Mulbarton is tucked in amid the other southern suburbs of Glenvista, Bassonia, and Meyersdal, bordering the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve, in the south of Johannesburg, just east of Alberton.
Although the roads weren’t paved until 1979, Mulbarton is a relatively new suburb, appearing according to all accounts around the middle of the 1970s, making it one of Johannesburg’s most rural neighbourhoods up until recently. The Panorama drive-in, which is still present even if the screen has been removed and it is now the site of a well-known flea market, will be remembered by those who have lived in this area for a long enough time. It was the only place to see movies during those years.
Mulbarton, Johannesburg has excellent access to Roodepoort, Germiston, and Boksburg. In particular, the city centre of Johannesburg is easily accessible and is a great place to explore the Nelson Mandela Bridge, the Market Theatre in Newtown, the SAB World of Beer, the Apartheid Museum, and Gold Reef City.
If taking a tour of Soweto is high on your list of priorities, this is also an excellent place to stay. A large “city within a city” with informal settlements coexisting with wealthy suburbs, Mandela House, Kliptown, the Hector Peterson Memorial and a few much-needed shebeens stops is located just west of Mulbarton.
Weekend activities include sundowner cruises along the Vaal River, golfing at the Glen Vista Country Club, visiting Heidelberg, Sasolburg, and Vereeniging, taking a break at the Emerald Casino Resort, bird watching at the Marievale Bird Sanctuary just outside Nigel, which is a RAMSAR site and an important wetland, and hiking in the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, which is a stunning combination of ridges, plains, and kloofs not.