Johannesburg 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 and largest city of Gauteng, which is 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 is located within the mineral-rich Witwatersrand hills, the epicentre of the international-scale mineral, gold and (specifically) diamond trade.
North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng and south of Botswana.
Midrand is a former municipality in central Gauteng, South Africa. Situated in-between Centurion and Sandton, Midrand now forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.
Springs is a former independent city that is now part of the City of Ekurhuleni, based in the east of Johannesburg, in Gauteng Province, South Africa. It lies 50 km (31 mi) east of Johannesburg and 72 km (45 mi) southeast from Pretoria. Its name derives from the large number of springs in the area, and its estimated population is more than 121,610 in 2011. It is situated at 1628 m (5,340 ft) above sea level.
Boksburg is a city on the East Rand of Gauteng province of South Africa. Gold was discovered in Boksburg in 1887. Boksburg was named after the State Secretary of the South African Republic, W. Eduard Bok. The Main Reef Road linked Boksburg to all the other major mining towns on the Witwatersrand and the Angelo Hotel (1887) was used as a staging post.
Krugersdorp is a mining city in the West Rand, Gauteng Province, South Africa founded in 1887 by Marthinus Pretorius and Abner Cohen. Following the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, a need arose for a major town in the west of the reef. The government bought part of the Paardekraal farm and named the new town after the Transvaal president, Paul Kruger. Krugersdorp no longer has a separate municipal government after it was integrated into Mogale City Local Municipality along with surrounding towns. It is now the seat of government for Mogale City.
Randfontein is a gold mining town in the West Rand, Gauteng, South Africa, 40 km (25 mi) west of Johannesburg. With the Witwatersrand gold rush in full swing, mining financier JB Robinson bought the farm Randfontein and, in 1889, floated the Randfontein Estates Gold Mining Company. The town was established in 1890 to serve the new mine and was administered by Krugersdorp until it became a municipality in 1929. Apart from having the largest stamp mill in the world, Randfontein, like many of the other outlying areas of Johannesburg, is essentially a rural collection of farms and small holdings in a particularly beautiful part of Gauteng.
Fochville is a farming and mining town located in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is part of the Merafong City Local Municipality, which also includes Kokosi, Carletonville and Khutsong. The area surrounding Fochville contains Sotho or Tswana ruins. Tlokwe Ruins are the remains of Sotho-Tswana settlements on the hills surrounding Fochville that were inhabited until the 1820s. Boer War hero Danie Theron was killed 5 km north of the town. The town itself was established as an agricultural centre in 1920 and was named after the World War I commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in France, Marshal of France Ferdinand Foch.
Driefontein is the Driefontein Mine in the West Witwatersrand Basin mining field. The West Wits field was discovered in 1931 and commenced operations with Venterspost Gold Mine in 1939. In 1952, the West Driefontein mine is opened. In 1968, Kloof mine commences operations. In 1972, East Driefontein opens. In 1981, consolidation starts. In 1999, Gold Fields took control of the combined East and West Driefontein mines and merged them starting 2000 with Venterspost, Libanon, Leuudoorn and Kloof mines. In 2010, the current Kloof-Driefontein Complex, comprising KDC East and KDC West, is formed.
Khutsong is a township on the West Rand of South Africa, and scene of widespread unrest starting in February 2006. It is situated north-west of the town of Carletonville, in the Merafong City Local Municipality of the Gauteng province, just west of the Abe Bailey Nature Reserve. With a terrible history of violence and gangsterism, the main factors causing crime rates to spike up from 2011 until late 2019 are mainly high poverty rates, municipality mismanagement and corruption and the lack of employment/job creating opportunities. In 2017/18 thousands of mine workers lost their jobs due to mines shutting down.
Elandsrand is a small mining town approximately 10 km (6 mi) outside Carletonville next to Blyvooruitzicht.
Merafong City Municipality is a local municipality in the West Rand District Municipality, in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Its boundaries encloses some of the richest gold mines in the world. It is situated about 65 km from Johannesburg and is serviced by a number of major roads, including the N12 from Johannesburg to Kimberley and the N14.
Kusasalethu is a gold mine on the West Wits Line near Carletonville, Gauteng, South Africa, and 75 km (47 mi) west of Johannesburg. The Deelkraal Section of the mine is situated about 5 km (3.1 mi) to the west at 26°28′03″S27°18′36″E.
The city of Timmins, Ontario, Canada contains many named neighbourhoods. Some former municipalities that were merged into Timmins continue to be treated as distinct postal and telephone exchanges from the city core.
Blyvooruitzicht is a gold mine and gold-mining village in Gauteng, South Africa. It is situated about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of the centre of Carletonville and 80 kilometres (50 mi) westwards from Johannesburg.
Abe Bailey Nature Reserve is a protected area in the Merafong City Local Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa. It is situated near Carletonville, beside the township of Khutsong on the West Rand. It is about 4,200 hectares in size.
Ottoshoop is one of the small towns in the Mahikeng Local Municipality in the North West Province of South Africa, situated 20km from the city of Mahikeng on the way to the town of Zeerust. Residents serve the scanty needs of a few locals, underwater divers and railway users. During the town's boom years from 1879 to 1880, Ottoshoop was, however, the commercial capital of South Africa. This spirit of the town still lives on in today's commercial capital of Africa – Johannesburg. Before the Europeans' arrival in mid-1800, the area was populated by the baRalong tribe, who built extensive walls to steer game into traps.
Oberholzer is a town in West Rand District Municipality in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The town is 85 km south-west of Johannesburg, just north-west of Carletonville.
The R559 is a Regional Route in Gauteng, South Africa that connects Protea Glen with Carletonville via Randfontein.
The Wonderfonteinspruit is a small river situated in the Highveld region of South Africa. Its source has been disputed in the past, although it is now accepted that the river originates in the West Rand of Gauteng between Krugersdorp and Randfontein, at the Tudor Dam, which was initially used as a storage dam for the Luiperdsvlei Gold Plant. In the past the river received a majority of its water from karst springs along its course. The river flows through one of the richest gold-producing areas in the world, which led to the dolomitic compartments which fed the river being dewatered to make way for mining activities. This led to the drying up of the karst springs that fed the river.
