Johannesburg- South Africa. Johannesburg, popularly known as the "city
of gold," is a megacity and one of the 50 largest cities. It is the provincial capital
and largest city in Gauteng, South Africa's wealthiest province. The city was founded
in 1886, following the finding of gold on what had previously been a farm. Because of
the extraordinarily enormous gold mine discovered along the Witwatersrand, the population grew
to 100,000 people in ten years. Mining was the backbone of the Witwatersrand's economy,
but its relevance is steadily diminishing due to depleted reserves, and service and
industrial industries have grown in importance to the city's economy. Johannesburg is South
Africa's financial and industrial capital, with a long history of gold mining. The city
is fast changing from a seedy safari stopover to a thriving arts and culture center. Although
most of the city's gold mines closed in the 1970s, the Witwatersrand gold sector accounted
for more than 40% of global yearly gold production at the time. Rusted headgear, towering yellow-white
mine dumps, and dusty Australian bluegum trees imported for underground timbering are still
visible in the terrain. While gold mining is no longer permitted within the city borders,
the majority of mining businesses still have offices in Johannesburg. The Constitutional
Court, South Africa's highest court, is based in Johannesburg. Johannesburg is home to the
headquarters of the majority of South Africa's major corporations and banks. It was one of
the official host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and it also hosted the final.
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CITY LAYOUT Johannesburg's geography reflects nearly a
century of racially charged social engineering that peaked under apartheid (meaning "apartness"),
South Africa's system of racial segregation from 1948 to 1994. The result is a metropolis
of astonishing contrasts, with glass and steel skyscrapers and stench-filled shantytowns,
internationally renowned colleges and widespread illiteracy, sparkling wealth and dire poverty.
Central Johannesburg, South Africa's economic and financial core, is built out in a rectangular
grid plan that has remained constant since the initial city survey in 1886. Streets are
narrow and shrouded in shadow by high-rise concrete blocks, producing a tunnel-like image.
Architecturally, the city is a mishmash, the result of decades of rapid growth and a distinct
disregard for historic preservation. The original mining camp's tents and clay cottages have
vanished, as have the majority of the elegant, gabled Victorian edifices that sprung up in
the 1890s. (The Markhams Building on Pritchard Street is a notable exception.) The early
twentieth century saw the emergence of a wide range of architectural styles and movements.
Monumental Beaux Arts constructions, such as the Supreme Court building and the Johannesburg
Art Gallery, reflected the city's new status as a British Empirical outpost, while gigantic
steel-reinforced concrete structures like Corner House, the headquarters of one of South
Africa's biggest mining companies, highlighted the growing influence of American architectural
techniques and idioms. The American influence was even more visible in the 1930s "skyscraper"
trend, most notably in the 1937 ESKOM Building, a 21-story Art Deco tower designed to reflect
the vitality of New York City. (The ESKOM Building was demolished in 1983, joining a
long list of demolished landmarks.) Whatever architectural individuality the city had was
lost in the decades following World War II, as it was surrounded by a sea of unremarkable
high-rise blocks. More than 500 neighborhoods and townships
make up Greater Johannesburg, which covers more than 200 square miles. Each was designated
for a single "race group" under the principles of the 1950 Group Areas Act, the cornerstone
of urban apartheid (see below). Although the act was repealed in 1991, racial segregation
remains prevalent in Johannesburg. Black Africans can be found all across the city, but the
majority still live in "townships" on the city's outskirts, which are essentially dormitory
cities for Blacks who work in the city. Alexandra township, a 20-square-block enclave created
out of Johannesburg's white northern suburbs, is home to nearly 500,000 people. At least
three times as many people dwell in Soweto, a huge metropolitan complex 10 miles southwest
of Johannesburg. The city's small Coloured population (mixed race people) lives in townships
west of the city, while the majority of the city's Indian population (ethnic Asians: Indians,
Malays, Filipinos, and Chinese) reside in Lenasia, a special "Asian" township built
in the 1950s to house Indians forcibly removed from the city center. Whites make up the majority
of the city. Soweto was a separate city from the late 1970s
until 1994 and is now a part of Johannesburg. Soweto began as a collection of communities
on the outskirts of Johannesburg, largely populated by local African gold miners. Nelson
Mandela and Desmond Tutu previously lived in the Soweto township. Mandela's previous
home is now a museum called Mandela House. The gloomy Apartheid Museum and Constitution
Hill, a former prison complex, are two more Soweto museums that tell the story of the
battle to eliminate segregation. The character and quality of the accommodations vary. Soweto
is well-known for its unending rows of municipally constructed, two-room matchbox homes, although
it also contains a few affluent neighborhood as well as numerous squatter colonies, where
tens of thousands of people live without running water, power, or sanitation. Black migrant
workers, who have long been the backbone of South Africa's industrial labor force, are
housed in huge, single-sex hostels near the worksite or on the outskirts of Black townships.
The availability of white housing varies per suburb. Middle-class whites reside in the
modest tin-roofed bungalows and semidetached dwellings that historically housed the city's
white working class in western neighborhoods such as Brixton and Melville. In neighboring
suburbs such as Cottesloe, Vrededorp, and Booysens Reserve, home to most of Johannesburg’s
white poor, the situation is far worse. More affluent whites settle in the north, in leafy,
older towns like Houghton and Parktown, once home to South Africa's mining magnates, or
in any of a dozen newer suburbs. Large, floral gardens and swimming pools are common features
of northern suburban homes. The majority are encircled by high fences.
People and their Culture Three-fourths of Johannesburg's population
is black, less than one-fifth is white, and the majority of the rest are colored or Asian/Indian.
Such estimates, however, do not do justice to the city's multilingual population. In
Johannesburg, at least a dozen distinct languages are spoken on a daily basis. The bulk of the
white population is of English and Afrikaans heritage, although there are also significant
Portuguese, Greek, Italian, Russian, Polish, and Lebanese groups in the city. Representatives
from every ethnic and linguistic group in southern Africa make up the Black people.
Johannesburg has a vibrant, if somewhat bipolar, cultural scene. Patrons of the arts can attend
a concert by the National Symphony Orchestra before heading to one of Johannesburg's renowned
jazz clubs to hear internationally acclaimed local artists, many of whom have returned
to the city after long periods of exile. The Johannesburg Art Gallery, founded in the early
twentieth century with grants from mining magnates, houses Africa's greatest collection
of European Impressionists, while the majority of the city's dozen private galleries are
increasingly highlighting the work of African artists. The theater is thriving. While the
1,100-seat Civic Theatre presents European operas and American musicals, numerous smaller
companies foster the skills of local performers and playwrights, both white and black. A journey
to Johannesburg would be incomplete without a visit to the world-famous Market Theatre,
a multi-theatre complex built in the city's ancient produce market. All of the world's
main religions are represented, while Christianity is practiced by the vast majority of people,
both white and black. In terms of numbers, the “Zionist” churches—small, independent
African sects that merge Pentecostal Christianity and traditional ritual belief—are the most
prominent. Outdoor services are held all around the city on Sundays by Zionists dressed in
colorful robes. Government and Public services
The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, which includes delegates from all around the
metropolitan area, is in charge of local government in Johannesburg. Political leaders anticipate
that by expanding municipal limits to encompass formerly disenfranchised Black townships such
as Soweto and Alexandra, they will be able to achieve some level of income and service
equality between white and Black communities. Local bus service, fire fighting, and sanitation
remain municipal obligations, but other tasks, such as home provision in Black townships,
have been assumed by the Gauteng regional assembly. The majority of electricity is supplied
by the Electricity Supply Commission (ESKOM), a national parastatal institution; privately
owned power stations also provide some electricity to the city. Water is supplied by the Rand
Water Board. Municipal police are in charge of traffic control; the South African Police
Services are in charge of all other aspects of policing. The headquarters of the South
African Broadcasting Corporation are located in Auckland Park, west of the city center.
Commerce Johannesburg is a centre of mining, manufacturing,
and finance. All the mining houses are headquartered in the city, as is the Chamber of Mines, which
regulates the industry.From textiles to specialized steels, local factories in Johannesburg and
the East Rand produce a wide range of products. The mining industry has a substantial engineering
sector to support it. The city is home to the headquarters of nearly all of the country's
banks, insurance companies, and building societies. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange, which was
established in 1887 to raise cash for deep-level mining, now lists over 600 companies. Despite
the fact that Pretoria, South Africa's capital, is only 40 miles to the north, the majority
of state ministries are based in Johannesburg. Many foreign countries maintain consular facilities,
primarily to serve the needs of the hundreds of foreign companies that operate in the city.
Transportation Johannesburg serves as a regional, national,
and international transportation hub. Railroads and multilane motorways crisscross the metropolitan
area, transporting hundreds of thousands of commuters to and from distant suburbs and
townships on a daily basis. The Gautrain, South Africa's first high-speed train, connects
Johannesburg and Pretoria, with stops along the way; another spur connects with nearby
O.R. Tambo International Airport. Within the city, a municipal bus system operates, and
a separate, private bus operator with a state monopoly connects the city center to Soweto
and Alexandra. The latter's shortcomings have spawned a thriving local taxi sector. O.R.
Tambo International Airport, 14 miles northeast of the city centre, offers regularly scheduled
service between Johannesburg and most cities in southern Africa, as well as direct flights
to Europe, North and South America, Australia, and Asia.
Education Primary and secondary schools have a wide
spectrum of personalities. Despite the fact that racial segregation is illegal, it is
nonetheless practiced. The University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa's finest university,
is one of the higher education facilities available. “Wits” confers degrees in commerce,
arts, sciences, architecture, law, education, medicine, and dentistry. It was founded in
1896 as the South African School of Mines. There is also the University of Johannesburg,
which was founded in 2005 by the merger of Rand Afrikaans University, Technikon Witwatersrand,
and local Vista University schools. Health
Apartheid's impact on public health was possibly the most profound. Child mortality rates in
black townships are much higher, and life durations are significantly shorter than in
white neighborhoods. Tuberculosis, which has been practically eradicated among whites,
is still prevalent in townships and migrant hostels. Addressing such historical injustices
is one of the national government's primary challenges.
Johannesburg features various hospitals and clinics that were allocated for usage by specific
race groups under apartheid but are now legally open to all. The best-equipped of these is
Johannesburg General, a 2,000-bed formerly "white" hospital on Parktown Ridge that opened
in 1978. Baragwanath, a huge complex on the northern outskirts of Soweto, is Johannesburg's
and Africa's largest hospital; it serves more than 5,000 patients every day, putting a strain
on the city's scarce resources. With the end of segregation, an increasing number of whites
have resorted to pricier "private clinics," where they receive treatment comparable to
that found in a modern American hospital. Thank you for watching.if there are any tips
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