Alberton is a city situated on the southern part of the

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 includ ...

of the Gauteng Province in

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 coun ...

and is situated very close to the major urban centre of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

. Alberton is described as a typical suburban community, one which is primarily residential in character, with most of its workers commuting to work in nearby suburbs or cities such as Johannesburg and

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 a ...

History

In the early 1840s, the Voortrekkers Johan Georg (Org) Meyer and Hester Catharina Elizabeth (néé Mulder) arrived in the Transvaal after moving from their home in Prince Albert, in what was then the Cape Colony. Org sourced land and selected three farms, namely Klipriviersberg, Elandsfontein and Swartkoppies. In 1856, Johannes Petrus Meyer (better known as Jan Meyer) acquired of his father's Elandsfontein farm and built a house next to the Natalspruit, close to where the civic centre stands today. In 1890, he built a new farmhouse mansion on the opposite end of the farm that was miraculously left unharmed during the Anglo Boer War of 1899–1902. The homestead can still be seen today from the bypassing N12 freeway. Jan's brother, also Johan Georg (Org) Meyer, took over the farm after Jan's death. General Hendrik Abraham Alberts, a veteran of the Anglo Boer War, purchased a part of the farm from Org in 1904 and named it Alberton. The Afrikaans medium primary school Jan Meyer was named for the original owner of the farm, and the affluent suburb Meyersdal also refers to the family whose original farmhouse mansion still stands on the land behind the Meyersdal koppie. The primary school Generaal Alberts, and Hennie Alberts Avenue in the suburb of Brackenhurst, are named after the town founder. The first official

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

was opened in 1926, and in 1938 building work started on a town hall. In the same year, street names in the Alberton North suburb were renamed after Voortrekker leaders to coincide with the 100 year commemoration of the Great Trek. A well-known landmark of the city, ABC STORE, was established in 1943 on Pieter Uys Avenue, Alberton North, and is still trading today as a general store specializing in school uniforms. Alberton was incorporated into the

City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality The City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of the East Rand region of Gauteng. The municipality itself is a large suburban region east of Johannesburg. The name ''Ekurhuleni'' m ...

governing the East Rand in the year 2000 and celebrated its centenary year in 2005.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census conducted by Statistics South Africa, Alberton had a population of 121,536; but this figure excludes the black township of Thokoza, which has a population of 105,827.

Geography

Alberton lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level on the banks of the Natal Spruit, approximately 11 km south-east of

, 59 km south of

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothi ...

and 49 km north-east of

Vereeniging Vereeniging () is a town located in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa, situated where the Klip River empties into the northern loop of the Vaal River. It is also one of the constituent parts of the Vaal Triangle region and was formerly s ...

. Organisationally and administratively, it is included in the

. Alberton is bordered by the city of

to the north-east, the townships of Thokoza and

Katlehong Katlehong is a large township in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. It is 28 km south-east of Johannesburg and south of Germiston between two other townships of Thokoza and Vosloorus next to the N3 highway. It forms part of the City of ...

to the east, and the city of

to the west and north-west.

Cityscape

The city's initial centre of development was in the area now known as Alberton North or 'Old' Alberton. The original black settlement in Alberton was in the area of the Alberton Dam. During the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

era, inhabitants were moved to the surrounding black townships and a 'white' suburb was established around the dam and named Verwoerdpark, after former prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd. Over the years, development sprawled out into adjacent areas, and today Alberton is made up of 19

suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separa ...

stretching over an area of 77 km². The city, as per South African in whole, is no longer segregated although surrounding black townships (which are now also not exclusively black) still remain.

Suburbs

* Alberante * Albertsdal * Alberton North * Alrode * Brackendowns * Brackenhurst * Eden Park * Florentia * General Albertspark * Mayberry Park * Meyersdal * New Redruth * Newmarket Park * Palm Ridge * Raceview * Randhart * South Crest * Sky City * Thokoza * Verwoerdpark Alrode, which is Alberton's industrial suburb, was established in 1943. One of the most notable industries to be established in the town during this time was CJ Fuchs (Pty) Ltd. Venturing into the production of domestic electrical appliances under licence from the American company Westing House Electric International, the business was relocated from central Johannesburg to a newly built, modern factory in Alrode in 1948. Until the mid-seventies, CJ Fuchs (Pty) Ltd would continue to grow into a multi-million Rand operation, employing thousands of people in several subsidiary companies within the group. After Carl Fuchs' death in April 1976, the company was sold to the then Barlow Rand. In 1973, he was also the first to be admitted as a Freeman of the Town of Alberton. The construction of the Alberton Boulevard was a major development started in the late 1980s with the aim of converting a section of Voortrekker Road that runs past the Alberton City Shopping Mall into a pedestrian-friendly zone.

Transport

The city has multiple access roads to all major freeways in the Gauteng Province such as the R59, N12, N17 and N3. The R59 ''Sybrand van Niekerk Freeway'' is the main highway running through Alberton, separating its western suburbs of Brackenhurst, Brackendowns and Meyersdal from the rest of the city. The regional highway links Alberton to

Sasolburg Sasolburg is a large industrial city within the Metsimaholo Local Municipality in the far north of the Free State province of South Africa. Sasolburg is further sub-divided into three areas: Sasolburg proper, Vaalpark (a more affluent cluster o ...

and

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape To ...

(via the N1) to the south-west, and

and the N12 Freeway at the Reading Interchange to the north-west. The N12 ''Southern Bypass Freeway'' runs north of Alberton and links the city to Kimberley to the south-west and Benoni and

eMalahleni Witbank (), officially Emalahleni, is a city situated on the Highveld of Mpumalanga, South Africa, within the Emalahleni Local Municipality. The name Witbank is Afrikaans for "white ridge", and is named after a white sandstone outcrop where wag ...

to the north-east. The N17 Freeway runs north-east of Alberton and links the city to Springs to the north-east and the N3 Freeway partially borders Alberton to the west at its eastern suburb of Verwoerdpark and links the city to Johannesburg in the north-west and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

and

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

in the south-east. The other arterial routes include the regional route of the R554 ''Swartkoppies Road'' to Brakpan and Springs to the north-east and

Lenasia Lenasia, often called Lenz, is a Suburbs of Johannesburg, suburb south of Soweto in the Gauteng Province, Gauteng province, South Africa, originally created to house Indian South Africans, Indians. It is part of the City of Johannesburg Metropo ...

to the west and the metropolitan routes of the M7 ''Kliprivier Drive'' to Johannesburg in the north-west, the M31 ''Voortrekker Road'' to Johannesburg in the north-west, the M48 Van Riebeeck Avenue to Gosforth Park,

in the north, the M61 ''Vereeniging Road'' to

in the south-west, the M94 ''Kritzinger Road/Grey Avenue'' to Germiston in the north-west, and the M95 Nelson Mandela Avenue to Glenvista, Johannesburg South in the west.

Sports

There are many well-established

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

s facilities and clubs for tennis, rugby, road running, boxing, wrestling, cricket, jukskei, netball, hockey, soccer, bowls, korfball and ring tennis in Alberton. It is also home to the Reading Country Club and Golf Course. Alberton was also home to the now defunct New Market Race Course, which is now a shopping mall.

Parks and greenspace

Alberton borders on the

Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve is a nature reserve consisting of veld and koppies (hills) run by the Johannesburg City Parks. It is located south of Johannesburg, in an area of . Home to many species of flora and bird life, it is also home t ...

, located on Peggy Vera Road, Kibler Park, Gauteng (26°18′13″S 28°0′39″E). This reserve is home to many wild animals, including zebra, red hartebeest,

porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family, Erethiz ...

black wildebeest The black wildebeest or white-tailed gnu (''Connochaetes gnou'') is one of the two closely related wildebeest species. It is a member of the genus '' Connochaetes'' and family Bovidae. It was first described in 1780 by Eberhard August Wilhelm ...

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes we ...

blesbok The blesbok or blesbuck (''Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi'') is a subspecies of the bontebok antelope endemic to South Africa, Eswatini and Namibia. It has a distinctive white face and forehead which inspired the name, because ''bles'' is the Afri ...

, springbok,

duiker A duiker is a small to medium-sized brown antelope native to sub-Saharan Africa, found in heavily wooded areas. The 22 extant species, including three sometimes considered to be subspecies of the other species, form the subfamily Cephalophinae ...

and 170 bird species. There are also

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

settlements dating from about 1500 and the ruins of a house built in 1850 by voortrekker Sarel Marais. File:Entrance to Klipriviersberg Reserve.jpg File:Yellow Mongoose Klipriviersberg Johannesburg.jpg File:Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve.jpg File:Transvaal Girdled Lizard, Klipriviersberg, Johannesburg, South Africa.JPG File:Gymnosporia buxifolia00.jpg File:Black Wildebeest 2.jpg

Infrastructure

Health

Healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health pro ...

facilities include numerous government clinics as well the privately run Netcare Alberton hospital, formerly the Union Hospital and Clinton Clinic respectively.

Notable residents (past and present)

* Trevor Noah (Comedian) *

Japie Mulder Jacobus Cornelius 'Japie' Mulder (born 18 October 1969), is a former South African rugby union player who played for South Africa between 1994 and 2001. He is now an employee of the telecommunications infrastructure company, Dark Fibre Africa ...

(Springbok rugby player) * Arnold Vosloo (Actor) * Carl Niehaus (Politician) *

Andrew Hall Andrew James Hall (born 31 July 1975) is a former South African first-class cricketer who played from 1999 until 2011. He played as an all-rounder who bowled fast-medium pace and has been used as both an opening batsman and in the lower order. ...

(Protea cricketer) *

André Pretorius André Stefan Pretorius (born 29 December 1978 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a former South African rugby union footballer that played professionally between 1999 and 2014. His usual position was at fly-half. He has been capped by his ...

(Springbok rugby player) *

Bernadette Coston Bernadette Coston (born 17 August 1989, Johannesburg) is a South African field hockey player. At the 2012 Summer Olympics she competed with the South Africa women's national field hockey team in the women's tournament. She was also part of the ...

(Protea and Olympian hockey player) * Malcolm Marx (Springbok rugby player) *

Ruan Combrinck Ruan Jacobus Combrinck (born 10 May 1990) is a South African rugby union player. He plays mostly as a wing. He plays for in the Top14 in France. He previously played for the in Super Rugby, the and domestically and Kintetsu Liners in the J ...

(Springbok rugby player) * Gert van der Merwe (Paralympic athlete) * Marais Viljoen (State President of South Africa)

Gallery

File:Alberton Civic Centre.JPG, Civic Centre looking west File:Alberton Service Delivery Centre.JPG, Civic Centre from Alberton City rooftop File:Alberton Post Office.JPG, Alberton main post office File:Alberton City Entrance.JPG, Alberton City shopping centre circa 2010 File:Town Hall Alberton.JPG, Old town hall File:Alberton Bus Station 1977.jpg, Bus Station circa 1977 File:Royal York Building Alberton.JPG, Royal York high-rise File:Dutch Reformed Church Alberton.JPG, Dutch Reformed Church (Eeufeeskerk) File:The Blue Mill.JPG, The Blue Mill File:Natal Spruit.JPG, Banks of the Natalspruit File:Sybrand Van Niekerk R59 N12 - panoramio.jpg, Reading interchange at R59 Sybrand van Niekerk/Southern Bypass File:Alberton Rugby Stadium, 2018.jpg, Alberton rugby stadium, 2018

References

External links

Alberton web site

Alberton Blogging and Community web siteAlberton Online Community Forum and Business DirectoryAlberton moving company
{{Authority control East Rand Populated places in Ekurhuleni