Country South Africa Area 161.50 km2 | Population 279,340 (1996) Language spoken English Founded 1884 | |
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University Monash University, South Africa campus | ||
Map of Roodepoort
Roodepoort is a city in the Greater Johannesburg area, Gauteng, South Africa. Johannesburg's most famous botanical garden, Witwatersrand National Botanical Gardens (now renamed Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden), is located in Roodepoort. Formerly an independent municipality, Roodepoort became part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in the late 1990s, along with Randburg and Sandton.
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Overview
Although Roodepoort has traditionally been regarded as being part of the West Rand, it was not made part of the West Rand District Municipality, instead being integrated into the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, following the post-apartheid reorganisation of local government in the late 1990s.
In 1884, brothers Fred and Harry Struben, having discovered gold on the farm Wilgespruit at the western end of the Witwatersrand, were granted concessions to mine the area. When George Harrison's find at Langlaagte came to light and gold fever took hold, the Strubens 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 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 and Maraisburg, Roodepoort became a city in 1977, and has since developed as one of Johannesburg's most prominently-Afrikaans-speaking districts.
Residential areas in the new developing parts of Roodepoort are expanding at a faster pace than anywhere else in South Africa. This growth is said to be fueled by various factors such as the fast-growing Black middle class, the close proximity to other large Gauteng cities and established and advanced infrastructure.
Roodepoort is home to several private and state schools, including Trinity House and Charter College.
City life
Roodepoort has seen large population growth due to Johannesburg urban sprawl. Areas of interest for entertainment include the Featherbrooke Village shopping centre which is one of the student hotspots. Roodepoort has a wide variety of restaurants and shopping centres.