Alberton is a town situated on the southern part of the
East Rand
The East Rand is a major urban area located in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is the urban eastern part of Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation. The region extends from Alberton in the west to ...
of the
Gauteng Province
Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa.
Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only 1.5% of the coun ...
in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
and is situated very close to the major urban centre of
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
.
Alberton is described as a typical suburban community, one which is primarily residential in character, with most of its workers commuting to work in nearby suburbs or cities such as Johannesburg and
Germiston
Germiston, also known as kwaDukathole, is a city in the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa, administratively forming part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since the latter's establishment in 2000. It functions as the m ...
.
History
In the early 1840s, the Voortrekkers Johan Georg (Org) Meyer and Hester Catharina Elizabeth (née Mulder) arrived in the Transvaal after moving from their home in
Prince Albert
Prince Albert most commonly refers to:
*Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria
*Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco
Prince Albert may also refer to:
Royalty
* Alb ...
, in what was then the Cape Colony.
Org sourced land and selected three farms, namely Klipriviersberg, Elandsfontein and Swartkoppies. In 1856, Johannes Petrus Meyer (better known as Jan Meyer) acquired of his father's Elandsfontein farm and built a house next to the Natalspruit, close to where the civic centre stands today. In 1890, he built a new farmhouse mansion on the opposite end of the farm that was miraculously left unharmed during the
Anglo Boer War of 1899–1902. The homestead can still be seen today from the bypassing
N12 freeway. Jan's brother, also Johan Georg (Org) Meyer, took over the farm after Jan's death. General
Hendrik Abraham Alberts, a veteran of the
Anglo Boer War, purchased a part of the farm from Org in 1904 and named it Alberton.
The Afrikaans medium primary school Jan Meyer was named for the original owner of the farm, and the affluent suburb Meyersdal also refers to the family whose original farmhouse mansion still stands on the land behind the Meyersdal koppie. The primary school Generaal Alberts, and Hennie Alberts Avenue in the suburb of Brackenhurst, are named after the town founder.
The first official
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
was opened in 1926, and in 1938 building work started on a town hall. In the same year, street names in the Alberton North suburb were renamed after
Voortrekker leaders to coincide with the 100 year commemoration of the Great Trek. A well-known landmark of the city, ABC STORE, was established in 1943 on Pieter Uys Avenue, Alberton North, and is still trading today as a general store specializing in school uniforms.
Alberton was incorporated into the
City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
The City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (; ; ; ) is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of the East Rand region of Gauteng, a large suburban region east of Johannesburg. ''Ekurhuleni'' means "place of peace" in Xi ...
governing the East Rand in the year 2000 and celebrated its centenary year in 2005.
Demographics
According to the 2011 census conducted by
Statistics South Africa
Statistics South Africa (officially the Department of Statistics South Africa, and often shortened to Stats SA) is the national statistical service of South Africa. The Department has the goal of producing timely, accurate and official statistics ...
, Alberton had a population of 121,536; but this figure excludes the black township of
Thokoza, which has a population of 105,827.
Geography
Alberton lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level on the banks of the
Natal Spruit, approximately 11 km south-east of
Johannesburg CBD
The Johannesburg Central Business District, commonly called Johannesburg CBD, is one of the main business centres of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the densest collection of skyscrapers in Africa, however, due to white flight and urban blight, ...
, 59 km south of
Pretoria
Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country.
Pretoria strad ...
and 49 km north-east of
Vereeniging
Vereeniging ( ; ) is a city located in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa, situated where the Klip River empties into the northern loop of the Vaal River. It is also one of the constituent parts of the Vaal Triangle region and was forme ...
. Organisationally and administratively, it is included in the
City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
The City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (; ; ; ) is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of the East Rand region of Gauteng, a large suburban region east of Johannesburg. ''Ekurhuleni'' means "place of peace" in Xi ...
.
Alberton is bordered by the city of
Germiston
Germiston, also known as kwaDukathole, is a city in the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa, administratively forming part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since the latter's establishment in 2000. It functions as the m ...
to the north-east, the townships of
Thokoza and
Katlehong to the east, and the city of
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
to the west and north-west.
Cityscape
The city's initial centre of development was in the area now known as Alberton North or 'Old' Alberton. The original black settlement in Alberton was in the area of the Alberton Dam. During the
apartheid
Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
era, inhabitants were moved to the surrounding black townships and a 'white' suburb was established around the dam and named Verwoerdpark, after former prime minister
Hendrik Verwoerd
Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (; 8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966), also known as H. F. Verwoerd, was a Dutch-born South African politician, scholar in applied psychology, philosophy, and sociology, and newspaper editor who was Prime Mini ...
. Over the years, development sprawled out into adjacent areas, and today Alberton is made up of 19
suburbs
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
stretching over an area of 77 km
2. The city, as per South African in whole, is no longer segregated although surrounding black townships (which are now also not exclusively black) still remain.
Suburbs
* Alberante
* Albertsdal
* Alberton North
* Alrode
* Brackendowns
* Brackenhurst
* Eden Park
* Florentia
* General Albertspark
* Mayberry Park
* Meyersdal
* New Redruth
* Newmarket Park
* Palm Ridge
* Raceview
* Randhart
* South Crest
* Sky City
* Thokoza
* Verwoerdpark
Alrode, which is Alberton's industrial suburb, was established in 1943. One of the most notable industries to be established in the town during this time was CJ Fuchs (Pty) Ltd. Venturing into the production of domestic electrical appliances under licence from the American company Westing House Electric International, the business was relocated from central Johannesburg to a newly built, modern factory in Alrode in 1948. Until the mid-seventies, CJ Fuchs (Pty) Ltd would continue to grow into a multi-million Rand operation, employing thousands of people in several subsidiary companies within the group. After Carl Fuchs' death in April 1976, the company was sold to the then Barlow Rand. In 1973, he was also the first to be admitted as a Freeman of the Town of Alberton.
The construction of the Alberton Boulevard was a major development started in the late 1980s with the aim of converting a section of Voortrekker Road that runs past the Alberton City Shopping Mall into a pedestrian-friendly zone.
Transport
Alberton has multiple access roads to some of the major freeways in the Gauteng Province such as the
R59,
N12,
N17 and
N3.
The
R59 ''Sybrand van Niekerk Freeway'' is the main highway running through Alberton, separating its western suburbs of Brackenhurst, Brackendowns and Meyersdal from the rest of the town. The regional highway connects Alberton with
Vereeniging
Vereeniging ( ; ) is a city located in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa, situated where the Klip River empties into the northern loop of the Vaal River. It is also one of the constituent parts of the Vaal Triangle region and was forme ...
,
Sasolburg and
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...
(via the
N1) to the south-west, and
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
to the north-west.
The
N12 ''Southern Bypass Freeway'' runs north of Alberton connecting the town with
Potchefstroom
Potchefstroom ( ; ), colloquially known as Potch, is an college town, academic city in the North West (South African province), North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstro ...
to the south-west and with
Benoni and
eMalahleni to the north-east. The
N17 Freeway runs north-east of Alberton connecting the town with
Springs to the north-east and the
N3 Freeway partially borders Alberton to the west at its eastern suburb of Verwoerdpark connecting the town with Johannesburg to the north-west and with
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
and
Durban
Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Situated on the east coast of South ...
to the south-east.
Local major routes in Alberton include: the
R554 (Swartkoppies Road'')'' leading north-eastwards to
Brakpan and westwards to
Lenasia
Lenasia, also known as Lenz, is a Suburbs of Johannesburg, suburb south of Soweto in the Gauteng Province, Gauteng province, South Africa, originally created to house Indian South Africans, Indians. It is located in Region G of the City of Joha ...
, the
M7 (Kliprivier Drive'')'' to Johannesburg, the
M31 (Voortrekker Road) to Johannesburg, the
M48 (Van Riebeeck Avenue) leading northwards to
Germiston
Germiston, also known as kwaDukathole, is a city in the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa, administratively forming part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since the latter's establishment in 2000. It functions as the m ...
, the
M61 (Vereeniging Road) to
Vereeniging
Vereeniging ( ; ) is a city located in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa, situated where the Klip River empties into the northern loop of the Vaal River. It is also one of the constituent parts of the Vaal Triangle region and was forme ...
, the
M94 (''Kritzinger Road/Grey Avenue'') to Germiston, and the
M95 (Nelson Mandela Avenue) to
Johannesburg South.
Sports
There are many well-established
sport
Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...
s facilities and clubs for tennis, rugby, road running,
boxing, wrestling, cricket, jukskei, netball, hockey, soccer, bowls, korfball and ring tennis in Alberton.
It is also home to the Reading Country Club and Golf Course.
Alberton was also home to the now defunct New Market Race Course, which is now a shopping mall.
Parks and greenspace
Alberton borders on the
Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve, located on Peggy Vera Road, Kibler Park, Gauteng (26°18′13″S 28°0′39″E). This reserve is home to many wild animals, including
zebra
Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), the plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. ...
,
red hartebeest
The red hartebeest (''Alcelaphus buselaphus caama''), also called the Cape hartebeest or Caama, is a subspecies of the hartebeest found in Southern Africa. More than 130,000 individuals live in the wild. The red hartebeest is closely related to ...
,
porcupine
Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp Spine (zoology), spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two Family (biology), families of animals: the Old World porcupines of the family Hystricidae, and the New ...
s,
black wildebeest,
otter
Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...
s,
blesbok
The blesbok or blesbuck (''Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi'') is a subspecies of the bontebok antelope endemic to South Africa, Eswatini and Namibia. It has a distinctive white face and forehead, which inspired the name because ''bles'' is the Afr ...
,
springbok
The springbok or springbuck (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is an antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first Species description, described by the Germa ...
,
duiker
A duiker is a small to medium-sized brown antelope native to sub-Saharan Africa, found in heavily wooded areas. The 22 extant species, including three sometimes considered to be subspecies of the other species, form the subfamily Cephalophinae ...
and 170 bird species.
There are also
Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
settlements dating from about 1500 and the ruins of a house built in 1850 by
voortrekker
The Great Trek (, ) was a northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyond the Cape's British colonial adminis ...
Sarel Marais.
File:Entrance to Klipriviersberg Reserve.jpg
File:Yellow Mongoose Klipriviersberg Johannesburg.jpg
File:Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve.jpg
File:Transvaal Girdled Lizard, Klipriviersberg, Johannesburg, South Africa.JPG
File:Gymnosporia buxifolia00.jpg
File:Black Wildebeest 2.jpg
Infrastructure
Health
Healthcare
Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...
facilities include numerous government clinics as well the privately run Netcare Alberton hospital, formerly the Union Hospital and Clinton Clinic respectively.
Notable residents (past and present)
*
Trevor Noah (Comedian)
*
Japie Mulder (Springbok rugby player)
*
Arnold Vosloo (Actor)
*
Carl Niehaus (Politician)
*
Andrew Hall
Andrew James Hall (born 31 July 1975) is a former South African first-class cricketer who played from 1999 until 2011. He played as an all-rounder who bowled fast-medium pace and has been used as both an opening batsman and in the lower order. ...
(Protea cricketer)
*
André Pretorius
André Stefan Pretorius (born 29 December 1978 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a former South African rugby union footballer that played professionally between 1999 and 2014. His usual position was at fly-half. He has been capped by his count ...
(Springbok rugby player)
*
Bernadette Coston
Bernadette Coston (born 17 August 1989, Johannesburg) is a South African field hockey player. At the 2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an internat ...
(Protea and Olympian hockey player)
*
Malcolm Marx (Springbok rugby player)
*
Ruan Combrinck
Ruan Jacobus Combrinck (born 10 May 1990) is a South African rugby union player. He plays mostly as a wing. He plays for in the Top14 in France. He previously played for the in Super Rugby, the and domestically and Kintetsu Liners in the Ja ...
(Springbok rugby player)
*
Gert van der Merwe (Paralympic athlete)
*
Marais Viljoen (State President of South Africa)
Earthquake
On June 11, 2023, Alberton experienced a notable earthquake that originated approximately 2 km from Alberton. Preliminary measurements by the
US Geological Survey indicated a magnitude of 5.0 on the Richter scale. The earthquake struck at a depth of around 10 kilometers. Residents from Johannesburg noted that it was the worst earthquake in 6 years.
Gallery
File:Alberton Civic Centre.JPG, Civic Centre looking west
File:Alberton Service Delivery Centre.JPG, Civic Centre from Alberton City rooftop
File:Alberton Post Office.JPG, Alberton main post office
File:Alberton City Entrance.JPG, Alberton City shopping centre circa 2010
File:Town Hall Alberton.JPG, Old town hall
File:Alberton Bus Station 1977.jpg, Bus Station circa 1977
File:Royal York Building Alberton.JPG, Royal York high-rise
File:Dutch Reformed Church Alberton.JPG, Dutch Reformed Church (Eeufeeskerk)
File:The Blue Mill.JPG, The Blue Mill
File:Natal Spruit.JPG, Banks of the Natalspruit
File:Sybrand Van Niekerk R59 N12 - panoramio.jpg, Reading interchange at R59 Sybrand van Niekerk/Southern Bypass
File:Alberton Rugby Stadium, 2018.jpg, Alberton rugby stadium, 2018
References
External links
Alberton web siteAlberton Blogging and Community web siteAlberton Online Community Forum and Business DirectoryAlberton moving company
{{Authority control
East Rand
Populated places in Ekurhuleni