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The most powerful commercial centre on the African Continent it bursts with young energy. Here you will find all the money and the action. Johannesburg generates 16% of South Africa's GDP and employs 12% of the national workforce. It has a financial, municipal, roads and telecommunications infrastructure that matches leading first world cities.
Johannesburg hosts every form of commercial activity from financial services to heavy industries and mining. Provincial capital: Johannesburg is the capital of South Africa's smallest - and richest - province, called Gauteng, a Sesotho name meaning "Place of Gold". Gauteng makes up just 1,4% of South Africa's land area, but it is home to more than a 1/5 of the population and produces a 1/3 of the country's wealth. Predominantly urban, Gauteng consists chiefly of industrial and mining satellite towns surrounding the twin cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria. Pretoria, finds itself merging into Johannesburg's outer suburbs.
Modern city: Johannesburg is the most densely populated and urbanised municipality in South Africa, home to 3 225 800 people in 1 006 900 households.
Johannesburg’s administrative regions:
Region 1: Diepsloot
Region 2: Midrand/Ivory Park
Region 3: Sandton
Region 4: Northcliff/Rosebank
Region 5: Roodepoort
Region 6: Doornkop/Soweto
Region 7: Alexandra
Region 8: Inner City
Region 9: Johannesburg South
Region 10: Diepkloof/Meadowlands
Region11: Ennerdale/Orange Farm
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Suggested
Itinerary: An ideal Self-Drive Itinerary
for Johannesburg Metropolitan Region, would be 20 Day Romancing South Africa.
click
here |
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Off
the beaten track: Click
here for unordinary places to discover
in this region |
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Tshwane, with the natural features of this province ranging from 2 000 million-year-old granite rocks to the 220 000-year-old meteorite - Tswaing Crater. From grassy highveld plains to the shrub lands of the African savannah, few cities in South Africa have as much uncluttered and preserved land as Tshwane.
Rietvlei Nature Reserve:
Covering an area of 3 800ha and with a carrying capacity to support 2 000 head of game, some of the wildlife that can be seen includes buffalo, white rhino, hippo, eland, zebra, springbuck, blesbuck, waterbuck and cheetah. More than 240 bird species, unique to this area, are also visible.
Austin Roberts Memorial Bird Sanctuary:
The 12ha sanctuary proclaimed a nature reserve in 1958 and declared a national monument thereafter, is home to The Sasol Hadeda Bird hide. This gives bird lovers the opportunity to experience a great variety of birds, including the crowned crane and blue crane.
Groenkloof Nature Reserve:
This is the first proclaimed game sanctuary on the African continent. On 25 February 1895, President Paul Kruger proclaimed the valley on the southern outskirts of Pretoria as a game sanctuary. The Groenkloof Nature Reserve offers various activities for nature lovers, such as hiking trails, a mountain-bike trail, a motorcar route and a 4x4 route. The wildlife includes zebra, jackal, duiker, kudu, impala, blue wildebeest, blesbuck, red hartebeest, ostrich, giraffe and sable.
Wonderboom Nature Reserve:
Straddling the Magaliesberg range in the North is the Wonderboom Nature Reserve. This 100ha reserve is famous for its magnificent specimen of the Wonderboom (wonder tree). The Wonderboom is a wild fig that grows at the foot of the northern slope of the Wonderboom Hill. The tree is some 1 000 years old, and over the years the branches have grown longer, hanging lower and lower until they touched the ground, rooted and produced a circle of daughter trees. Today three circles of daughter trees surround the original tree.
220 000 years ago a blazing stony meteorite the size of half a football field slammed into the earth's crust with the impact forming a huge crater,1,4 km in diameter and 200 m deep. This crater, formerly known as the Pretoria Saltpan (or Zoutpan), is 40 km north to the northwest of The City of Tshwane. It is one of the best-preserved meteorite impact craters anywhere in the world.
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Suggested
Itinerary: An ideal Self-Drive Itinerary
for Tshwane Metropolitan , would be 11 Day Historical South Africa .
click
here |
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Ekurhuleni - the place of peace
The one thing the towns in the metropolitan all have in common is the discovery of gold in the 1880's. Until then, life was peaceful, and many people had lived a pastoral or hunter-gatherer life in the area.
Each of the towns and cities that make up Ekurhuleni mushroomed due to the Gold Rush, with the exception of Kempton Park, begun because of the railway, and Springs, started as a coalmine.
Whilst prosperity and with it employment followed the discovery, it financially benefited a very small section of the population, this sparked much conflict in later years. Labour was drawn from Europe and from amongst the black population. Living conditions were harsh, and often appalling, and there was little in the way of entertainment. The vacuum filled with the emigration of Jewish people from conflicts in Eastern Europe and with people from India. They formed the backbone of the traders who came to the area and who brought more comforts to the lives of the miners i.e. shops and decent accommodation. This was the beginning of the growth of each of the towns over the early years of the twentieth century. After the Boer Wars, Chinese contract workers were drafted in to help in the mines due to the lack of work force, adding to the mix of cultures.
The Cities In Ekurhuleni
Formerly known as the East Rand:
Alberton
Edenvale
Springs
Nigel
Boksburg
Kempton Park
Tembisa
Brakpan
Benoni
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Mogale City Local Municipality regards the promotion of tourism as one of its chief priorities. The towns in the regions make for a comfortable home base for exploring the province of Gauteng. Highlights in the area include the World Heritage Site - the Cradle of Humankind.
Krugersdorp, the centre of the Mogale City region, is a short drive away from the Magaliesberg mountains, with its wide range of luxury and budget accommodation.
MW Pretorius founded this town, the industrial hub of Western Gauteng, with its mild climate, interesting topography and rich cultural and historical background. In 1887 when gold deposits were found on his farm, the mining industry began, and has been an integral part of Krugersdorp ever since.
The region has experienced a tremendous growth in tourism over the past two years, boosted by increasing interest in palaeoanthropology. This is the site where the Munsieville community, who informed Dr Robert Broom of their find in 1947, discovered the famous “Mrs Ples” (Plesianthropus Transvaalenis).
Towns in Mogale City
Krugersdorp
Kagiso
Muldersdrift
Munsieville
Tarlton
Hekpoort
Magaliesburg
Azaadville
Chamdor
Factoria
Boltonia
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Suggested
Itinerary: An ideal Self-Drive Itinerary
for Mogale District, would be 11 Day Historical South Africa .
click
here |
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Soweto is without a doubt, the most populous black urban residential area (Township) in the country. Thanks to its proximity to Johannesburg, the economic hub of the country, it is also the most metropolitan township in the country - setting trends in politics, fashion, music, dance and language.
Soweto celebrated its 100th birthday in October 2004. A chronology of key events, the June 1976 uprising, and the centenary celebrations.
The city has made the redevelopment of Soweto a major priority, including electrification, tarring of roads, and the building of public facilities and housing.
The name 'Soweto' synonymous around the world brings tourists and foreign delegations flocking to the area. The Regina Mundi church is the largest of the 18 Roman Catholic churches in Soweto
Soweto's vibrant social life is renowned for its music and sport, but there are also giant public art projects and newly built parks.
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Suggested
Itinerary: An ideal Self-Drive Itinerary
for Soweto, would be 11 Day Historical South Africa .
click
here |
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West Rand
The name of the urban western part of the Witwatersrand that functionally merges with Johannesburg. Europeans settled this area after a gold-bearing reef discovered in 1886 sparked the gold rush that gave rise to the establishment of Johannesburg.
Extending from Randfontein in the west to Roodepoort in the east, and including the town of Krugersdorp, the areas of Carletonville and Westonaria are sometimes included as being part of the Far West Rand. The areas economically linked to the city through the gold mining industry. Following the creation of the Johannesburg Unicity in 1999, Roodepoort, which was traditionally always part of the West Rand, became part of Johannesburg municipality. After 1999, much of the area became part of the newly formed West Rand District Municipality.
Despite being a separate municipal area, like the East Rand, the West Rand is included in the Greater Johannesburg metropolitan area.To this end, the West Rand shares the same dialling code as Johannesburg (011 locally). It is common for residents of the West Rand to work in Johannesburg proper and vice versa.
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Gauteng
The economic powerhouse of the Southern African region and home to Africa’s greatest cities also known as the Place of Gold this is Egoli. From the thriving metropolis of Soweto, to dynamic Johannesburg, to the world renowned Jacarandas of Pretoria, Gauteng is a cosmopolitan, multicultural mix of people from all lifestyles, from all 4 corners of the world.
This working African cities wealth is not only in gold, but also in the people. Unique cultural and social legacy makes a multicultural melting pot, evidenced in our many excellent museums, theatres, galleries, cultural precincts and craft markets. Come feel the rhythm of this exciting African Powerhouse.
Gauteng Regions:
Johannesburg Metropolitan Region
Tshwane Metropolitan Region
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Region
Metsweding District Region
Sedibeng District Region
West Rand District Region
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Suggested
Itinerary: An ideal Self-Drive Itinerary
for Gauteng overview, would be 11 Day Historical South Africa .
click
here |
|
Off
the beaten track: Click
here for unordinary places to discover
in this region |
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