Status Complete Completed 1971 Antenna spire 269 m (883 ft) Opened 1971 | Opening 1971 Height 270 m Cost 10 million USD Construction started 1968 | |
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Similar Ponte City Apartments, Sentech Tower, Carlton Centre, Nelson Mandela Bridge, Constitution Hill - Johannesburg | ||
The Hillbrow Tower (JG Strijdom tower) is a tall tower located in the suburb of Hillbrow in Johannesburg, South Africa. At 269 m (883 ft), it has been the tallest structure and tower in Africa for 45 years, and it was also the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere until 1978, when surpassed by the 270 m Mount Isa Chimney in Queensland, Australia. Construction of the tower began in June 1968 and was completed three years later, in April 1971. Construction cost 2 million Rand (at the time, US$2.8 million). The tower was initially known as the JG Strijdom Tower, after JG Strijdom, South African Prime Minister from 1954 to 1958. On 31 May 2005 it was renamed the Telkom Jo'burg Tower.
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Map of Hillbrow Tower, Banket St, Johannesburg, 2038, South Africa
The tower was constructed for South African Posts & Telecommunications, which later became Telkom, South Africa's government run and the country's largest telecommunications company. As the general height of buildings rose in the central business district, it became necessary that the height of the new telephone tower stayed above the height of the buildings surrounding it.
Tourist attraction
The Hillbrow Tower has been closed to visitors since 1981, primarily due to security reasons. Before the closure, the Hillbrow tower was one of the largest tourist draws in Johannesburg. The public was able to enter six public floors at the top of the tower. One of the floors housed a popular revolving restaurant named Heinrich's Restaurant, as well as another non-rotating restaurant known as the Grill Room and the observation floor which was at 197 m height.
During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, a huge football was fitted to the tower to celebrate the event. In 2013, television programme Carte Blanche broadcast from what used to be the revolving restaurant.
The Hillbrow Tower is one of two iconic towers that are often used to identify the Johannesburg skyline. The second tower, the Sentech Tower (Albert Hertzog Tower), is used for television and radio transmissions.