Johannesburg
In June 1884, Jan Gerritse Bantjes discovered the main Witwatersrand gold reef on the farm Vogelstruisfontein. This find triggered a massive migration of prospectors to the area that would become Johannesburg. By the 3rd of October 1886, the name Johannesburg was officially used for the first time. Surveyor Jos de Villiers mapped the initial neighborhood called Randjeslaagte between mid-October and early November of that same year. The original miners' camp under Col Ignatius Ferreira grew rapidly in the Fordsburg dip where water was available. Within ten years, the population surged past 100,000 people. Cecil Rhodes and Sir Joseph Robinson rode up from Kimberley to investigate the rumors themselves. They stayed with Bantjes for two nights before purchasing their first pure refined gold for £3,000 in 1884. The city became one of the fastest growing urban areas ever recorded during this period.
The apartheid government began constructing townships for black families outside Johannesburg in the 1950s. Soweto was founded as a township intended to house 50,000 people but soon held ten times that number. Thousands of unemployed rural blacks arrived seeking employment to send money back to their villages. Black Africans account for 73% of the current population while whites make up only 18%. Formerly white-only areas like Sandton are now known as Africa's richest square-mile. Lenasia is predominantly populated by English-speaking Indo-South Asians. The Group Areas Act was scrapped in 1991 allowing thousands of poor black people to move into the city proper from surrounding townships. This led to urban blight and abandoned buildings especially in high-density areas like Hillbrow. The spatial legacy remains difficult to overcome despite administrative unification in 2000.
Johannesburg produces 16% of South Africa's gross domestic product and accounts for 40% of Gauteng's economic activity. The city hosts Africa's largest stock exchange called the Johannesburg Stock Exchange though it has moved out of the central business district. Mining was the foundation of the Witwatersrand economy but its importance is gradually declining due to dwindling reserves. Most mining companies still maintain headquarters in Johannesburg even if extraction no longer occurs within city limits. The City Deep container terminal serves as Africa's largest dry port with about 50% of cargo arriving through Durban and Cape Town ports ending up here. In a 2008 survey conducted by Mastercard, Johannesburg ranked 47th out of 50 top cities globally as a worldwide center of commerce. It stands as the only African city on that list.
On the 11th of July 1963, police raided a house in Rivonia where nine members of the banned African National Congress were arrested. Their arrest led to the famous Rivonia Trial which included future president Nelson Mandela among the accused. On the 16th of June 1976, demonstrations broke out in Soweto over a government decree requiring black school-children to be educated in Afrikaans instead of English. Police fired on the demonstrations causing rioting against apartheid to spread into greater Johannesburg. About 575 people mostly black were killed during the Soweto uprising of 1976. Between 1984 and 1986 nationwide protests strikes and riots took place with black townships around Johannesburg scenes of some of the fiercest struggles between police and anti-apartheid demonstrators. Albert Street Methodist Church served historically as a refuge for activists including Albertina Sisulu.
In 2025, Johannesburg remained the world's fifth most dangerous city by crime rate. Abandoned buildings in Hillbrow have been increasingly captured by gangs. At least 76 people died when a hijacked building caught fire on the 31st of August 2023. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa launched a rescue plan in March 2025 to address rapidly declining infrastructure. The central area underwent decline in the 1980s and 1990s due to high crime rates and property speculators directing capital into suburban shopping malls. Sandton City opened in 1973 followed by Rosebank Mall in 1976 and Eastgate in 1979. Attempts to revive the CBD through initiatives like the Maboneng District have failed to halt rising crime or infrastructure deterioration. Murders amounted to 1,697 in 2007 at a rate of 43 per 100,000 inhabitants but dropped sharply to 29.4 per 100,000 by 2016.
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Common questions
When was Johannesburg officially named and who mapped the initial neighborhood?
The name Johannesburg was officially used for the first time on the 3rd of October 1886. Surveyor Jos de Villiers mapped the initial neighborhood called Randjeslaagte between mid-October and early November of that same year.
Who discovered the main Witwatersrand gold reef that triggered the migration to Johannesburg?
Jan Gerritse Bantjes discovered the main Witwatersrand gold reef on the farm Vogelstruisfontein in June 1884. This find triggered a massive migration of prospectors to the area that would become Johannesburg.
What percentage of the current population of Johannesburg is Black African?
Black Africans account for 73% of the current population while whites make up only 18%. The apartheid government began constructing townships for black families outside Johannesburg in the 1950s to house these populations.
How much of South Africa's gross domestic product does Johannesburg produce?
Johannesburg produces 16% of South Africa's gross domestic product and accounts for 40% of Gauteng's economic activity. The city hosts Africa's largest stock exchange called the Johannesburg Stock Exchange though it has moved out of the central business district.
When did the Soweto uprising occur and how many people were killed during the event?
About 575 people mostly black were killed during the Soweto uprising of 1976 which began on the 16th of June 1976. Demonstrations broke out over a government decree requiring black school-children to be educated in Afrikaans instead of English.