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84-535: Houghton Estate , often simply called Houghton , is an affluent suburb of Johannesburg , South Africa , north-east of the city centre. It is best known for being the home of Nelson Mandela . Houghton was developed as a residential area around the turn of the 20th century, primarily by Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company ( JCI ). The suburb was laid out by surveyor Gustav Arthur Troye. Houghton Estate has traditionally been informally divided into two areas: Upper Houghton , and Lower Houghton . Upper Houghton
168-536: A Muslim community that has expanded in the northern suburbs since the repeal of the apartheid -era Group Areas Act . A musallah was established in the east of the suburb, and, in 2011, a mosque , Masjid ul Furqaan was built by the Houghton Muslim Association on the site of the mussalah. Another, larger mosque on West Street, visible from the M1 freeway, was, after delays, completed in 2013 by
252-526: A chance our daughter may still be alive.” Virgin Active admitted health and safety breaches and was fined £100,000 at Southwark Crown Court in December 2013. An investigation found “serious shortcomings in the management of risks connected with swimming activity at the club” going back to 2009. In April 2014, three gym goers were injured when a suspended ceiling collapsed on to a line of rowing machines at
336-536: A destination for visitors and a safe, integrated community for residents. A beacon of strength in Africa's most economically prosperous city". After being destroyed in 2008 to make way for a motor showroom by Imperial Holdings, the iconic Rand Steam Laundries are now being redeveloped as an exact replica, by the order of the Johannesburg Heritage Council. Apart from one filtration shed, there
420-528: A national figure and a symbol of resistance to apartheid . On 16 June 1976, demonstrations broke out in Soweto over a government decree that black school-children be educated in Afrikaans instead of English, and after the police fired on the demonstrations, rioting against apartheid began in Soweto and spread into the greater Johannesburg area. About 575 people, the majority of whom were black, were killed in
504-650: A private girls school, is close by in Parktown. Houghton School (a public primary school) is in Lower Houghton. Lower Houghton, and a small part of Upper Houghton, bordering Observatory, are part of Region E of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality , and are currently (as of 2014) included in Ward 73, while most of Upper Houghton is part of Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality , and
588-414: A residential area for blacks only—no whites allowed—who were not permitted to live in other "white-designated" areas of Johannesburg. Another region, Lenasia , is predominantly populated by English-speaking Indo-South Africans (people of Indian and South Asian descent). These areas were, in previous decades, designated as non-white areas, in accordance with apartheid policies of the time. Johannesburg
672-628: A significant role in opening the first club in South East Asia was Christian Mason, the newly appointed 'Managing Director South East Asia'. Christian Mason then went on to opening 13 more clubs in both Singapore and Thailand . The current Group CEO is founder Matthew Bucknall. In 2014 Virgin Active launched a new low-cost gym called Virgin Active RED. The RED gyms focuses on first timers who may be intimidated by training by strategically placing exercise equipment in different stages around
756-500: A township founded for black workers coming to work in the gold mines of Johannesburg, was intended to house 50,000 people, but soon was the home of ten times that number as thousands of unemployed rural blacks came to Johannesburg for employment and an income to send back to their villages. It was estimated that in 1989, the population of Soweto was equal to that of Johannesburg, if not greater. In March 1960, Johannesburg witnessed widespread demonstrations against apartheid in response to
840-620: Is a popular recreational park. Johannesburg and environs also offer various options to visitors wishing to view wildlife , in addition to the Johannesburg Zoo , one of the largest in South Africa. The Lion Park nature reserve, next to Lesedi Cultural Village , is home to over 80 lions and various other game, while the Krugersdorp Nature Reserve , a 1500 ha game reserve , is a forty-minute drive from
924-404: Is a smaller number of synagogues serving the city's Reform Jews , including Temple Israel and Beit Emanuel . 32% of Johannesburg residents speak Nguni languages at home, 24% speak Sotho languages , 18% speak English, 7% speak Afrikaans and 6% speak Tshivenda . Johannesburg has a well-developed higher education system of both private and public universities . Johannesburg is served by
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#17327975922781008-403: Is also located on Rissik Street. The region surrounding Johannesburg was originally inhabited by San hunter-gatherers who used stone tools. There is evidence that they lived there up to ten centuries ago. Stone-walled ruins of Sotho–Tswana towns and villages are scattered around the parts of the former Transvaal in which Johannesburg is situated. By the mid-18th century, the broader region
1092-419: Is another possibility. Precise records for the choice of name were lost. Johannes Rissik and Johannes Joubert were members of a delegation sent to England to obtain mining rights for the area. Joubert had a park in the city named after him, and Rissik has his name for one of the main streets in the city where the historically important albeit dilapidated Rissik Street Post Office is located. The City Hall
1176-518: Is centrally located, straddling the M1 freeway , with interchanges at Glenhove Road (M1 N & S), Eleventh Avenue (M1 S), Riviera Road (M1 N), 1st Avenue (M1 S) and Houghton Drive (M1 N). Multiple metropolitan routes cross Houghton, including the M16 , M20 , M31 , R25 , and M11 (Louis Botha Avenue). The grid street pattern in Lower Houghton consists mostly of numbered Streets and Avenues on both sides of
1260-499: Is currently experiencing rapid redevelopment. Although many plots had already been subdivided in two, there is now a trend towards the development of cluster homes . This redevelopment is sanctioned by the City of Johannesburg's Regional Spatial Development Framework. The city sees many positive aspects to the redevelopment, but it is not uncontroversial and has resulted in the destruction of many traditional houses. As with many suburbs in
1344-475: Is located within the mineral-rich Witwatersrand hills, the epicentre of the international-scale mineral, gold and (specifically) diamond trade. Johannesburg was established in 1886, following the discovery of gold, on what had been a farm. Due to the extremely large gold deposits found along the Witwatersrand , within ten years, the population had grown to over 100,000 inhabitants. A separate city from
1428-485: Is nothing left on the site after being destroyed. The site will consist of a 5,000 m (54,000 sq ft) precinct. On 12 May 2008, a series of riots started in the township of Alexandra , in the north-eastern part of Johannesburg, when locals attacked migrants from Mozambique , Malawi and Zimbabwe , killing two people and injuring 40 others. These riots sparked the xenophobic attacks of 2008. The 2019 Johannesburg riots were similar in nature and origin to
1512-756: Is part of Ward 67. During the apartheid era, the Houghton constituency in the whites-only parliament was represented by opponent of apartheid Helen Suzman until 1989, and was, for a period in the 1960s, the sole seat of the Progressive Party in Parliament. Lower Houghton is part of the SAPS Norwood Police Station precinct, while Upper Houghton is part of the Hillbrow Police Station's precinct. Houghton
1596-634: Is the most populous city in South Africa with 4,803,262 people, and is classified as a megacity ; it is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world . It is the provincial capital of Gauteng , the wealthiest province in South Africa. Johannesburg is the seat of the Constitutional Court , the highest court in South Africa. Most of the major South African companies and banks have their head offices in Johannesburg. The city
1680-585: Is the principal clerk attached to the office of the surveyor-general Hendrik Dercksen, Christiaan Johannes Joubert , who was a member of the Volksraad and was the Republic's chief of mining. Another was Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (better known as Paul Kruger ), president of the South African Republic (ZAR) from 1883 to 1900. Johannes Meyer , the first government official in the area
1764-523: Is the southern and south-eastern portion located on a ridge, while the northern Lower Houghton is flatter, and has a grid street pattern , with parts on both sides of the M1 freeway. Upper Houghton has been declared a National Heritage Area . Upper and Lower Houghton are separated by the East-West section of Houghton Drive and part of Louis Botha Avenue. Small sections of Upper Houghton lie east of Louis Botha Avenue (bordering Observatory ), and west of
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#17327975922781848-408: The 2008 xenophobic riots . A completely refurbished Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup final . From 22 to 24 August 2023, Johannesburg hosted 15th BRICS summit . On 31 August 2023, at least 76 people died when a building caught fire in Johannesburg. The building had been taken over by a gang who were illegally renting it out. Johannesburg is located in
1932-724: The Barbican in London leaving a small call centre in Milton Keynes which closed in 2018. In South Africa the company bought the assets of the 'Health and Racquet Club' chain after the latter's parent company, Leisurenet, had been placed in liquidation in October 2000 for 319.6 million South African Rand (approximately £24.5m as at November 2011). The South African company also runs Virgin Life Care . In 2002, by which point
2016-663: The Johannesburg South Africa Temple ( Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ). Most of Johannesburg's estimated 50,000 Jews live in the North Eastern suburbs; Glenhazel , Raedene Estate , Kew , Norwood , Highlands North , Sandringham , Savoy Estate , Waverley , Orchards , Oaklands and Fairmount . There are many Orthodox synagogues in the city including; Great Park Synagogue , Oxford Shul and Doornfontein Synagogue . There
2100-636: The Old Edwardian Society (known as Old Eds ), which includes a separate Virgin Active gym, is in Houghton. There are a number of well known schools in Upper Houghton: King Edward VII School (1909), a public school for boys, also known as KES ), along with its associated primary school, King Edward VII Preparatory School, known as KEPS, and St John's College (1907) a private Anglican school historically only for boys, while Roedean School (South Africa),
2184-483: The Orange . Most of the springs from which many of these streams emanate are now covered in concrete and canalised, accounting for the fact that the names of early farms in the area often end with "fontein", meaning "spring" in Afrikaans. Braamfontein, Rietfontein, Zevenfontein, Doornfontein, Zandfontein and Randjesfontein are some examples. When the first white settlers reached the area that is now Johannesburg, they noticed
2268-529: The Sharpeville massacre . On 11 July 1963, the South African Police raided a house in the Johannesburg suburb of Rivonia where nine members of the banned African National Congress (ANC) were arrested on charges of planning sabotage. Their arrest led to the famous Rivonia Trial . The nine arrested included one Indo-South African, one coloured, two whites and five blacks, one of whom was
2352-457: The Soweto uprising of 1976. Between 1984 and 1986, South Africa was in turmoil as a series of nationwide protests, strikes and riots took place against apartheid, and the black townships around Johannesburg were scenes of some of the fiercest struggles between the police and anti-apartheid demonstrators. The central area of the city underwent something of a decline in the 1980s and 1990s, due to
2436-445: The 21st century, there was light sleet in 2006, as well as snow proper on 27 June 2007 (accumulating up to 10 centimetres or 4 inches in the southern suburbs), 7 August 2012, and 10 July 2023. Regular cold fronts pass over in winter bringing very cold southerly winds but usually clear skies. The annual average rainfall is 713 millimetres (28.1 in), which is mostly concentrated in the summer months. Infrequent showers occur through
2520-516: The Cradle of Humankind together with his partner Johannes Stephanus Minnaar where they first discovered gold in 1881, and which also offered another kind of discovery—the early ancestors of all mankind. Some report Australian George Harrison as the first to make a claim for gold in the area that became Johannesburg, as he found gold on a farm in July 1886. He did not remain in the area. On 3 October 1886
2604-664: The Discovery Group for contravening the Competition Act. The investigation continues. In March 2003, 32 year old City banker Katarzyna Woja stepped out of the lift at the Virgin Active (then Holmes Place) Broadgate Health Club in central London, when its cable snapped and the hydraulic cabin plunged downwards. Woja became trapped between the cabin's mantel and the lift shaft and was dragged downwards, suffering horrific injuries. She died soon after. Although she
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2688-608: The Gatsrand Pass (near Zakariyya Park) on 27 May, north of Vanwyksrust—today's Nancefield, Eldorado Park and Naturena—the next day, culminating in a mass infantry attack on what is now the waterworks ridge in Chiawelo and Senaoane on 29 May. During the Boer war, many African mineworkers left Johannesburg creating a labour shortage, which the mines ameliorated by bringing in labourers from China, especially southern China. After
2772-702: The Houghton Muslim Jamaat. There are few shops in Houghton itself, apart from convenience stores in petrol stations, but the area is close to numerous commercial nodes in Johannesburg, including those in Oaklands , Norwood , Killarney , Rosebank and Sandton . Houghton has two golf courses, Houghton Golf Club (1914) and the Killarney Golf Club (1903). There is also a large public park, The Wilds (which has been described as "notorious" for muggings and crime). A large sports club ,
2856-525: The M1 and on Louis Botha Avenue . Houghton is architecturally varied. There are good examples of art deco buildings (particularly some of the flats), and many of the large houses in the 1930s are good examples of the Modern style inspired by the work of Le Corbusier (Chipkin 1993), including Stern House (1935) designed by Rex Distin Martienssen and partners. The suburb, particularly Lower Houghton,
2940-757: The M1. Avenues run east–west, while Streets run from north to south. Avenue counting begins in the south with First Avenue (part of Metropolitan Route M16), and ends in the North with Seventeenth Avenue, while Street counting begins in the east with 1st Street, and ends in the West at 9th Street, with the numbered grid interrupted by Central, West and River Streets. North–south streets in Upper Houghton are generally named after trees, while east–west roads are named after Christian saints. Lower Houghton and Upper Houghton are linked by Louis Botha Avenue, Houghton Drive, and
3024-666: The Matabele, the name given them by the local Sotho–Tswana), set up a kingdom to the northwest of Johannesburg around modern-day Rustenburg. The main Witwatersrand gold reef was discovered in June 1884 on the farm Vogelstruisfontein by Jan Gerritse Bantjes , son of Jan Bantjes , this triggered the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the founding of Johannesburg in 1886. The discovery of gold rapidly attracted people to
3108-532: The Metropolitan Municipality, the old centre, established in 1886 and given city status in 1928, has been listed in recent censuses as a "main place". As of 2011 , this main place had a population of 957,441 and an area of 334.81 km . Some authors consider the metropolitan area to include most of Gauteng province. The UN 's Population Division in 2016 estimated the metropolitan area population to be 9,616,000. Blacks account for 73% of
3192-513: The North-East of Johannesburg, Houghton has historically been known for being a Jewish area, and is home to Great Park Synagogue . Great Park was consecrated in Houghton in 2000 after its congregation closed its historic synagogue in Hillbrow in 1994, as the area declined and Jewish congregants moved towards the northern suburbs. Houghton is also home to West Street Shul . There is also
3276-723: The UK-based operation of the more prestigious Holmes Place chain, thus increasing its UK chain of clubs from 24 to 72 overnight. On 26 April 2011 it announced the takeover of UK gym operator Esporta 's 55 clubs increasing the UK business to 124 clubs. In 2013, Virgin Active expanded into the South East Asian market, first opening a club in Singapore at the heart of the CBD. Located on Level 6, Tower 2, One Raffles Place . Playing
3360-628: The administrative boundary of the municipality . The population of the whole area has been estimated to be variously at 7,860,781 in 2011 by "citypopulation.de",. Johannesburg's suburbs are the product of urban sprawl and are regionalised into north, south, east and west, and they generally have different personalities. Greater Johannesburg consists of more than five hundred suburbs in an area covering more than two hundred square miles (520 square kilometres). Although black Africans can be found throughout Johannesburg and its surrounding area, greater Johannesburg remains highly racially segregated. Within
3444-475: The area, making necessary a name and governmental organisation for the area. Jan, Johan and Johannes were common male names among the Dutch of that time; two men involved in surveying the area for the best location of the city, Christian Johannes Joubert and Johann Rissik, are considered the source of the name by some. Johannes Meyer, the first government official in the area is another possibility. Precise records for
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3528-663: The business at £1.3 billion, including debt, and the transaction was completed in July 2015. The company will continue to operate under the Virgin Active brand. In 2016, 35 clubs were sold to Nuffield Health , then in 2017, 15 clubs were sold to David Lloyd Leisure . Facing the impacts of Covid-19 and the closure of clubs in all territories during the government mandated lockdowns, in 2020 Virgin Active's revenue dropped to £224.7 million. The company began working with Allen & Overy as legal counsel and Deloitte as restructuring advisors, plus their lenders began working with Hogan Lovells and Alvarez & Marsal to help them through
3612-613: The choice of name were lost. Within ten years, the city of Johannesburg included 100,000 people. In September 1884, the Struben brothers discovered the Confidence Reef on the farm Wilgespruit near present-day Roodepoort, which further boosted excitement over gold prospects. The first gold to be crushed on the Witwatersrand was the gold-bearing rock from the Bantjes mine crushed using the Struben brothers stamp machine. News of
3696-482: The city centre. The De Wildt Cheetah Centre in the Magaliesberg runs a successful breeding program for cheetah , wild dog and other endangered species . The Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve, situated in the "Cradle of Humankind" on 1200 ha of "the typical highveld of Gauteng" also runs a breeding programme for endangered species including Bengal tigers, Siberian tigers and the extremely rare white lion . To
3780-410: The city with the number growing every year—1.2 million on pavements and sidewalks, and a further 4.8 million in private gardens. City Parks continues to invest in planting trees, particularly those previously disadvantaged areas of Johannesburg which were not positive beneficiaries of apartheid Johannesburg's urban planning. Johannesburg Botanical Garden , located in the suburb of Emmarentia ,
3864-1053: The community, social and personal services and 12% are in manufacturing. Only 0.7% work in mining. 53% belong to mainstream Christian churches, 24% are not affiliated with any organised religion, 14% are members of African Independent Churches , 3% are Muslim , 1% are Jewish and 1% are Hindu . There are Muslim mosques, Hindu temples, A Sikh Gurudwara (Sikh Temple) in Sandton and a large number of synagogues. Places of worship in Johannesburg are predominantly Christian churches: Serbian Orthodox Church , Zion Christian Church , Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa , Assemblies of God , Baptist Union of Southern Africa ( Baptist World Alliance ), Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) , Methodist Church of Southern Africa ( World Methodist Council ), Anglican Church of Southern Africa ( Anglican Communion ), Presbyterian Church of Africa ( World Communion of Reformed Churches ), Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg ( Catholic Church ) and
3948-704: The company had 350,000 members, Branson sold 55 percent of the company to Bridgepoint Capital for £40 million. In 2005, Branson bought out Bridgepoint's stake in the business for £134.5 million. It subsequently expanded its operations in 2004 to Italy. By 2005 the company had 25 clubs in the UK, 77 clubs in South Africa and 12 clubs in Continental Europe. It opened its first Australian club in Sydney in late 2008, with further clubs launched in Singapore and Thailand in 2014. On 1 November 2006 it took over
4032-421: The course of the winter months. The lowest nighttime minimum temperature ever recorded in Johannesburg is −8.2 °C (17.2 °F), on 13 June 1979. The lowest daytime maximum temperature recorded is 1.5 °C (34.7 °F), on 19 June 1964. According to the 2011 South African National Census , the population of Johannesburg is 4,434,827 people, making it the most populous city in South Africa (it has been
4116-494: The discovery soon reached Kimberley and directors Cecil Rhodes and Sir Joseph Robinson rode up to investigate the rumours for themselves. They were guided to the Bantjes camp with its tents strung out over several kilometres and stayed with Bantjes for two nights. In 1884, they purchased the first pure refined gold from Bantjes for £3,000. Incidentally, Bantjes had from 1881 been operating the Kromdraai Gold Mine in
4200-517: The eastern plateau area of South Africa known as the Highveld , at an elevation of 1,753 metres (5,751 ft). The former Central Business District is located on the southern side of the prominent ridge called the Witwatersrand (English: White Water's Ridge) and the terrain falls to the north and south. By and large the Witwatersrand marks the watershed between the Limpopo and Vaal rivers as
4284-453: The future president Nelson Mandela . At their trial, the accused freely admitted that they were guilty of what they were charged with, namely of planning to blow up the hydro-electric system of Johannesburg to shut down the gold mines, but Mandela argued to the court that the ANC had tried non-violent resistance to apartheid and failed, leaving him with no other choice. The trial made Mandela into
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#17327975922784368-408: The glistening rocks on the ridges, running with trickles of water, fed by the streams—giving the area its name, the Witwatersrand, "the ridge of white waters". Another explanation is that the whiteness comes from the quartzite rock, which has a particular sheen to it after rain. The site was not chosen for its streams, however. The main reasons the city was founded where it stands today was because of
4452-452: The gold. Indeed, the city once sat near massive amounts of gold, given that at one point the Witwatersrand gold industry produced forty per cent of the planet's gold. Parks and gardens in Johannesburg are maintained by Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo . City Parks is also responsible for planting the city's many green trees, making Johannesburg one of the 'greenest' cities in the world. It has been estimated that there are six million trees in
4536-508: The government to live separately. Work was considered to be an exception to apartheid in order to keep Johannesburg functioning as South Africa's economic capital. In the 1950s, the government began a policy of building townships for black families (prior to this unskilled workers were asked to work on "single status" in male-only hostels at the mines and had to commute to see their families in whatever province they originated) outside of Johannesburg to provide workers for Johannesburg. Soweto ,
4620-536: The gym and further having touch screen computers and other technologies placed in these predefined area's teaching the user how to do the exercise correctly. On 16 April 2015, it was reported that Virgin Group and their private equity backers had sold 80% of Virgin Active to the South African investment firm Brait, owned by the billionaire Christo Wiese . The sale price was £682 million for an 80% stake, valuing
4704-577: The high crime rate and when property speculators directed large amounts of capital into suburban shopping malls, decentralised office parks, and entertainment centres. Sandton City was opened in 1973, followed by Rosebank Mall in 1976, and Eastgate in 1979. During the 1990s, the city faced rapid growth of crime throughout large parts of the city. Some areas of skyscrapers were abandoned, many residents left their homes, and businesses moved out. Some historical buildings in central areas were destroyed by fires that spread relentlessly. Like many cities around
4788-420: The high elevation and its location in the subtropics. Winter is the sunniest time of the year, with mild days and cool nights, dropping to 4.1 °C (39.4 °F) in June and July. The temperature occasionally drops to below freezing at night, causing frost . Snow is a rare occurrence, with snowfall having been experienced in the twentieth century during May 1956, August 1962, June 1964 and September 1981. In
4872-524: The informal leadership of Col Ignatius Ferreira , was located in the Fordsburg dip, possibly because water was available there, and because of the site's proximity to the diggings. Following the establishment of Johannesburg, the area was taken over by the Transvaal government who had it surveyed and named it Ferreira's Township, today the suburb of Ferreirasdorp . The first settlement at Ferreira's Camp
4956-747: The land increased, tensions developed between the Boer –dominated Transvaal government in Pretoria and the British, culminating in the Jameson Raid that ended in fiasco at Doornkop in January 1896. The Second Boer War (1899–1902) saw British forces under Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, occupy the city on 30 May 1900 after a series of battles to the south-west of its then-limits, near present-day Krugersdorp. Fighting took place at
5040-484: The late 1970s until 1994, Soweto is now part of the Greater Johannesburg metropolitan area. An acronym for "South-Western Townships", Soweto was organised initially as a collection of nondescript settlements on the outskirts of the city, populated mostly by African labourers working in the gold mining industry. Soweto , although eventually incorporated into Johannesburg, had been explicitly separated as
5124-521: The most populous city in South Africa since at least the 1950s). From the 2001 census, the people live in 1,006,930 formal households, of which 86% have a flush or chemical toilet , and 91% have refuse removed by the municipality at least once a week. 81% of households have access to running water, and 80% use electricity as the main source of energy. 29% of Johannesburg residents stay in informal dwellings. 66% of households are headed by one person. Johannesburg's urban agglomeration spreads well beyond
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#17327975922785208-477: The name Johannesburg was first used. Surveyor Jos de Villiers surveyed Johannesburg's first neighborhood, Randjeslaagte, between 19 October and 3 November that year. Gold was earlier discovered some 400 kilometres (249 miles) to the east of present-day Johannesburg in Barberton . Gold prospectors soon discovered the richer gold reefs of the Witwatersrand offered by Bantjes. The original miners' camp, under
5292-702: The north of the city. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, tower blocks (including the Carlton Centre and the Southern Life Centre ) filled the skyline of the central business district. The system of apartheid , a comprehensive system of racial separation was imposed upon South Africa starting in 1948. For its growth, the economy of Johannesburg depended upon hundreds of thousands of skilled white workers imported from Europe and semi- and un-skilled black workers imported from other parts of Southern Africa. Though they worked together they were forced by
5376-416: The northern part of the city is drained by the Jukskei River while the southern part of the city, including most of the Central Business District, is drained by the Klip River . The north and west of the city has undulating hills while the eastern parts are flatter. Johannesburg may not be built on a river or harbour, but its streams contribute to two of southern Africa's mightiest rivers, the Limpopo and
5460-414: The north–south section of Houghton Drive (bordering Parktown and Hillbrow ). Houghton is surrounded by wealthy suburbs in all directions, except south, where Upper Houghton borders less-affluent suburbs like Yeoville and Hillbrow. Historically a wealthy area, it contains many mansions on big stands, blocks of flats , as well as office parks (developed on the sites of former homes) on streets close to
5544-682: The office parks on West Street, linking to the Rosebank Gautrain Station . The most famous resident of Houghton Estate was Nelson Mandela ; he died in December 2013 at his Lower Houghton home, which became a site of remembrance in the immediate aftermath of his death. His residence was on the corner of 4th Street and 12th Avenue. Johannesburg Johannesburg ( / dʒ oʊ ˈ h æ n ɪ s b ɜːr ɡ / joh- HAN -iss-burg , US also /- ˈ h ɑː n -/ - HAHN - , Afrikaans: [jʊəˈɦanəsbœrχ] ; Zulu and Xhosa : eGoli [ɛˈɡɔːli] ) (colloquially known as Jozi , Joburg , Jo'burg or " The City of Gold ")
5628-402: The parts of the former Transvaal province in which Johannesburg is situated. Many Sotho–Tswana towns and villages in the areas around Johannesburg were destroyed and their people driven away during the wars emanating from Zululand during the late 18th and early 19th centuries (the mfecane or difaqane wars), and as a result, an offshoot of the Zulu kingdom, the Ndebele (often referred to as
5712-402: The pool in a “distasteful” attempt to cover their tracks. Firemen also described how a man, who said he was a member of staff, had stood by filming efforts to resuscitate Carneau on his mobile telephone. Pierre Carneau, the victim's father criticised Virgin active for not apologising for the accident. He stated "It was an accident waiting to happen. If things had been done properly, I think there’s
5796-437: The population, followed by whites at 18%, coloureds at 6% and Asians at 4%. 42% of the population is under the age of 24, while 6% of the population is over 60 years of age. 37% of city residents are unemployed. 91% of the unemployed are Black African. Women comprise 43% of the working population. 19% of economically active adults work in wholesale and retail sectors, 18% in financial, real estate and business services, 17% in
5880-467: The public universities University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Johannesburg . Virgin Active Virgin Active Limited is a chain of health clubs in South Africa , Namibia , Botswana , Italy , Australia , Singapore , Thailand and the United Kingdom . Virgin Active was founded in 1999. Their first club opened in Preston, Lancashire that year. Initially headquartered in Milton Keynes , in 2013 headquarters were moved to
5964-459: The restructuring process. Following further closures as of September 2023 the number of Virgin Active gyms in the UK dropped to 32, with 23 of these inside the M25. The nine Virgin Active gyms outside London are Salford Quays, Sheffield, Nottingham, Solihull, Northampton (2), Chelmsford, Hadleigh and Brentwood. In December 2015, the South African Competition Tribunal announced that it is investigating Virgin Active's South African operations and
6048-670: The south, 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) from the city centre, is the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve home to large mammals and hiking trails. Separating Lenasia and the Soweto suburbs is the Olifantsvlei Nature Reserve protected area. Johannesburg is situated on the highveld plateau, and has a subtropical highland climate ( Köppen Cwb ). The city enjoys a sunny climate, with the summer months (October to April) characterised by hot days followed by afternoon thundershowers and cool evenings, and
6132-437: The steep and winding Munro Drive , a National Monument which has a viewpoint with a view over the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. Louis Botha Avenue, in the east of the suburb, is an important minibus taxi route linking Hillbrow to Alexandra, and, as of 2014, construction began on the expansion of Johannesburg's Rea Vaya bus rapid transit system to Louis Botha Avenue. A Gautrain bus feeder route (numbered RB5) runs past
6216-499: The war, they were replaced by black workers, but many Chinese stayed on, creating Johannesburg's Chinese community, which during the apartheid era, was not legally classified as "Asian", but as "Coloured". The population in 1904 was 155,642, of whom 83,363 were whites . In 1917, Johannesburg became the headquarters of the Anglo-American Corporation founded by Ernest Oppenheimer which ultimately became one of
6300-412: The winter months (May to September) by dry, sunny days followed by cold nights. Temperatures in Johannesburg are usually fairly mild due to the city's high elevation, with an average maximum daytime temperature in January of 25.6 °C (78.1 °F), dropping to an average maximum of around 16 °C (61 °F) in June. The UV index for Johannesburg in summers is extreme, often reaching 14–16 due to
6384-451: The world's largest corporations, dominating both gold-mining and diamond-mining in South Africa. Major building developments took place in the 1930s, after South Africa went off the gold standard. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Hillbrow went high-rise. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the apartheid government constructed the massive agglomeration of townships that became known as Soweto . New freeways encouraged massive sub urban sprawl to
6468-536: The world, there is an increasing focus on the rejuvenation of the inner city of Johannesburg. One of these initiatives is the Maboneng District located on the south-eastern side of the CBD . Originally a hub for art, it has expanded to include restaurants, entertainment venues and retail stores as well as accommodation and hotels. Maboneng calls itself "a place of inspiration—a creative hub, a place to do business,
6552-421: Was a rough and disorganised place, populated by white miners from all continents, African tribesmen were recruited to perform unskilled mine work, African women beer brewers cooked for and sold beer to the black migrant workers, a very large number of European prostitutes, gangsters, impoverished Afrikaners, tradesmen, and the " AmaWasha ", Zulu men who surprisingly dominated laundry work. As the value of control of
6636-560: Was accused of covering up the death of model and city worker Elsa Carneau, who drowned in the swimming pool at the west London club. A fire crew and paramedics tried to revive the Imperial College graduate for almost an hour before she was taken to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital , where she was pronounced dead. Westminster coroner's court heard that staff at the club administered CPR incorrectly and falsified paperwork relating to CCTV checks to pretend that they had been monitoring
6720-459: Was established as a tented camp and which soon reached a population of 3,000 by 1887. The government took over the camp, surveyed it and named it Ferreira's Township. By 1896, Johannesburg was established as a city of over 100,000 inhabitants, one of the fastest growing cities ever. Mines near Johannesburg are among the deepest in the world, with some as deep as 4,000 metres (13,000 ft). Like many late 19th-century mining towns, Johannesburg
6804-575: Was largely settled by various Sotho–Tswana communities (one linguistic branch of Bantu-speakers), whose villages, towns, chiefdoms and kingdoms stretched from the Bechuanaland Protectorate (what is now Botswana ) in the west, to present day Lesotho in the south, to the present day Pedi areas of the Limpopo Province . More specifically, the stone-walled ruins of Sotho–Tswana towns and villages are scattered around
6888-479: Was one of the host cities of the official tournament of the 2010 FIFA World Cup including the final . The metropolis is an alpha global city , as listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network . In 2019, the population of the city of Johannesburg was 5,635,127, making it the most populous city in South Africa. In the same year, the population of metro Johannesburg's urban agglomeration
6972-416: Was put at 8 million. Land area of the municipal city (1,645 km or 635 sq mi) is large in comparison with those of other major cities, resulting in a moderate population density of 2,364 per square kilometre (6,120/sq mi). Controversy surrounds the origin of the name. There were quite a number of people with the name "Johannes" who were involved in the early history of the city. Among them
7056-631: Was with seven other people in the lift, she was the only one injured in the accident, as she was the last one to step out of the lift. Following a lengthy investigation by health and safety experts Holmes Place (bought by Virgin Active) was charged with six breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act while the lift manufacturer ThyssenKrupp was charged with four breaches. In December 2011, Virgin's flagship club in High Street Kensington
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