Johannesburg
JOHANNESBURG
is a fast
paced city.
Everyone
moves a few
gears
higher on
the roads
and in the
work
environment.
Jobs are
easier to
find and
relatively
better paid
than in any
part of the
country. It
is has the status as
the largest and richest city in the country.
It is the
Powerhouse
of Africa!
The
Johannesburg
Stock
Exchange
and the
presence of
major
commerce
and
industry
leaders
keep the
God Fathers
busy. There
is only
time to
amass. This priority
transcended political and racial lines: only in Jo'burg
would ambitious black Africans like
Nelson Mandela have been able to train
in a white law firm
during the
Dark Days
of
Apartheid.
Today
Nelson
Mandela
lives in
Houghton,
a trendy
upmarket
leafy
suburb in
Johannesburgh.
Don't
expect to
visit him
there, he
is now
retired and
spends more
time
relaxing
and
resting.
The
divisive
nature of
the
previous
Apartheid
Government
of the
old South Africa are as
evident here as anywhere else
in the
country.
Huge mansions in leafy suburbs are protected by high walls and razor
wire while
never
ending shanty towns
are
littered
around the
city,
housing
poor blacks
in
cardboard,
iron and
wood
dwellings.
As the new political dispensation
unfolds
there is a
burgeoning
Black
middle
class
called "Black
Diamonds".This
class is
pushing the
barriers of
economic
growth
towards new
frontiers.The
leafy
suburbs are
slowing
being
transformed.
Soweto
( South
Western
Townships)
the most
famous
township in
the world
is found in
Johannesburgh.
Blacks were
forced to
live, away
from the
CBD and the
leafy
suburbs, in
townships
in
sub-economic
dwellings
and
neighbourhoods.
Soweto, the
most
popular
tourist
destination
in
Johannesburg.
Struggle
icons like
Winnie
Mandela
lived in
Soweto.
Competition
for
resources
has created new tensions.New
Business
Districts
are created
in suburbs
with an
exodus of
shops and
entrepreneurs
moving out
of crime
ridden
CBD's.
There are
few tourist sights in Johannesburg,
shopping malls of the northern suburbs
enjoy
more
visitations.
Tour
Johannesurg
by car or
with a tour
guide.
ATTRACTIONS
Fascinating museums,
most
notably the
Museum
Africa in
Newtown.
Excellent
Art Galleries.
Suburbs have a thriving café
culture
which
transforms
to a lively
restaurant
ambience in
the
evenings.
There are
shops with
excellent
contemporary
African
Art and
Design.
Striking
Buildings
like The
Carlton
Tower
Shopping
Malls
SPORT
Ellis Park
was
the venue of South Africa's victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
FNB soccer stadium
situated on
the edge of
Soweto
remains the
main venue for the country's most popular sport.
The City
Johannesburg
is huge,
sprawling
and poorly
planned,
with few
tourist
attractions.The
central
business
district is the
Manhattan of
Africa with tall crowded office blocks lively
and street
life.
Nearby, the
Newtown Cultural Precinct is the place to head for
jazz
bars, theatre and the highly informative
Museum Africa.
INNER CITY
The inner-city
districts of
Berea and
Hillbrow
are
overflowing with
migrants from all over the
continent, and are generally no-go areas for visitors.
Yeoville, once the city's trendiest and most integrated
suburb also
falls into
this
category.
NORTHERN
SUBURBS
The city's northern suburbs, dominate the northern half of the city.
Parktown, the original home of Johannesburg's richest residents,
Rosebank,
an
easy-going
suburb with
some decent
galleries
and craft
markets
and leafy
Melville, with its trendy street cafés and
lively nightlife.
Another northern suburb is opulent
and
expansive
Sandton, full of
brand new offices
and mind-boggling
shopping malls.
This is the
home of white
middle-class
Johannesburg.
Slowly
transforming
with a
sprinkling
of
economically
empowered
Black
residents.
Some Black
residents
have been
empowered
through the
Governments
BEE
Policies.
SOWETO
Travel southwest of the
CBD, you
will reach the
world's most famous
township,
Soweto.
Home of the
poor and
the rich.
Many people
love the
township
and will
not move
elsewhere.
The most
popular
tourist
destination
in
Johannesburg,
with its
reverberating memories of the struggle against
apartheid.
This is the
home of
poor,
middle
class and
rich
Blacks.
SEE also Knysna, Pretoria,
Cape Town here...
For maps of the cities, check:
www.brabysmaps.co.za/brabys/
www.easymaps.co.za
