Linksfield is a suburb of

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 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is a suburb lying north-east of the

Johannesburg CBD The Johannesburg Central Business District, commonly called Johannesburg CBD, is one of the main business centres of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the densest collection of skyscrapers in Africa, however, due to white flight and urban blight, ...

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 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 ...

. On the southerly side and over the ridge are the areas of Cyrildene,

Observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

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 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, w ...

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 Kallenbach. Kallenbach would build a house on Linksfield Ridge in 1929. The Huddlepark Golf Course and Driving Range borders with Linksfield and Linksfield North.

Parks and greenspace

The Harvey Nature Reserve lies on the western part of Linksfield Ridge. The land was donated to the people of Johannesburg in 1959 by Sydney Harvey and consisted of 7 acres for a nature and bird sanctuary. It is maintained by the Johannesburg City Parks. The area borders with the controversial Rietfontein farm that was donated by President Paul Kruger to the people of Johannesburg as a tropical disease Hospital in approximately 1895. It is now known as Sizwe Hospital. The farm has the only pristine natural grasslands left in Johannesburg and is still the home for the Vervet monkeys and much natural fauna and flora. Unfortunately the farm is under threat for development.

Education

The suburb has two schools within it. Linksfield Primary School which has been open since 31 July 1950. The second is a Jewish school called King David Schools, Linksfield and was founded in 1948 and the high school in 1955. In close proximity is the Greek School, Saheti School, and the English Girls' School, St Andrews.

Houses of worship

*Linkshul, formally known as Linksfield Senderwood Hebrew Congregation, an

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

congregation on Club St, Linksfield

Notable residents past and present

* Jani Allan, columnist lived on Kallenbach Drive in Linksfield Ridge with her husband,

Gordon Schachat Gordon Schachat (born 25 January 1952) is a South African businessman and art collector. Personal life In 1973, Schachat met his first wife at university, the former '' Sunday Times'' columnist Jani Allan and married her in Mauritius in 1982.< ...

in the 1980s * L. Ron Hubbard, an American author and the founder of

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a scam, a Scientology as a business, business, a cult, or a religion. Hubbard initially develo ...

, lived on Hannaben St in Linksfield Ridge in 1960Linksfield Ridge Home
''Visi''. 3 June 2020

References

Johannesburg Region E Jews and Judaism in Johannesburg {{Johannesburg-stub