The woody and herbaceous vegetation was investigated around four rural settlements in the savanna area of the eastern Transvaal Lowveld, South Africa. At each settlement three transects radiating out from the settlement, representing a gradient from high to low disturbance, were sampled for community structure and species composition. In general, attributes of woody community structure (density, height, biomass, basal area and diversity) were negatively related to increasing disturbance. Herbaceous cover responded positively. Key words: biomass, communal, density, harvesting, richness, selection.