesburg, and also on the main route from Johannesburg via Newcastle to the North Coast and Zululand. Travellers from down south can use it to make their way to the Kruger National Park.  Warden is a town situated on the N3 highway between Johannesburg and Durban.