Johannesburg

Municipality

Municipality: City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality

This Metropolitan Municipality includes Lenasia, Midrand, Randburg, Roodepoort, Sandton and Soweto.

Johannesburg Tourism Bureau

Village Walk Cnr Rivonia & Maude St
Rivonia

Phone number: 011-883-4033
Fax number: 011-883-4035
Cell: No info
Email: Email inquiry
Web: See the website

Johannesburg is named after Johann Rissik and Christiaan Johannes Joubert, the first commissioners of the old town during the gold rush.

Events

Johannesburg is host to the 19th FIFA World Cup. Matches will be played at two stadia in Johannesburg.

Matches in Johannesburg | Full schedule

Attractions

Also see the neighbouring towns

Johannesburg and the other cities in the metropole offer all the attractions of any major city in the world. The biggest drawback of the city is its poor public transport, but for visitors with strong currencies, taxis are relatively cheap. Gold Reef City offers a mine experience by taking you down 220m a mins shaft, and where gold bars are poured for visitors to see. Rides are offered in the Cocopan, a small rail trolley used for carrying ore. Shops: there are numerous shopping malls in the metropole with each city hosting several. In Johannesburg there is the Southgate Shopping Centre, and of course all the typical smaller shops. Other cities are so close by that a visitor can get to a shopping centre there within 30 minutes of driving through traffic.

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History

In 1884 a small mine was worked on a farm caleld Wilgespruit in the Johannesburg area. George Harrison, on his way to the gold diggings in the eastern parts of the country (now in Mpumalanga) was employed at this mine to build a new house. He spent his free time prospecting and found a gold bearing reef in 1886. Harrison applied to Pretoria for the Discoveres Claim, but the gold rush started in such a frenzy that before his claim approval was obtained, so many diggers appeared that two commissioners had to be urgently appointed: Johann Rissik and Christiaan Johannes Joubert. Pres Paul Kruger sent his secretary, FC Eloff, to investigate a site for the new town. He chose Randjieslaagte, a governor-owned farm, which was situated away from the actual diggings. The first stands were auctioned in 1886. This corrugated iron town grew so rapidly that within 3 years, by 1889, it was the largest town in South Africa. All along the gold-bearing reef mines were started and towns and later cities grew around them, which today, although very little mining is still done, now form the large metropolis in Gauteng. Johannesburg became a city in 1928 and by 1960 it had more than a million inhabitants.

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Climate

Today's Weather Report for Johannesburg

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