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East Rand
The East Rand is the urban eastern part of the Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation in South Africa. The region extends from Alberton in the west to Nigel in the east, and south down to Nigel. It includes the towns of Bedfordview, Benoni, Boksburg, Brakpan, Edenvale, Germiston, Kempton Park, Linksfield, Modderfontein, and Springs. The East Rand is known as the transport hub of Johannesburg and includes Africa's largest and second busiest airport OR Tambo International Airport. History This area became settled by Europeans after a gold-bearing reef was discovered in 1886 and sparked the gold rush that gave rise to the establishment of Johannesburg. The large black townships of the East Rand were the scene of heavy clashes between the African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party before the end of Apartheid. As part of the restructuring of municipalities in South Africa at the time, the local governments of the East Ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telephone Numbers In South Africa
South Africa switched to a closed numbering system effective 16 January 2007. At that time, it became mandatory to dial the full 10-digit telephone number, including the zero in the three-digit area code, for local calls (e.g., 011 must be dialed from within Johannesburg). Area codes within the system are generally organized geographically. All telephone numbers are 9 digits long (but always prefixed by 0 for calls within South Africa), except for certain Telkom special services. When dialed from another country, the "0" is omitted and replaced with the appropriate international access code and the country code +27. Background History Numbers were allocated when South Africa had only four provinces, meaning that ranges are now split across the current nine provinces. South-West Africa (including Walvis Bay) was integrated into the South African numbering plan. However, the territory had already been allocated its own country code by the International Telecommunica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linksfield, Johannesburg
Linksfield is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is a suburb lying north-east of the Johannesburg CBD and is surrounded southerly by Linksfield Ridge, easterly by Linksfield North and Bedford, St Andrews and Senderwood. Linksfield itself is located in Region E of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. On the southerly side and over the ridge are the areas of Cyrildene, Observatory and Morninghill, but these suburbs are not visible to Linksfield as they are hidden behind the Linksfield Ridge. History The suburb is located on part of an old Witwatersrand farm called ''Doornfontein''. In 1910, the area was known as ''Muller's Plantation'' and it was many years later and after several attempts, before the land was successfully surveyed. It would be proclaimed as suburb on 8 March 1922 and its name is derived from the word Links and its closeness to the nearby Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club. The suburb was developed by A.M. Kennedy and Hermann Kallen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kempton Park, Gauteng
Kempton Park is a city in the East Rand region of Gauteng province, South Africa. It is part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality. It is situated south of Tembisa, one of the largest townships in South Africa, which is also part of Ekurhuleni. South Africa's busiest airport, O. R. Tambo International Airport is located in Kempton Park. The name of the city is sometimes written as "Kemptonpark" in Afrikaans. History Kempton Park lies on what was two Boer farms in the South African Republic (ZAR). The first farm was ''Zuurfontein No 369'' with the title deed issued to Johannes Stephanus Marais on 25 October 1859 and surveyed to be 3000 morgen on 12 December 1859. The second farm northwest of the first was registered to Cornelius Johannes Beukes in March 1865 and was called ''Rietfontein 32 IR''. After the discovery of gold in Johannesburg, 22 km southwest of the farms in 1886, a railway connecting Pretoria to Vereeniging and to the Cape line was construct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Germiston
Germiston, also known as kwaDukathole, is a small city in the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa, administratively forming part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since the latter's establishment in 2000. It functions as the municipal seat of Ekurhuleni, hosting the municipal council and administration. History Germiston was established in the early days of the gold rush when two prospectors, John Jack from the farm of Germiston near Glasgow and August Simmer from Vacha in Germany, struck paydirt on the farm of ''Elandsfontein''. In August 1887, the pair were on their way to the Eastern Transvaal when they ''outspanned'' (rested their pack animals) on the farm ''Elandsfontein'' and decided to stay and buy the land. Both men made fortunes and the town sprang up 2 km from the Simmer and Jack mine named after Jack's fathers farm. In 1921, the world's largest gold refinery, the Rand Refinery, was established at Germiston. Seventy percent of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edenvale, Gauteng
Edenvale is a small city on the East Rand in Gauteng, South Africa. The greater Edenvale area has an estimated population of 70,000, including Greenstone, Harmelia, Highway Gardens, Buurendal and Croydon. Edenvale is part of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality. It lies about halfway between the O.R. Tambo International Airport and the Johannesburg city centre and is located 12 km by road from Sandton and about 9 km from the closest Gautrain station. History It started out in 1903, after the Anglo Boer War as a small settlement named Rietfontein which sprung up around the Rietfontein Gold Mine. It was made a municipality in 1942. It was initially populated by Cornish mineworkers. Suburbs of Edenvale Residential suburbs include: Clarens Park De Klerkshof Dowerglen Dunvegan Eastleigh (part residential) Edenglen Elma Park Hurlyvale Illiondale Isandovale (part residential) Marais Steyn Park Rietfontein (part of Rietfontein 61-ir) (Rietfontein 63-ir) In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brakpan
Brakpan is a mining town in the Gauteng province of South Africa. History The name Brakpan comes from a small pan on a farm called Weltevreden, which was filled with very brackish water and was probably referred to as the "brakpan," and it was near this pan that the first settlement started. In 1888, a coal seam was discovered and a coal mine under the name of Brakpan Collieries was started. When a railway line was constructed from Germiston to Springs, Brakpan became one of the stations along the route. With gold fever running high on the Witwatersrand in the early years of the twentieth century, it was not long before gold was discovered. In 1905, Brakpan Mines Company sunk its first two gold mining shafts. One of its claims to fame was that it had the highest mine dump in the world at that time, above ground level. This was higher than any of the pyramids of Egypt except the Pyramid of Cheops. From 1905 the village began to grow rapidly, remaining a suburb of Benoni until 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boksburg
Boksburg is a city on the East Rand of Gauteng province of South Africa. Gold was discovered in Boksburg in 1887. Boksburg was named after the State Secretary of the South African Republic, W. Eduard Bok. The Main Reef Road linked Boksburg to all the other major mining towns on the Witwatersrand and the Angelo Hotel (1887) was used as a staging post. Boksburg is part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, that forms the local government of most of the East Rand. The Mining Commissioner Montague White built a large dam which, empty for years, was dubbed White's Folly until a flash flood in 1889 silenced detractors. The 150,000 square metre dam is now the Boksburg Lake, and is surrounded by lawns, trees, and terraces. History Prior to 1860, the present municipal area of Boksburg and its immediate environs comprised mainly the highveld farms called Leeuwpoort, Klippoortje, Klipfontein and Driefontein. Carl Ziervogel bought the farm Leeuwpoort in 1875 and for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benoni, Gauteng
Benoni is a town in Ekurhuleni municipality, Gauteng, South Africa. Benoni was also the setting for the MTV-inspired movie ''Crazy Monkey: Straight Outta Benoni'', released internationally in 2005. People from Benoni *Urzila Carlson, New Zealand based comedian, from Benoni * R. Graham Cooks, chemist *Charlene, Princess of Monaco, (née Charlene Wittstock), swimmer, and consort of Prince Albert II of Monaco *Bryan Habana, former Springboks rugby player *Philip Holiday, IBF World Champion Boxer *Morris Kahn (born 1930), Israeli billionaire, founder and chairman of Aurec Group * Mildred Mangxola, singer and member of the Mahotella Queens * Frith van der Merwe, schoolteacher at Benoni High and the most prolific female runner in the history of the Comrades Marathon * Pops Mohamed, jazz musician * Genevieve Morton, top model *Grace Mugabe, former First Lady of Zimbabwe * Bradley Player, cricketer * Oliver Reginald Tambo, anti-apartheid politician *Charlize Theron, Oscar-winning ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bedfordview
Bedfordview is an affluent suburb in western Ekurhuleni, sharing an administrative boundary with the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, Gauteng, South Africa. Bedfordview has been part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since 2000. The Eastgate Shopping Centre, one of the biggest in Africa when first built, is also located here. History The site of Bedfordview was largely taken up by the farm ''Elandsfontein'' and was administered as part of the District of Potchefstroom in the South African Republic. The coat-of-arms of Bedfordview features an Eland holding a fountain as a tribute to the early rural history of the town. The Witwatersrand Gold Reef had a huge impact on the area. ''Elandsfontein'' was purchased for the mineral rights, and was later divided into smaller farms and small-holdings, many of which were settled by retired miners. The entire area became known as Geldenhuis Estates Smallholdings. One of these farms was owned by Sir George ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nigel, Gauteng
Nigel is a small gold mining town in Gauteng Province, South Africa, south-east of Johannesburg. The town is at the south-eastern edge of the area known as the East Rand. Background A farmer, shopkeeper and prospector, Petrus Johannes Marais, having read Sir Walter Scott's ''The Fortunes of Nigel'' at the time (see Nigel), formed the Nigel Gold Mining Company after the discovery of gold on the farm Varkensfontein in 1886. The town, which grew around the mine, still bears names derived from Scott's book and its characters with the suburb of ''Glenvarloch'' and its streets derived from that source. Today the town is focused primarily on mining and also has various heavy industries. The town became known as the setting of the popular Afrikaans-sitcom ''Vetkoekpaleis'', a sitcom that revolves around the daily lives of staff members of the Vetkoekpaleis (a Vetkoek-themed fast-food restaurant). Nigel's municipal government became part of the much larger City of Ekurhuleni Met ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Germiston, Gauteng
Germiston, also known as kwaDukathole, is a small city in the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa, administratively forming part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since the latter's establishment in 2000. It functions as the municipal seat of Ekurhuleni, hosting the municipal council and administration. History Germiston was established in the early days of the gold rush when two prospectors, John Jack from the farm of Germiston near Glasgow and August Simmer from Vacha in Germany, struck paydirt on the farm of ''Elandsfontein''. In August 1887, the pair were on their way to the Eastern Transvaal when they ''outspanned'' (rested their pack animals) on the farm ''Elandsfontein'' and decided to stay and buy the land. Both men made fortunes and the town sprang up 2 km from the Simmer and Jack mine named after Jack's fathers farm. In 1921, the world's largest gold refinery, the Rand Refinery, was established at Germiston. Seventy percent of the we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
