Johannesburg

Northern Regions - Johannesburg

Johannesburg, capital of Gauteng and South Africa’s largest metropolis, and Pretoria, the country’s administrative capital, are located 56km (35 miles) apart on the highest part of the interior plateau known as the Highveld. The city was literally built on gold: itinerant workers George Harrison and George Walker stumbled on the Wit-watersrand’s Main Reef in 1886, and within three years the mining camp of Johannesburg had mushroomed into the country’s largest town. Pretoria, to the north, is very dif-ferent in character: older, more sedate, it lies in the warm and fertile valley of the Apies (little ape) River, its eastern suburbs hugging the lovely Magaliesberg hills, the central area overlooked by Meintjieskop and the imposing facade of the government’s Union Buildings. To the south of Johannesburg lies the enormous urban conglomerate of Soweto, and further south is a concentration of industrial towns including Edenvale, Springs and Germiston – the whole come together to form what is now known as Gauteng – South Africa’s economic heartland. Game Reserves surround the area and are all malaria free - the Madikwe Game Reserve and the Waterberg Game Reserve are two excellent Big Five safari reserves which have luxury lodges and expert rangers to take you out on open 4x4 safaris.

JOHANNESBURG AND SURROUNDS

Johannesburg has little claim to beauty: to the south, old mine dumps litter the landscape, and the city centre is a concrete-and-glass jungle of high-rises and congested streets. But the city as a whole has its attractions: excellent hotels and restaurants, shopping malls, galleries, museums and theatres, and a vibrancy, an uninhibited zest for life that is reflected on the social as well as the business scene. The surrounding suburbs too, are not without their own attractions: the green belt along the banks of the Braamfonteinspruit, and the many tree-garlanded golf courses are lush areas, and the leafy northern suburbs are pretty. The heart of Johannesburg is in many ways a microcosm of the country; a cultural kaleidoscope of past and future: modern towers are juxtaposed with a few stately survivors of the city’s gold-rush days, and pockets of established Portuguese, Indian and Chinese traders jostle with newer African muti shops and pavement vendors. Street crime is prevalent, as it is in other big cities of the world, making walking, especially on your own after dark, a risky option. City Sightseeing Central Johannesburg, with its density of tall buildings, traffic-congested thoroughfares and crowded pavements, is known as Africa’s Manhattan, but there the similarity ends. Most of the larger businesses, department stores, restaurants and bars have moved away to quieter places (notably to chic Sandton and other fast-developing suburbs to the north) and the street traders have moved in. Still, there’s something left for the visitor, especially in the inner-city Hillbrow and Yeoville, and in the ambitious Newtown redevelopment area, where you’ll find the Cultural Precinct.

ACTIVITIES AND DAY TRIPS

Market Theatre Complex
 Situated at Mary Fitzgerald Square, this lively complex has four auditoriums, an Indian fruit market, a flower market, clothing and jewellery boutiques, an outstanding second-hand bookshop, bistros – among them legendary Kippies International Jazz Bar, designed on the lines of a Victorian public toilet – and live experimental theatre.

Gold Reef City
An evocative reconstruction of pioneer Johannesburg, Gold Reef City is located on the old Crown Mines site, 6km (4 miles) south of central Johannesburg. The Crown produced 1.4 million kg (3.1 million lb) of gold in its long and honourable lifetime; visitors can descend a mineshaft to explore the underground workings, watch gold being poured at the museum, or even try their luck at the casino. Other attractions are traditional dancing; tram and horse-drawn omnibus rides; a Victorian funfair, pub and tea parlour; replicas of an early theatre, stock exchange, newspaper office; house museums in period style; and many specialty shops (diamonds, leatherware, pottery, glassware, lace, coins, stamps, curios).

Soweto
South Africa’s best-known ‘black’ city (though the demise of apartheid has rendered the term obsolete) straggles across nearly 100km2 (39 sq miles) of dusty and unkempt terrain to the southwest of Johannesburg. Much of it is electrified, a growing number of its streets are paved, and the more prosperous residents have large and attractive homes. Formal development has been slow, and the majority of Sowetans live in matchbox houses in overcrowded conditions which are poorly serviced. There are no high-rise buildings, or flats, to alleviate the situation. Soweto – an acronym of SOuth WEstern TOwnships – was originally designed as a dormitory town. Most workers commute daily by train and minibus to Johannesburg and other nearby centres. Big business has passed Soweto by (until recently it was forced to do so by law), and commercial activity is represented by about 4000 tiny ‘spaza’ stores and by the burgeoning ‘informal sector’ (hawking, markets, backyard industries). Soweto has few civic amenities. The local hospital, Chris Hani-Baragwanath, is Africa’s largest, while The Sowetan newspaper is the country’s fastest growing in circulation terms. Social life revolves around the football stadiums and grounds, the myriad shebeens (home bars) and the more up-market nightclubs and community halls. The best way to visit Soweto is with one of the specialist tour operators

On the West Rand, 45km (28 miles) from Johannesburg, the Aloe Ridge has an adjacent Zulu village, and accommodation in authentic beehive huts; tel: (011) 957-2070. On neighbouring Heia Safari Ranch, a South African ‘braai’ (barbecue) is accompanied by a ‘Mzumba’ traditional dance drama on Sundays; booking is essential.

Sterkfontein Caves
To the northwest, in the famed Sterkfontein caves, Dr Robert Broom’s excavations yielded a million-year-old fossilized cranium of ape-man Australopithecus africanus. The cathedral-like chambers and underground lake are fascinating. Sterkfontein and its neighbouring cave complexes were recently elevated to World Heritage Site status.

Magaliesberg Hills
To the west of the Johannesburg–Pretoria axis, this ridge has a special woodland beauty all its own and, in the steeper places, even grandeur. Consider staying overnight at the charming Mount Grace Country House or at Valley Lodge, and returning via the Rustenburg Nature Reserve.

DeWildt Cheetah Research and Breeding Centre
This centre, 30km (19 miles) west of Pretoria, is open on weekends, when tours take place at 08:30 and 14:15. Booking is essential. Website: www.dewildt.org.za; e-mail: cheetah@dewildt.org.za; tel: (012) 504-1921.

The Casino Scene
For bright lights, slots, gaming, eating and drinking, there’s Caesars in Kempton Park, Gold Reef City, the imaginative Montecasino in Fourways, Carnival City in Brakpan, and Emerald Safari Resort in Vanderbijlpark to the south. To north of Pretoria you’ll find the Carousel and, farther afield (north of Rustenburg), the splendid, older-established Sun City complex.

sun city

In the North West Province lies an enormous, extravagantly opulent complex of hotels, gaming rooms, theatres, restaurants, bars, discos and shops, all set in spacious and beautifully landscaped grounds: this is the pleasure ground of Sun City, flagship of the prestigious Sun International hospitality group and mecca for both local and overseas holiday-makers. In the valley that surrounds Sun City are glittering hotels, ranging from the family-oriented Cabanas through the plush, recently refurbished Sun City complex and the Cascades (whose foyer is cooled by a glistening veil of water spilling down one wall) to the adjacent and magnificent Lost City – whose centerpiece is the elaborately domed and minareted Palace of the Lost City. For golfers, there is a choice between the splendid Arizona desert-style golf course where crocodiles lie in wait at the 13th hole, and that at the Gary Player Country Club, which has played host to many of the world’s greats and is the venue of the annual Million Dollar Golf Challenge. Among Sun City’s other outdoor amenities are riding stables and bowling greens, tennis and squash courts. Much revolves around the various and attractive stretches of water – the waterscape near the Cascades, with its interlinked pools, weirs, tropical walkways and waterfowl; and Waterworld, a giant man-made lake designed for both the idle and the water sportsman. Well worth a visit is the nearby Thaba Kwena Crocodile Park, a ‘prehistoric’ reptile park and crocodile ranch.

PILANSBERG NATIONAL PARK
Measured against all other South African national parks, Pilanesberg is singularly unique in its location, elevated as it is on the remnants of an extinct volcanic crater. Four broken concentric rings of rocky hills, buffeted, scoured and eroded by the elements over aeons, create a natural border for the reserve cradled within. Their near-perfect circular imprint on the landscape – forming a diameter of some 25km (15 miles) – makes this ancient volcanic site globally significant. It has been labelled the Pilanesberg Alkaline Ring Complex, indicating that the volcano, which erupted roughly 1300 million years ago, was alkaline in composition and structure (see panel, page 30). It is also the third largest alkaline ring complex in the world. Scientists estimate that, through both extrusion and intrusion (during which searing magma first penetrates cracks in the earth’s crust, then forces its way into solid rock), the volcanic cone eventually formed by the solidified lava rose to 7000m (23,000ft). With the passing of the ages, further eruptions, fracturing and elemental weathering caused the collapse of the cone, producing the gigantic caldera. It’s possible that Mankwe Lake, centred within the ancient crater, was the source of the main volcanic pipe. Today the highest upland is Pilanesberg Peak, touching on 600m (1970ft). They came in two by two ... Pilanesberg’s mountain range takes its name from Chief Pilane of the Bakgatla clan belonging to the Tswana people, one-time rulers of the area. Before 1979, Pilanesberg’s territory had been reduced to denuded, overgrazed farmland. In that year, it was proclaimed a national park and the authorities immediately set about redressing the effects of erosion, removing alien plants and establishing indigenous trees and shrubs, and even diverting telephone wires. Yet more ambitious was the implementation of Operation Genesis, a plan to translocate over 6000 head of wildlife – a total of 19 different species – into the new reserve. White and black rhino were reintroduced from KwaZulu-Natal, elephant and buffalo from Addo Elephant Park, and Burchell’s zebra and waterbuck arrived from Mpumalanga. Giraffe and eland were transported from as far afield as Namibia. This major effort has translated into a park today that demands to be taken seriously. Its wealth of wildlife presents all the indigenous animals that once historically existed here. A road network of close to 200km (125 miles) allows visitors to thread their way across the hilly crater, encountering grassland, bushveld and woodland animal species. Unfortunately, the well known Mothata Scavenger Hide that used to exist near Manyane Gate in the east is no longer operational as a result of the presence of lion in the park! The competition has proved a little too hot to handle for the vultures. Nevertheless, species you could still spot circling overhead are Cape Vultures, which nest in the Magaliesberg’s rugged cliffs, and White-backed and Lappetfaced Vultures. The Cape and White-backed species feature the characteristic featherless ‘bald’-looking head and neck with a ruff of collar-feathers at the base; impressive hooked beaks hint at their favoured diet. The Lappet-faced vulture is one species you’ll have no problem in identifying. The paintbrush was generous here in its selection of colour palette – a black feather ruff encircles the base of a purple- and crimson-tinted head and neck. Marabou Storks might just also put in an appearance – these giant long-legged birds share the vultures’ absence of head and neck feathers, and carry a pink fleshy pouch on the front lower neck below a great jabbing beak, hugely to be reckoned with.