| Madimbo Corridor | |
| Pushpin Map: | South Africa#Africa |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  South Africa |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Limpopo |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Vhembe |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | Musina |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Established Date: | 1969 |
| Unit Pref: | metric |
| Area Total Ha: | 45000 |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Timezone1: | SAST |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
The Madimbo Corridor, is a northern military base in the Limpopo Province that borders Zimbabwe in South Africa, and is contiguous with the Matshakatini Nature Reserve.[2] It is controlled by the South African National Defence Force and used as a military training zone[3] and a cordon sanitaire.[4]
In the 19th century, local residents began to encounter other groups of people in Africa, mainly commercial hunters. For a time, the hunters and settlers were able to coexist through trades of ivory and skin. However, these relations began to deteriorate with the increase of sport hunting and the introduction of land policies in the late 1890s.
Beginning in 1871, colonists selled land to cattle farmers as a means to expand their control of the area.
In 1969, The base was established after the forced removal of villages in the area.[5] During this time, the base served under the South African Defence Force as one of the country's protective barriers from attacks in neighboring countries.[6] Additionally, in 1992, the corridor established the Matshakatini Nature Reserve, sharing borders with the area.
Beginning in 1994, at the end of South Africa's apartheid government, actions were taken to move relocated villages back to the corridor.
The Madimbo Corridor experiences an arid to semi-arid climate, with extended dry seasons and shorter wet periods. Its annual maximum temperatures range from 38.1C to 44C.[7] Its annual rainfall averages to 450mm per year, with maximum precipitation of 460mm annually.[8]
The Madimbo Corridor uses a semi-arid irrigation scheme.[9]
"The northernmost section of the municipality comprises the Madimbo corridor (or Matshakatini Nature Reserve), incorporating approximately 45 000 hectares of land."
"In 1969, local villages along the Limpopo River were forcibly moved to make way for the military occupation of a strip of land in the northernmost part of South Africa."
"By the 1970s, the Madimbo corridor and Pafuri triangle were cleared of people with Pafuri being incorporated into the KNP and the corridor occupied by the then South Africa Defence Force (SADF)."
"The annual maximum temperatures in Madimbo Corridor ranged from 38.1 °C to as high as 44.0 °C."
"The Madimbo Corridor could be described as an arid low rainfall area with a maximum of 460mmpa."