Roodepoort ( ) is a city in the

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, 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 f ...

province of

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 ...

. Formerly an independent

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, Roodepoort became part of the Johannesburg municipality in the late 1990s, along with

Randburg Randburg is an area located in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Formerly a separate municipality, its administration devolved to the newly created City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, along with neighbouring Sandton and Roodepoort ...

and

Sandton Sandton is a financial, commercial and residential area, located in the northern part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Formerly an independent municipality, Sandton's name came from the combination of two of its suburbs, Sa ...

. Johannesburg's most famous

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand (, ; ; locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, w ...

National Botanical Gardens (now renamed

Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden __NOTOC__ The Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden, previously known as the Witwatersrand National Botanical Garden, is a botanical reserve in western Roodepoort, near Johannesburg, South Africa. History The garden was formally establis ...

), is located in Roodepoort.

History

In 1884, brothers Fred and

Harry Struben Harry Struben, born Hendrik Wilhelm Struben and also known as Henry William Struben (9 October 1840, Lower Rhine, Germany – 18 October 1915, Rosebank, Cape Town), was a South African randlord. He was the brother of Frederick Struben; togethe ...

, having discovered

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

on the farm Wilgespruit at the western end of the

, were granted concessions to mine the area. When George Harrison's find at ''Langlaagte'' came to light and gold fever took hold, the Struben brothers were joined by a swarm of gold diggers. Other areas such as ''Maraisburg'' were prospected and mined by A.P. Marais and at ''Florida'', the owners were van der Hoven, Bantjies and Lys. Though the Struben brothers' ''

Confidence Reef Confidence Reef is a historical gold-bearing quartz vein situated within the Kloofendal Nature Reserve, in close proximity to Roodepoort, South Africa. Discovery The Confidence Reef was discovered by Fred Pine Theophilus Struben and his broth ...

'' bore little gold and their mine was unprofitable, the ramshackle town that grew around it became the Roodepoort Municipality in 1904. Incorporating the towns of Hamburg,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and Maraisburg, Roodepoort became a city in 1977, and has since developed as one of Johannesburg's most predominantly

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

-speaking districts.

Geography

Roodepoort is located approximately 20 kilometres west 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 ...

on the western

rural-urban fringe Peri-urbanisation relates to the processes of scattered and dispersive urban growth that create hybrid landscapes of fragmented and mixed urban and rural characteristics. Such areas may be referred to as the rural–urban fringe, the outskirts ...

of the Greater Johannesburg

metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

and at the gateway to the West Rand. It is bordered by Cosmo City to the north,

to the east,

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

to the south and

Krugersdorp Krugersdorp (Afrikaans for ''Kruger's Town'') is a mining city in the West Rand, Gauteng Province, South Africa founded in 1887 by Marthinus Pretorius and Abner Cohen. Following the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, a need arose for a ...

to the west.

Economy

Retail

Roodepoort has seen large population growth due to Johannesburg

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...

. There are two major malls in the area - Clearwater Mall, the most upscale in Roodepoort, and Westgate Mall, the largest and oldest. Also found in the area is the Hillfox Centre and the Strubens Valley strip malls, which are both large retail centres. The CBD of the city has shifted from its historical center to a location adjacent to the N1 highway & 14th Avenue interchange in Constantia Kloof. Regional headquarters of banks, a large hospital, various office parks and two hotels are found in the new CBD. Roodepoort still has a large industrial sector along the Main Reef Road ( R41) to

Randfontein Randfontein is a gold mining town in the West Rand, Gauteng, South Africa, west of Johannesburg. With the Witwatersrand gold rush in full swing, mining financier Sir Joseph Robinson, 1st Baronet, JB Robinson bought the farm Randfontein and, in ...

. A number of logistical firms work from the area as well as other light industry.

Sport

The city has a large golf course called Ruimsig Country Club in the suburb Ruimsig. Another smaller golf course is the Jackel Creek Golf Estate. In between the two, there is a links golf course Eagle Canyon. Further south in Roodepoort is the CMR Golf Club. Roodepoort Athletics Stadium is also found within the city. It has three mega private gym facilities owned by Virgin Active and Planet Fitness.

Parks and greenspace

The Roodepoort area has numerous parks and green areas.

, formerly known as the Witwatersrand National Botanical Garden, is a 300 hectares (3.0 km²) botanical reserve with grass parks, natural cliff face and waterfall. Another large greenspace is the Kloofendal Nature Reserve, a 128ha park with trails, amphitheatre, dam and small wild

mammals A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle e ...

. Further to the south is Florida Lake with its bird life and related aquatic activities.

Law and government

Government

Although Roodepoort has traditionally been regarded as being part of the West Rand, it was not made part of the

West Rand District Municipality The West Rand District Municipality (; ; ; ) is one of the districts of the Gauteng province of South Africa, that covers the West Rand area, with the exception of Roodepoort. The seat of the district municipality is Randfontein. As of 2011, the ...

, instead being integrated into the

City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality () is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. It is divided into several branches and departments in order to expedite se ...

, following the post-

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 ...

re-organisation of local government in the late 1990s.

Education

University

In 2001, Monash University Australia opened a campus in Roodepoort called Monash South Africa (MSA). The university pulled out of

in 2018 but sold the university to the Independent Institute of Education. Monash South Africa is now the IIE MSA offering the same qualifications as the old Monash University.

Transport

Roads

The N1 ( Western Bypass) is the main

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

providing access to Roodepoort and connects the city with

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 ...

to the south and

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 ...

to the north. Roodepoort is connected to the N1 by Albertina Sisulu Road, Gordon Road and 14th Avenue. Three regional routes intersect Roodepoort including the east–west R41 (Main Reef Road) connecting with

and

, the east–west R24 (Albertina Sisulu Road) connecting with

and

, the north–south R564 (Christiaan de Wet Road) connecting with

and

. There are also a number of metropolitan routes within the Greater Johannesburg metropolitan region that serve Roodepoort including M6 (John Vorster Road) to Randburg, M8 (14th Avenue) to

, M18 (Ontdekkers Road) to Johannesburg and Krugersdorp, M47 (Hendrik Potgieter Road) to Krugersdorp (via the R28), M77 (Dobsonville Road) to

and the M86 (Wilgerood Road) to Krugersdorp.

References

External links

{{Authority control West Rand Johannesburg Region C 1884 establishments in the South African Republic