Johannesburg
Johannesburg, the business and financial capital of South Africa, developed after the discovery of the Main Reef by George Harrison and George Walker on the farm Langlaagte in March 1886. The site of this significant discovery can be seen in George Harrison Park, about 11 km west of the city centre. The discovery of gold resulted in a rush of fortune-seekers, and a shanty town of over 2 000 inhabitants sprung up. Laid out on the farm Randjieslaagte, the settlement was named after Johann Rissik, an official in the office of the Surveyor-General of the Transvaal Republic, and Christiaan Johannes Joubert, chief of mining and a member of the Volksraad (Parliament).
Also known as eGoli, a Sotho name meaning ‘city of gold’, Johannesburg 3 is a vibrant, cosmopolitan city, and its attractions are many and varied. Among the most important are Gold Reef City and Soweto, South Africa’s most famous black city – comprising 27 townships and 30-odd informal settlements. Tours of Soweto have become popular, and a number of outfits offer such excursions. MuseumAfrika, in the city centre, focuses on the peoples of southern Africa, and incorporates the Geological Museum, Museum of South African Rock Art and the Bensusan Museum of Photography. Johannesburg’s other museums focus on themes as diverse as the history of the dynamite industry and music to Judaism, period costumes and military history.
Popular outdoor attractions include the 100-ha Herman Eckstein Park, with its zoological gardens, Melville Koppies, an important archaeological site, Delta Park and Melrose Bird Sanctuary. There are several cultural villages in close proximity to the city centre, among them Phumangena Zulu Kraal, Lesedi Cultural Village and Sibaya Zulu Kraal. Also of cultural interest is the Gertrude Poset Gallery with its fine collection of beadwork, masks, headdresses and other forms of African art from southern, central and western Africa. The city also has a wide range of galleries, jazz clubs, restaurants and theatres to choose from.
http://www.southafrica.org.za/tour-sa-egoli-and-surroundings.html
