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- Cover Page
- South Africa -
My Home Town
My parents moved from Pretoria to Roodepoort in 1970. I've started my high school years in 1971 and ever since been living in this beautifull city.Johannesburg lies west from Roodepoort while Krugersdorp is to its west. It's situated on the Witwatersrand with a tipical Highveld climate. Summer days are great but the evenings are a bit chilly while winters are mild to cold mornings with frost. The last time we had snow was in September 1981, the year of my marriage!
Our house covered with snow in Roodepoort North.
The beginning and growth of Roodepoort was due to the first discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, when in 1884, the Struben brothers discovered gold on the farms of Roodepoort, Vogelstruisfontein and Paardekraal. The resulting influx of fortune seekers and diggers speedily gave rise to the digger camps of Roodepoort, Hamberg, Florida and Maraisburg.
On October 16th 1903, a Peri-Urban Health Board was formed for these diggings, that had by now, developed into small towns.
On August 26th 1904, Municipal status was granted to these four towns under joint name of Roodepoort-Maraisburg.
At the time of its Diamond Jubilee Centenary in October 1963, the name was changed to Roodepoort. City status was granted to Roodepoort on 1st October 1977. Today Maraisburg, Discovery, Honeydew, Florida, Horison and Kloofendal to name a few, are well known residential areas of Roodepoort.
One of the two World Heritage sites in South Africa lies within the city boundries: Sterkfontein Caves. At the age of 66, Dr. Robert Broom, a colourful medical practitioner who was more interested in palaeontology and anthropology that straightforward practice of medicine, started to work at the excavations at Sterkfontein (Strong fontain). When he arrived, he found a small tea room, with a number of interesting fossils laid out on a table.
Thinking this was an informal museum, he went ahead with his inspection of the quarry face, discovering only later that the the public visited Sterkfontein on Sundays, and that the fossils were for sale. In a little booklet on Johannesburg and surroundings, the public was even invited to 'come to Sterkfontein and find the missing link'. This was soon stopped, but much invaluable material must have been lost. Broom found his adult skull and by the outbreak of the war in 1939, when his work was suspended, he had discovered 19 specimens at Sterkfontein. It was after the war that he found the almost perfect preserved cranium of a female specimen, nicknamed 'Mrs Ples', that had lived some 2,5 million years ago. Later, Mrs Ples and others of her genus were to be reclassified as Australopithecus africanus.
Witwatersrand National Botanical Garden a scenic, 300 ha garden lies within Roodepoort's boundries. Surrounding the 70 m Witpoortjie falls or also known as the Little Falls, which is the focal point of the garden, is dense riverine woodland filled with the calls - some raucous, some shrill and some sweet - of its rich birdlife. Over 180 species have been recorded, including the only pair of breeding black eagles on the Witwatersrand. The garden also supports aloes, summerrainfall protea species and other flora. Kloofendal Nature Reserve is home to indigenous trees, proteas, orchids and other flora, and includes an attractive rocky koppie.
A stone amphitheatre on the western edge is used for open-air events, and two circular walking trails take visitors past the old Confidence Reef gold-mine shaft of the brothers Struben.There are also two Game Parks close to Roodepoort, The Krugersdorp Game Reserve, grassy hills and bush-filled ravines provide a widely varying habitat for some 30 mammal species in this 1500 ha reserve on the outskirts of Krugersdorp. The Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve at The Kromdraai Conservancy which is a recreational and conservation area that has served as home to mankind for more than a million years. From high points among its 1000 ha of wind-ruffled grassland at the foot of the Swartkop Mountain, the city skyline of Johannesburg is no more than a hazy smudge in the distance. Apart from the 500 head of various mammal species there is a vulture hide which provides visitors with an oppertunity to view and capture on film the rare Cape vulture Gyps coprotheres. Deep underground, water at the source of the Crocodile River rises through layers of dolomitic rock and, over ages, has sculpted a world of caves and tunnels that became one of man's earliest homes.
There are many nature reserves, gardens and lakes around Roodepoort. The 2000 ha Hartebeespoort Dam - completed in 1923, an hours drive from Roodepoort, is a favourite playground, especially for the tired city-dwellers. Yachtsmen, anglers, windsurfers and waterskiers are among the many thousands of regular visitors, and the shores are lined with holiday and retirement homes. The dam is fed by the Crocodile and Magalies rivers. When full it covers nearly 12 square kilometers and reaches a depth of 45 meters.You can ascend to the top of Magaliesberg by means of a 1,2 km cableway, the longest cableway in South Africa that can transport people. The journey lasts for a thrilling five minutes, and from the top of the mountain there are magnificent views over the surrounding countryside.Pelindaba, South Africa's first nuclear research station is close to the southern border of the dam, situated between the hills. At the site, you will find the house where one of South Africa's best known Afrikaans writer used to live, Eugene Marais.
The village of Maanhaarrand between Breedt's Nek and Hekpoort is named for the steep rocky ridges of the Magaliesberg, which here resemble the maanhaar (mane) of a lion. The village lies in the centre of an area rich in prehistoric rock engravings - the precise origins of which are unknown. Also found in the area are the remains of hundreds of Iron Age villages - in which fragments of pottery, bone and human skeletons have been found.
Unfortunately there are only one hotel left in Roodepoort which is more than a drinking hole, but some of the Reserves do offer camping and chalets for overnight visitors. Heia Safari Ranch in the Swartkops Hills does cater for overnight visitors as well. There are budget hotels in Randburg, close to Roodepoort but there are several guest houses in our city.
Roodepoort's unique location makes it easy for a days visit to Pretoria, a weekend outing to Warmbad north of Pretoria, a recreation resort with hot spring water. Pilanesberg National Park in a volcano crater close to Sun City. The creation of Pilanesberg National Park was one of the most ambitious programmes of its kind undertaken anywhere in the world. At 500 square kilometers, Pilanesberg is the third largest game reserve south of the Limpopo River.
Roodepoort is a great place to live in. It has several modern shopping malls, several good schools and the people are just great.
