Messina, the most northerly town in South Africa (15km/9mi from the Zimbabwe border), is a mining town, the largest producer of copper in South Africa. The inhabitants' other main source of income is agriculture. The subtropical climate (with an average annual temperature of just under 30°C/86°F) fosters a luxuriant
vegetation and makes it possible to grow fruit and vegetables. The main agricultural activity in the surrounding area, however, is cattle-farming. The town also has some leather-working industries (tanneries, dyeworks).
An annual event in Messina is a large cattle show.
As many archaeological finds have shown, the Messina area was already inhabited by man in prehistoric times. The Europeans who moved into this area at the beginning of the 20th C found traces of earlier mining activity everywhere. They discovered that there were still incalculably large deposits of copper here, and copper-mining on a large scale started in 1905. After the completion of the road from Louis Trichardt to Messina in 1907 the town flourished as never before.