History of Johannesburg

Johannesburg is an extraordinary City, born just over 120 years ago with the discovery of gold and since then it always has been a City of Commerce and Opportunity.

Even today Joburg continues to attract those looking for opportunity – it’s a city populated by people who have come to realise their dreams of advancement and success.

Johannesburg started out as unassuming farm land in an area known as The Witwatersrand; named after the white water springsthat coursed the land. Beneath that rough but serene country was gold.

It was not until George Harrison, an Australian pioneer came prospecting for gold, that the potential for establishing a major city became apparent. In 1886, after George had sold his gold claim for just £10, Johannesburg was born. He could not have been conscious of the significant world history that would unfold here in Gauteng, place of gold.

Much like its recently declared sister city, New York, Johannesburg has always attracted diverse people and notoriety as  a place of extremes.

Johannesburg celebrated its centenary in 1996, twenty years after the student uprising in Soweto (1976), which marked the turning point in South African history.  The socio-political scenario was set to change drastically and irrevocably, with Jozi becoming a hotbed for radical economic, social and political transformation. For most Joburg citizens, the first democratic elections in 1994 signalled a peaceful transformation, the beginning of a new era.