Johannesburg. Introduction for a South African tour.

Odyssey Traveller’s small group tour of Southern Africa, for couples and solo travellers, spends several days in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Soweto, with a tour leader and local guides who share their knowledge of this complex and fascinating region. Johannesburg is the fourth stop on the itinerary, after Cape Town, Oudtshoorn and Knysna on the Garden Route. The city tour takes in Constitution Hill, home of the Constitutional Court, and at the end of the tour we return for a half-day in Soweto, including the Kliptown memorial where the Freedom Charter was adopted in 1955.

Johannesburg is located in South Africa’s smallest and most densely-populated province, Gauteng, which owes much of its development to the discovery of gold in 1886. Gold and the associated economic development has made it the economic pulse of the country. It is thought of as a “smart” province, with fine academic establishments, advanced technology and Southern Africa’s most sophisticated financial markets. Gauteng’s bustling metropolitan centres are Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Johannesburg, or Joburg, is the most populous and largest city in South Africa with a population of 5.6 million. Most travellers enter South Africa via O.R.Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Gauteng province to commence their Africa tour, be it an adventure or safari tour. Gauteng is a Sotho word meaning ‘Place of Gold’. Today Gauteng is known as the economic powerhouse of Southern Africa. It is considered a dynamic, cosmopolitan, colourful, fast-paced and fun city yet unmistakeably African.

Johannesburg is one of the youngest of the world’s major cities. Settlement began in Johannesburg in 1886 when gold was discovered in the Witwatersrand by an Australian prospector, George Harrison, who later, it is believed, sold his claim for £10. Witwatersrand is a 56 kilometre long, north-facing scarp that consists of a hard, erosion resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls. This accounts for the Afrikaans name meaning ‘ridge of white waters’.

What happens next becomes part of the shared history with travellers on a great South Africa tour program, because it is the stories shared by the tour guide that make the trip. As in California and Australia, the discovery of gold spurred a feverish gold rush of fortune hunters from all over the world. People from all parts of Africa came to work the gold fields as contract labourers. The government of the Boer Republic established a city at the site and by 1890 it was the largest settlement in South Africa. Several large mining companies had taken control of the mines, creating huge fortunes for the owners who were mostly English-speaking newcomers. Tensions between the mine barons and the Transvaal’s Boer government—fed by British colonial aspirations in the region—led to the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902. By its end, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State were under British control. By the end of the war, the population of Johannesburg was 100,000.

Aerial view of the Johannesburg skyline and downtown

In the early 20th century, the British colonial government began to force blacks from the inner city to the outskirts, starting the process of racial separation that became known as Apartheid or ‘apartness’. These settlements were largely unplanned and conditions were substandard. The poor conditions under which the city’s black majority lived led to protests and strikes including a 1920 strike by 70,000 black mine workers.

The population of blacks around the city doubled during the 1930s and 1940s with the growth of manufacturing and when many white workers were in the military during World War II. The growth in numbers and the appalling conditions encouraged the beginnings of a movement of black nationalism that led to a backlash after 1948, when the National Party came to power and implemented legislated apartheid; in 1960 the main black opposition organisations were banned. A further reaction came in the 1960s when hundreds of thousands of blacks were relocated from Johannesburg to ‘homelands’ and their movements were strictly regulated by pass laws.

The catalyst that finally overthrew apartheid and white minority dominance came on 16 June 1976, when South African police fired on a student protest in the black township of Soweto. This sparked a month long protest of violence that spread throughout South Africa. The unrest continued through the 1980s and in 1984, violence erupted in the Johannesburg townships. Finally, black militancy, the releasing of Nelson Mandela and the effects of international sanctions toppled the apartheid regime and led to South Africa’s first democratic elections of 1994.

Following the election and the removal of the apartheid laws the black townships have slowly been integrated into the city once more and blacks have moved into formerly white districts in the city centre and inner suburbs of Johannesburg. However, the city still faces many challenges, including a serious crime problem and de facto segregation as many whites, and rich blacks, have retreated to gated communities in the wealthy enclaves of Sandhurst, Rosebank, Parktown, Dunkeld and Westcliff to the north and northeast of the city. Justice Malala, an award-winning journalist and political analyst, says ‘Johannesburg is the bastard child of the worst aspects of capitalist greed and 20th-century racism’.

What is there to do and see in Johannesburg?

Shopping

For many visitors, shopping in Johannesburg is good value. Johannesburg is one of the major retail centres in Southern Africa. There are street traders, 20 shopping malls with the Carlton Centre, the Small Street Mall, the upscale Hyde Park Mall and the huge Sandton City Shopping Centre being the most popular.

Accommodation

Not all sections of central Johannesburg are safe to walk around alone and never at night. Care must be taken, and if you are travelling on an Odyssey small group tour your tour leader will advise on where to go. There are hotel cities located on the four sides of Johannesburg, usually built around a casino. These are safe and pleasant, if somewhat bland. They have many swimming pools, restaurants, shops, function centres and hotels. The suburbs where the malls are located also have good restaurants and upscale hotels catering for tourists and overseas business people.

Sport

With the end of apartheid and international sanctions, South Africans returned to international sports. Most popular are the Olympic Games and Rugby Union World Cup. Rugby was traditionally an Afrikaner sport, but blacks have gradually been welcomed. Ellis Park can seat about 62,000 for rugby games. Football (soccer) is the favourite sport of black South Africans. Soccer City (FNB Stadium) near Soweto is built in the shape of a calabash or African cooking pot and can hold about 94,000 spectators. There are cricket grounds and cricket is becoming more popular, although it was once an exclusively Anglo sport.

Parks and Gardens

Greater Johannesburg has more than 600 parks and green spaces, mostly in the suburban areas. The Braamfontein Spruit Trail winds for about 25 kilometres through Johannesburg, Randburg and Sandton and links a number of municipal parks including the 100 hectare Florence Bloom Bird Sanctuary.

Museums and Galleries

The Everard Read Gallery in Rosebank is a commercial gallery exhibiting a variety of works by South African artists including landscapes and traditional tribal art. Museum Africa has an outstanding section on the history of Johannesburg including squatters’ shacks and homemade weapons. The Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg is a wonderful, modern museum showing the impacts of apartheid. The Lesedi Cultural Village is an hour from Johannesburg and showcases people of Zulu, Xhosa, Pedi, Ndebele and Basotho origin. Visitors can see different villages, taste different foods and watch an energetic and colourful performance. Another fascinating place is the Cradle of Humankind at the Sterkfontein Caves, about an hour from both Johannesburg and Pretoria. Within the caves scientists discovered many hominid and other animal fossils, dating back to the birth of humankind.

On Odyssey Traveller’s Southern Africa Tour, Johannesburg is one stop on a 19-day route that begins in Cape Town, follows the Garden Route to Knysna, flies north to Johannesburg and Pretoria, then continues to Kruger National Park, the Panorama Route, Victoria Falls and Chobe National Park in Botswana before returning to Johannesburg. Our guide to the 19-day route follows the whole journey, and we have also written about the Garden Route and Soweto.