Johannesburg … get closer to the city
We all know that South Africa’s Johannesburg has a poor reputation when it comes to crime, leading many visitors to use it merely as a jumping-off point to the wild coasts and safaris hundreds of kilometres away, but let’s check out what the city itself has to offer the holidaymaker.
The largest and arguably the most cosmopolitan city in South Africa, Johannesburg has transformed itself from a former gold mining town into the country’s commercial centre.
Offering a fabulous mix of theatres, restaurants and culture, Johannesburg – or Jo’burg as it’s known by locals – buzzes with a beat many feel is lacking from its more popular rival for visitor affections, Cape Town.
There’s no doubting that Jo’burg suffers from some well-publicised demons – most notably a reputation for crime that ensures many visitors adopt a fly in-fly straight out approach.
But before you shrink away in fear, Jo’burg has undergone something of a renaissance over the past few years. Crime levels are steadily improving as a result of the new Metro Police force and the thousands of security cameras in the city centre.
Jo’burg city centre has been completely rebuilt four times since its founding in 1886, with one of the major attempts at revitalisation being the downtown Market Theatre Complex – home to the South African Breweries Museum, Workers Museum and MuseumAfrica. The latter charts the progress of the city from pre-Gold Rush days through to the apartheid era.
Many visitors are eager to experience life in one of Jo’burg’s many townships. Known as shanty towns or slums, these sprawling spots can be home to millions of people. Perhaps the most famous township is the 120 sq km Soweto Township, which is unofficially home to four million people.
Originally designed as a place to house black mine workers and those who served the whites as domestic helpers, Soweto is a monument to the fall of apartheid and a growing Black South African scene. It’s worth picking up an organised tour with guides rather than attempting to go it alone, both in terms of safety, directions and information.
Just outside the city limits, there is a host of beautiful nature reserves and parks bursting with native wildlife, plants and trees, so escape the bustling city and experience a totally different side of South Africa. One of the most famous reserves is the Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is home to enormous limestone caves and some of the oldest hominid fossils ever found – some dating back 3.5 million years. The Cradle, which lies 45 minutes drive from Jo’burg, in the rural valley of Sterkfontein, is best-known for being the first point from which humans originated.
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(Image credit – www.sxc.hu/profile/LotusHead)
