Sandton is a financial, commercial and residential area, located in the northern part of the

City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality () is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. It is divided into several branches and departments in order to expedite se ...

. Formerly an independent municipality, Sandton's name came from the combination of two of its suburbs,

Sandown Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, England. The neighbouring resort of Shanklin and the settlement of Lake, Isle of Wight, Lake are sited just to the south of t ...

and Bryanston.

History

Early settlers

Archaeological findings suggest the area which Sandton comprises today, had originally been occupied by various indigenous groups, before European settlement, most notably the

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu languages, Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Tswanaland, ...

and, to a lesser extent,

Sotho people The Sotho (), also known as the Basotho (), are a Sotho-Tswana peoples, Sotho-Tswana ethnic group indigenous to Southern Africa. They primarily inhabit the regions of Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. The ancestors of the Sotho peo ...

. The old

people often refer to Sandton as "Ga Lowe" which in the language of Setswana means the place of origin. The remains of an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

smelter was discovered in Lone Hill, a suburb of northern Sandton. One of the first

Voortrekker The Great Trek (, ) was a northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyond the Cape's British colonial adminis ...

parties to settle in the area were the Esterhuysen family on the farm Zandfontein (

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

and Dutch for ''Sandy Spring'' or ''Sand Fountain''). A monument to commemorate them may be found just off Adrienne Street in

where the family cemetery is located. Zandfontein, Driefontein (Afrikaans and Dutch for ''Three Springs/Fountains'') and Rietfontein (Afrikaans and Dutch for ''Reed Spring'' or ''Fountain of Reeds'') encumbered what was to become Sandton. The municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of Sandton pays homage to the three farms with three round fountain barrels on its chevron. In the late 19th-century the Wilhelmi family of

Hannover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, Germany acquired the farm Driefontein No. 3 while Rietfontein was owned by the Ehler family. The original Driefontein homestead, now within the confines of the Field & Study Centre, was looted during the

Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

. The ruins are visible on the northern bank of the Klein Jukskei River. The Wilhemi family, upon return from Germany built the 'new' 1906 Driefontein Farmhouse on what is present-day Fifteenth Street, Parkmore cum Riverclub. The farmhouse served as the icon and headquarters for the now defunct Sandton Historical Foundation and is listed as a

City of Johannesburg The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality () is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. It is divided into several branches and departments in order to expedite se ...

Owned Heritage Site.

1960s and 1970s

Sandton was established as a separate municipality in 1969 by the office of the Administrator of the Transvaal. It had formerly not formed part of Johannesburg but was managed, in part by its administrators and

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

through the North Eastern Peri-Urban Land administration. Initially, it was very much a residential area consisting mostly of small holdings with a rural equestrian lifestyle attracting many of the upper-middle classes and Johannesburg elites. Prior to the 1960s a stream was located at the site of present day Katherine Street. The

Rivonia Trial The Rivonia Trial was a trial that took place in apartheid-era South Africa between 9 October 1963 and 12 June 1964, after a group of anti-apartheid activists were arrested on Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia. The farm had been the secret location f ...

derives its name from the Liliesleaf Farm precinct situated in the Sandton suburb where many of the Black freedom fighters such as

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

were captured by the South African state and subsequently tried for treason. Rivonia had previously been known as Edenburg and was changed to make itself distinct from Edenburg, Free State. It was named for the surname Riven. Sandton and its constituencies were traditionally relatively more liberal than surrounds. For example, the motion which never materialised by residents in favour for the inclusion of

Alexandra, Gauteng Alexandra, informally abbreviated to Alex, is a township in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and is located next to the wealthy suburb of Sandton. Alexandra is bounded by ...

then a demarcated black township in terms of the

Group Areas Act Group Areas Act was the title of three acts of the Parliament of South Africa enacted under the apartheid government of South Africa. The acts assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a syste ...

, into Sandton's jurisdiction proved troublesome for the National Party government which had a strong constituency in the adjacent town of

Randburg Randburg is an area located in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Formerly a separate municipality, its administration devolved to the newly created City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, along with neighbouring Sandton and Roodepoort ...

1980s and 1990s

The construction of

Sandton City Sandton City is a large shopping centre situated in Sandton, Gauteng, South Africa. It was built and owned by property development company Rapp and Maister, in partnership with brothers Hilliard and Eli Leibowitz, and was later taken over ...

by Rapp & Maister (which was eventually taken over by the Liberty Group which still retains 75% of the complex) marked a significant change for the Sandton area. It created rapid commercialisation and industrialisation. Sandton came to symbolise the

White Flight The white flight, also known as white exodus, is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the Racism ...

movement of Johannesburg and secured itself as Johannesburg's second

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

. After the demise of

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

, by 1996, Sandton initially formed part of the interim Eastern Metropolitan Substructure, and in 2000 came to be included, along with the former towns of

and

Roodepoort Roodepoort ( ) is a city in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Formerly an independent municipality, Roodepoort became part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, Johannesburg municipality in the late 1990s, along with Randburg ...

, as part of the newly demarcated

thus losing its separate municipal government and town status. Despite this, Sandton is still unofficially regarded as a distinct region of the city and operates as a macro-suburb.

Role in 21st century Johannesburg

Financial and business centre

Urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban decay. ...

in downtown Johannesburg caused many corporate offices to move from the Johannesburg Central Business District to Sandton in the 1990s. It has become the new financial district of South Africa and Johannesburg's premier business centre. Much of the financial focus of Johannesburg has shifted from the Central Business District to Sandton. However, three of South Africa's four largest banks have kept their head offices in downtown Johannesburg. The other bank,

Nedbank Nedbank Group is a financial services group in South Africa offering wholesale and retail banking services as well as insurance, asset management, and wealth management. Nedbank Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nedbank Group. Headquarter ...

, has its headquarters in Sandton. A considerable amount of the city's A-grade office space is to be found in Sandton. The

JSE Securities Exchange JSE Limited (previously the JSE Securities Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange) is the largest stock exchange in Africa. It is located in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, after it moved from downtown Johannesburg in 2000. In 2003 ...

, Johannesburg's stock exchange, relocated its offices to Sandton from the central business district in the late 1990s. Sandton is home to the Sandton Convention Centre, one of the largest convention centres on the continent and primary site of the 2002

World Summit on Sustainable Development The World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, took place in South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002. It was convened to discuss sustainable development organizations, 10 years after the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. (It was t ...

(also known as "Rio + 10"), which Johannesburg hosted. The convention centre also hosted the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

' victory celebrations after the party was re-elected at the 2004 election. When it comes to green buildings in Africa, Sandton is an epicentre. One of the highest rated green buildings in South Africa – rated by Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) – is Upper Grayston Office Park, located in Sandton.

Tourism and retail hub

One of the main attractions in Sandton is

, which ranks among the largest shopping centres in Africa. The completion of this precinct by the Liberty Group was the catalyst for the subsequent development of this entire area. Together with

Nelson Mandela Square Nelson Mandela Square is a shopping centre in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa. It includes a large open area built to resemble a traditional European town square, and an office complex. The centre was formerly known as Sandton Square and w ...

, the centre, with some 144,000 m² of shopping space, is one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. Much of Johannesburg's business tourism is centred on Sandton, which has various 5-star hotels under the Southern Sun, Hilton, Radisson and Protea brands. Liberty Group announced in 2008 that Sandton City will receive a R 1.77-billion upgrade.

, formerly known as Sandton Square, was renamed in March 2004, after the unveiling of a 6-metre bronze statue of the former South African president.

Liliesleaf Farm Liliesleaf Farm, also spelt Lilliesleaf and also known simply as Liliesleaf, is a location in northern Johannesburg, South Africa, which is most noted for its use as a safe house for African National Congress (ANC) activists during the apartheid ...

, where

lived in the early 1960s and where many leading political activists were arrested in 1963 and tried as part of the now infamous

, is just north of Nelson Mandela Square, close to the N1 Highway, off Rivonia Road. Discovery Holdings has, in 2018, completed a large new head office along with shopping mall in the area. SandtonGP-MaudeStreet

A 55-floor mixed use building, The Leonardo, become the tallest building in all of Africa at the time following its completion in 2018, but has since been replaced by other taller buildings.

Sandton Central Management District

The central business area of Sandton is divided into three City Improvement Districts, which have a unified identity called the Sandton Central Management District, branded as ''Sandton Central''. This district is responsible, using additional funds levied on its behalf by the municipality, for the provision of additional services. The Sandton Central Management district provides additional cleaning, law enforcement, beautification and planning services to the area it services.

Geography

Sandton is located approximately 16 kilometres north of the Johannesburg CBD, bordered by

Midrand Midrand is a town in central Gauteng, South Africa. It is situated in-between Centurion, Gauteng, Centurion and Sandton. Formerly an independent municipality, Midrand now forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. History ...

to the north,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

to the south,

to the west and

Alexandra Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymology, Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; genitive, GEN , ; ...

to the east.

Transport

Gautrain

Sandton houses the flagship station of the

Gautrain Gautrain is an Higher-speed rail, higher-speed Express train, express commuter rail system in Gauteng, South Africa, which links Johannesburg, Pretoria, Kempton Park, Gauteng, Kempton Park and O. R. Tambo International Airport. It takes 15 minu ...

rapid rail link. The station is located on the corner of West Street and Rivonia Road. The system has direct connections to

OR Tambo International Airport O. R. Tambo International Airport is an international airport serving the twin cities of Johannesburg and the main capital of South Africa, Pretoria. It is situated in Kempton Park, Gauteng. It serves as the primary airport for domestic and ...

and an inter-city commuter service from

through Rosebank to Johannesburg Park Station Sandton's associated Gaubus network comprises direct routes to Fourways, Gallo Manor,

and

Rivonia Rivonia is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa in the Sandton area. It is located in Region E of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Rivonia is one of the most affluent residential and business suburbs of Johannesburg, and r ...

. People can also connect busses and travel to many parts of

Centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (PMI, now separate from Altria) in most global territories outside the ...

Parktown Parktown is a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, and is the first suburb north of the inner city (both chronologically and geographically). It is affectionately known as one of the Parks, others including Parkview, Gauteng, Parkview, Pa ...

, Rosebank and

using the service.

Roads

The main freeway to get in to the city is the M1 freeway through the M60 at Marlboro Drive, the M40 at Grayston Drive and the M30 at Corlett Drive. The N1 freeway ( Western Bypass) passes through the northern part of Sandton, with off-ramps at the M9 (Rivonia Road) & R511/ M81 (Winnie Mandela Drive). One can use the M9, M27, M71, M75 and M85 metropolitan routes.

Education

The main campus of the '' Lycée Jules Verne'', a French international school, is in Sandton.Contact and access map
." '' Lycée Jules Verne''. Retrieved on 18 January 2015. "Lycée Français Jules Verne, Corner Bauhinia and Cestrum, Morningside Ext 40" and "Ecole Miriam Makeba 816 - 818 George Avenue Corner George & Eastwood, Eastwood – Arcadia, Pretoria" Sandton used to be home of the former

Bond University Bond University is Australia's first private university, private not-for-profit university and is located in Robina, Queensland, Robina on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Since its opening on 15 May 1989, Bond University has primarily been a teachi ...

South Africa. Sandton also houses many primary to high schools including: * Brescia House School * Bryandale Primary School * Bryanston High School * Bryanston Primary School * Bryneven Primary School * Buccleuch Primary School * Crawford College, Sandton * Grayston Preparatory School * Hyde Park High School * King David School Sandton * Montrose Primary School * Redhill School * Rivonia Primary School * Sandown High School * Sandton Junior School * Sandton Primary School * St David's Marist, Inanda * St. Peters College * St Stithians College * Wendywood Primary School * Wendywood High School * Amedeo College * Qurtuba Islamic Academy

Notable people

* Sir Donald Gordon *

Jani Allan Jani Allan (11 September 1952 – 25 July 2023) was a South African journalist, columnist, writer, broadcaster, and media personality. In 1980, Allan became a columnist for a centrist newspaper, the ''Sunday Times'', South Africa's most widel ...

* Leka, Crown Prince of Albania * Daniella Pellegrini * Sibs Shongwe-La Mer * Amor Vittone, singer

References

External links

*
Sandton Central Management District

Sandton Gautrain station
{{Authority control Johannesburg Region E Shopping districts and streets in South Africa Financial districts 1969 establishments in South Africa Central business districts in South Africa