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Witwatersrand Gold Rush
The Witwatersrand Gold Rush was a gold rush that began in 1886 and led to the establishment of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was a part of the Mineral Revolution. Origins In the modern-day province of Mpumalanga, gold miners in the alluvial mines of Barberton and Pilgrim's Rest and local tribes had suspected the existence of gold deposits. In 1886, gold was found in the Witwatersrand region. Scientific studies show that the "Golden Arc", which stretches from Johannesburg to Welkom, used to be a massive inland lake, and silt and gold deposits from alluvial gold settled in the area that formed the found gold. Discovery The first discovery of gold in the region was made in 1852 on the Pardekraal farm, Krugersdorp, in the South African Republic (ZAR) by John Henry Davis, a Welsh mineralogist. Davis presented his gold find to President Andries Pretorius who feared what would happen to the new republic if the discovery became widely known. Davis was told to sell the gold, wort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witwatersrand Basin
The Witwatersrand (, ; ; locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which account for the name Witwatersrand, meaning 'white water ridge' in Afrikaans.Truswell, J.F. (1977). ''The Geological Evolution of South Africa''. pp. 21, 27–28, 33–36. Cape Town: Purnell. This east-west-running scarp can be traced with only one short gap, from Bedfordview (about west of O.R. Tambo International Airport) in the east, through Johannesburg and Roodepoort, to Krugersdorp in the west (see the diagram at left below).Norman, N.; Whitfield, G. (2006) ''Geological Journeys''. pp. 38–49, 60–61. Cape Town: Struik Publishers. The scarp forms the northern edge of a plateau (or ridge) which rises about above the surrounding plains of the Highveld. A number of picturesque Johannesburg suburbs, including Observatory, Li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Krugersdorp
Krugersdorp (Afrikaans for ''Kruger's Town'') is a mining city in the West Rand, Gauteng Province, South Africa founded in 1887 by Marthinus Pretorius and Abner Cohen. Following the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, a need arose for a major town in the west of the reef. The government bought part of the Paardekraal farm and named the new town after the Transvaal president, Paul Kruger. Krugersdorp no longer has a separate municipal government after it was integrated into Mogale City Local Municipality along with surrounding towns. It is now the seat of government for Mogale City. History Krugersdorp is the site of a December 1880 gathering at which more than 6,000 men vowed to fight for the Transvaal's independence. Founded in 1887 by Marthinus Pretorius after the discovery of gold on his farm, ''Paardekraal'', thereafter the mining industry played an important role in the development of the city. Two important events in the history of South Africa: the Transvaal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is located approximately 110 km east of the confluence of the Vaal River, Vaal and Orange Rivers. The city has considerable historical significance because of its diamond mining past and the Siege of Kimberley, siege during the Second Boer War, Second Boer War. The British businessmen Cecil Rhodes and Barney Barnato made their fortunes in Kimberley, and Rhodes also established the De Beers diamond company in the early days of the mining town. On 2 September 1882, Kimberley was the first city in the Southern Hemisphere and the second in the world after Philadelphia, in the United States, to install electricity, electric street lighting. The first stock exchange in Africa was built in Kimberley as early as 1881. History Discovery of diamonds In 1866, Erasmus Jacobs found a small brilliant pebble on the banks of the Orange River, on the farm ''De Kalk'' leased from l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cecil Rhodes
Cecil John Rhodes ( ; 5 July 185326 March 1902) was an English-South African mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. He and his British South Africa Company founded the southern African territory of Rhodesia (region), Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe and Zambia), which the company named after him in 1895. He also devoted much effort to realising his vision of a Cape to Cairo Railway through British territory. Rhodes set up the Rhodes Scholarship, which is funded by his estate. The son of a vicar, Rhodes was born at Rhodes Arts Complex, Netteswell House, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. A sickly child, he was sent to South Africa by his family when he was 17 years old in the hope that the climate might improve his health. He entered the diamond trade at Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley in 1871, when he was 18, and with funding from Rothschild & Co, began to systematically buy out and consolidate diamond mines ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cradle Of Humankind
The Cradle of Humankind is a paleoanthropological site that is located about northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, in the Gauteng province. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999, the site is home to the largest known concentration of human ancestral remains anywhere in the world. The site currently occupies and contains a complex system of limestone caves. The registered name of the site in the list of World Heritage Sites is Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa. According to the '' South African Journal of Science'', Bolt's Farm is the place where the earliest primates were discovered. Bolt's Farm was heavily mined for speleothem (calcium carbonate from stalagmites, stalactites, and flowstones) in the terminal nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Sterkfontein Caves were the site of the discovery of a 2.3-million-year-old fossil '' Australopithecus africanus'' (nicknamed " Mrs. Ples"), found in 1947 by Robert Broom and John T. Robinson. The fin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jan Bantjes
Jan Gerritze Bantjes ( Beaufort West, 8 July 1817 – Potchefstroom, 10 March 1887) was a Voortrekker whose exploration of the Natal and subsequent report were the catalyst for mobilising the Great Trek. He was also the author of the treaty between the Zulu king Dingane kaSenzangakhona and the Voortrekkers under Andries Pretorius. Early life and background Jan Gerritze Bantjes was born on 8 July 1817 in the Nieuveld district of Graaff-Reinet and was baptised at the Dutch Reformed Church in that town on 6 October 1817. He was the third child of Bernard Louis Bantjes (1788-1849), who owned a prosperous trading store and farm, and Isabella Adriana Swanepoel. Career In 1834, while he was still studying at the English Albany Freemasons College in Grahamstown, Bantjes was chosen as secretary for the Kommissitrek (“Commission Trek”). The aim of the trek, which was led by Piet Uys, was to explore the region around Port Natal (later Durban) and assess its potential as a new home ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Germiston
Germiston, also known as kwaDukathole, is a 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. Originally a mining town established in 1886 at the start of the Witwatersrand Gold Rush, Germiston has since developed into one of the largest manufacturing, trucking and railway hubs in Africa, and is a major centre of the South African steel industry. History Germiston was established in the early days of the gold rush when two prospectors, John Jack from the farm of Germiston, Glasgow, Germiston near Glasgow and August Simmer from Vacha, Germany, Vacha in Germany, struck paydirt on the farm of ''Elandsfontein''. In August 1886, the pair were on their way to the Eastern Transvaal when they ''outspanned'' (rested their pack animals) on the farm ''Elandsfon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King Dingane's royal homestead uMgungundlovu. Pietermaritzburg is popularly called Maritzburg and is often informally abbreviated to PMB. It is a regionally-important industrial hub, producing aluminium, timber and dairy products, and is the main economic hub of Umgungundlovu District Municipality, uMgungundlovu District Municipality. The public sector is a major employer in the city due to local, district and provincial government offices located here. The city has many schools and tertiary education institutions, including a campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It had a population of 228,549 in 1991; the current population is estimated at over 600,000 residents (including neighbouring townships) and is a melting pot of different culture ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dordrecht, Eastern Cape
Dordrecht is a town situated in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Dordrecht was founded in 1856 by Baron Smiddolff (later changed to Smithdorff), a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church. The town was named for the city of the same name in the South-Western Netherlands and had a population of about 8,741 people in 2001. Description Dordrecht lies nestled in the Stormberg Mountains, just north of Queenstown between Middelburg and Mthatha. Its many historical buildings and museum display turn-of-the-century furniture and clothing. Dordrecht is a small town surrounded by a number of farms with a large number of merino sheep and cattle ranchers in the region. Farmers around Dordrecht also grow potatoes. Dordrecht has a number of historical sites including a unique 1873 colonial country bed-and-breakfast. There are farmstay holidays available in the region. They are well known in South Africa for trout fishing, pheasant hunting and game hunting. The town is also situa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve
Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve is a protected area which encompasses most of the Suikerbosrand Range, South Africa. It is one of Gauteng's most frequented ecotourism locations, located approximately 50 kilometres south-east of Johannesburg, just west of the town of Heidelberg in the upper catchment of the Klip and Suikerbosrand rivers. The altitude varies between above sea level. The reserve, which is , hosts a representative sample of the fauna and flora of the rocky highveld grassland biome. Its boundaries include hiking trails, and tarred circular route for motorists. History The Suikerbosrand ridge was originally named after a sweet reed (probably sweet sorghum) found growing here by the party of general Hendrik Potgieter on 5 June 1836. Later the ridge and consequently the reserve's name became associated with the characteristic Transvaal-sugar bush (''Protea afra''), a dominant vegetation type within the area's limits. Recent land acquisitions at the beginning of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crocodile River (Limpopo)
The Crocodile River (, ) is a river in South Africa. At its confluence with the Marico River, the Limpopo River is formed. Course The Crocodile River has its River source, source in the Witwatersrand ridge, originating in Constantia Kloof, Roodepoort, Gauteng province. The first dam on the river is the Lake Heritage Dam just west of Lanseria International Airport. Just north of this airport is its confluence with the Jukskei River. Further downstream into the North West (South African province), North West province are the Hartbeespoort Dam and the Roodekoppies Dam. Beyond the Hartbeespoort Dam, the stream passes the town of Brits, North West, Brits. The Elands River (North West), Elands River joins downstream from the Vaalkop Dam, about 20 km further the Pienaars River joins its right bank, shortly after exiting the Klipvoor Dam. In Limpopo province, about 35 km further, the river passes the town of Thabazimbi and meanders for many kilometres through a sparsely inhab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jukskei River
The Jukskei River is one of the largest rivers in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the southernmost river in the Crocodile River basin. Course The Jukskei begins in Ellis Park in Johannesburg. Its original spring was on the former Doornfontein farm, which measured at 18,000 litres per hour, but has since disappeared under subsequent urban development. Now the first surface expression of the Jukskei is in Bertrams at the intersection of Queen Street and Sports Avenue where it emerges from a storm drain. From there the river flows through Bezuidenhout Valley and Bruma. It then meanders in a northerly direction through Bedfordview and Edenvale before flowing through Alexandra Township. It then turns northwest and flows through Modderfontein, Buccleuch, Leeuwkop Prison, Lone Hill, Dainfern and Steyn City before joining the Crocodile River outside Lanseria. Tributaries The Jukskei River is joined by numerous streams along its course with its major tributaries being the Mod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
