Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the permanent settlement of Europeans in the middle lowveld of the Transvaal started under the leadership of the Zuid Afrikaanse Republic.

The name Letaba was named after the Great and Klein Letaba rivers as the area is located between the two rivers.

Traditional communities e.g. the Balobedu, the Makgobas, the Pheehas, the Phookos, the Raphahlelos, the Letsoalos, and the Bakgaga ba Maupa had settled in the area for centuries.