Area Profiles

Parys is a town situated on the banks of the Vaal River in the Free State province of South Africa. The name of the town is the Afrikaans translation of Paris. The name was given by a German surveyor named Schilbach who had participated in the siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War and the location next to the Vaal reminded him of Paris on the River Seine. The area of Parys also includes the two townships Tumahole and Schonkenville. In the early 1870s, towns in the northern Free State were situated very far apart and members of different churches had to travel great distances to participate in religious services. It was then decided by the Ring of the Dutch...

Benoni, town, Gauteng province, South Africa, east of Johannesburg. It is situated at 5,419 feet (1,652 m) above sea level and covers two sides of a valley that borders four lakes. Benoni was established as a mining camp after the local discovery of gold in 1887. The local mining chairman, Sir George Farrar, landscaped the valley in the early 1900s, and Benoni was officially declared a town in 1907. It is now part of the industrial complex of the Witwatersrand and is particularly noted for its iron and steel works and brass foundry. O.R. Tambo International Airport is immediately northwest. Pop. (2001) 94,341.

Brakpan is a mining town in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The name Brakpan comes from a small pan on a farm called Weltevreden, which was filled with very brackish water and was probably referred to as the "brakpan," and it was near this pan that the first settlement started. In 1888, a coal seam was discovered and a coal mine under the name of Brakpan Collieries was started. When a railway line was constructed from Germiston to Springs, Brakpan became one of the stations along the route. With gold fever running high on the Witwatersrand in the early years of the twentieth century, it was not long before gold was discovered. In 1905, Brakpan Mines...

Johannesburg colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demographia, the Johannesburg-Pretoria urban area (combined because of strong transport links that make commuting feasible) is the 26th-largest in the world in terms of population, with 14,167,000 inhabitants. 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...

Krugersdorp is an old and well-established region of Gauteng that has seen little in the way of heavy development since its establishment in 1887. This quiet mining town is divided into many areas that offer different kinds of properties to suit the pockets and the residential needs of families and young buyers. Krugersdorp properties are set on large plots with the older more traditional houses offering the largest of these. Space is something that is definitely not lacking in this West Rand area, even in the complexes and estates that offer a contrast of modern living in a town celebrated for its old and historical buildings and surrounds. It has a well-developed...

Randburg is a large city in Gauteng. Once a separate municipality, its municipal government has since become a part of the City of Johannesburg. Randburg has over 32 suburbs, most of them residential. It is an upmarket area filled with many family friendly entertainment facilities and park like areas. The residents in Randburg tend to be more affluent than most Johannesburg dwellers. Here one will witness large lavish homes and an abundance of boutiques. In fact, Randburg is well known for its plethora of shopping centres and entertainment areas, including the Brightwater Commons, Cresta Centre, NorthGate, Sanlam Shopping Centre and various others. Another...

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. Randfontein's existence dates...

Roodepoort is a beautiful, expansive residential area, located within the thriving metropolis of Johannesburg and boasting some of the city's most sought after real estate. The area is diverse, hosting immaculate suburbs, agricultural holdings and numerous businesses. This is the ideal place for families and professionals alike, with the suburbs offering a serene retreat from the hustle and bustle of inner-city life. Here you can enjoy superb vistas of the city and nature and the wide open spaces and pretty hills offer tranquility and calm. Property is often inexpensive, with many affordable gems to be found. There are currently 1193 homes on the market, which are...

Soshanguve is a township situated about 30 km north of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa along Mabopane, and Ga-Rankuwa. The name Soshanguve is an acronym for Sotho, Shangaan, Nguni and Venda, thus showing the multi-ethnic composition of the population. The major African languages of South Africa are heard in Soshanguve. The acronym divided the Soshanguve residents according to their tribe when they were resettled from Mamelodi and Atteridgeville in 1974. While this was to make admin easy for the apartheid government, it left a community divided and suspicious of each other. More than 20 years later, there are still remnants of the past but there is integration of...

Soweto is an urban settlement or 'Township' in South Africa, South West of Johannesburg, with a population of approximately 1.3 Million (2008, Joburg archive). Soweto was created in the 1930s when the White government started separating Blacks from Whites. Blacks were moved away from Johannesburg, to an area separated from White suburbs by a so-called cordon sanitaire (or sanitary corridor) this was usually a river, a railway track, an industrial area or a highway etc., they did this by using the infamous 'Urban Areas Act' in 1923. Soweto became the largest Black city in South Africa, but until 1976 its population could have status only as temporary residents,...