A journey to discover Joburg’s four Rands

From the age of six, I have called Joburg home. I lived with my family in the south of Joburg, where the phrase “the South” was very much a part of my daily life. After my parents divorced, my dad moved to the West.

Having studied finance at university, I began working and socialising more in the North, much to my mother’s disdain. In social interactions, when the inevitable question arose of where one lived, my response of “the South” was often met with a somewhat reflexive twitch from the northerner engaging me.

I found this confusing as I struggled to relegate people to such arbitrary boxes as which side of Joburg they called home. So, to better understand the city, I decided to embark on a tour of these four Rands to get to grips, as it were, with the different facets of Joburg’s personality.

What exactly are these Rands of Joburg? Well, they are known as the North, East, South and West, with the central business district at the core. 

The term Rand (Afrikaans for reef) has its origins in the previous name for what is today mostly Gauteng — the Witwatersrand. It is a north-facing escarpment, 56km long, composed of tough quartzite rock. It has many north-flowing rivers, which form waterfalls, hence the name Witwatersrand, or “ridge of white waters”. 

Each of the four Rands refers to a loose grouping of areas. The Rands are not formally designated areas but everyone knows them and they often pop up in conversation between Joburgers — even those who semigrate to Cape Town. 

The term Witwatersrand may no longer be official terminology in 2022 South Africa, but its legacy remains.

The South Rand

If you are a guy and call the South home, you are known as a “boytjie from the South” (a young man from the South). The South is further divided into the Old South (including Turffontein and La Rochelle) and the New South (including Mulbarton and Glenvista).

Historically, many people of Portuguese descent settled in the South, particularly the Old South. Primarily immigrating from the island of Madeira, but also the former Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique, they brought skills including horticulture and commerce to South African shores. 

These skills have added to the cultural texture of the South. Well-known restaurants and corner stores abound this side of Joburg, although urban decay is an ever-present challenge, particularly in the Old South.

The South also includes significant areas of natural beauty, such as the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve. Joburg’s green heart boasts plains game such as zebra, red hartebeest and black wildebeest, just 10km from the CBD. 

The reserve is home to 230 bird species and is a hiking hotspot.

Further south, the foundations for Lenasia were laid in 1963, with the suburb used during apartheid to house Indian families who had been forcibly relocated. 

The Vanwyksrust Fort, built in 1899 and today just a pile of rubble, is in present-day Lenasia. The fort was a contemporary of the Old Fort in Braamfontein, today home to the Constitutional Court.

The Turffontein Racecourse, one of a few such bastions of entertainment from a bygone era remaining, can be found in the South. 

Just down the road is the house of serial poisoner, and the second woman to be hanged in South Africa, Daisy de Melker. 

She poisoned two husbands with strychnine to score the life insurance money and went on to sort out her son with arsenic, although no one is sure why he incurred her wrath.

The South also has one of the best networks for mountain biking and trail running in Gauteng.

Looking for a day filled with good food, great conversation and time out in nature? The boytjies, and chicks, from the South have you covered.

The North Rand

Tension exists between the North and South Rands. So, with olive branch extended, I bring in the North here. 

Some of its suburbs are Sandton, Alexandra, Bryanston, Rosebank, Randburg, Northcliff and Fourways. 

Lanseria International Airport is in this Rand, as is the ever-popular Zoo Lake. 

Traditionally, the monied Rand of the family, the North includes some of the wealthiest and most developed parts of Joburg, both from a housing and commercial point of view. 

Sandton, the heart of the North, developed rapidly during the 1990s as an alternative CBD, as the latter fell into decline. 

But the North should not be associated only with new developments. The southern section boasts leafy suburbs such as Parktown North, Parkhurst and Greenside which, together with other neighbourhoods, are collectively known as The Parks. 

Many Edwardian-style homes adorn the streets of the Parks which gives this side of town a unique feel. This in turn inspires a constant flow of new and interesting art galleries, eateries and weekend exploration destinations. 

As with much of Joburg, the North is also full of contrasts. One of Joburg’s poorest townships, Alexandra, is east of Sandton. Alex dates back to 1904 and started life as a farm. 

The legacy of apartheid, and in particular its tenets of spatial planning, conspired to devalue the lives of residents and would see poverty run rampant. 

A plan was conceived in 1980 to convert Alex into a Garden City, but after the violent Alex Six Days uprising in February 1986, sparked by an attack on residents at a funeral, the plan was permanently shelved.

Mama Africa, the legendary Miriam Makeba, was born in 1932 in Prospect Township near Westdene on the North Rand. Regarded as one of the most prominent African performers of the 20th century, she had a successful singing and recording career around the globe. 

Interestingly, the North lays claim to royalty. Leka, Crown Prince of Albania, was born in Sandton Clinic in 1982, the only grandchild of King Zog I of Albania. 

At the time of his birth, the South African government temporarily declared the maternity ward Albanian territory to ensure young Leka was born on Albanian soil. 

Rosebank hosts the famous Keyes Art Mile, home to eateries and art galleries, and down the road, the Sin + Tax Cocktail Bar. This was the only bar from Africa to make the World’s Best 50 Bars in 2019. This year, it was the only Joburg bar in the top 100. When it opened, access was gained by first obtaining a secret knock from the adjacent pizza restaurant which had to be rapped on the side-alley door.

Looking for fine dining, a stroll through a collaborative art gallery on a Sunday morning or a dive into the rich heritage of African music and culture in Alex — the North has an overload of options for you.

The West Rand

This Rand includes Roodepoort, Soweto, Randfontein, Krugersdorp and Muldersdrift. The towns of Carletonville and Westonaria are often included in the extended definition of the West Rand.

This Rand has access to the magnificent Magaliesberg and Sterkfontein Caves in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. The Maropeng Visitor Centre, with its award-winning exhibits, explains the two-million-year history of the development of humans in the area.

Kagiso Rabada, best young player in the world according to the 2018 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack (aka the Bible of Cricket), spent his early years between Mamelodi in eastern Pretoria and the dusty plains of the West Rand. 

Soweto — an abbreviation for South Western Townships — is home to more than 1.3 million residents and effectively traverses the West and South Rands.

Soweto is a largely misunderstood part of Joburg. But interesting things are happening in this area, as it seeks to define itself based on more than just its apartheid legacy. 

It is a place of renewal — urban-farming projects and pan-African culinary experiences abound, which you can explore on foot, by bicycle or even tuk-tuk. 

Residents are warm and welcoming and have stories to share with those eager to hear.

Soweto also has Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, the largest in Africa and third-largest in the world. It employs 6 760 staff, has 3 400 beds  and spans 170 acres. 

Vilakazi Street, in Orlando West, is considered the most famous street in Soweto, if not in the whole of Joburg. It is the only street in the world to produce two Nobel Prize laureates, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.

The East Rand

As the Rand I knew the least about, the East Rand was waiting to beguile me with charm and mystery. Extending to include Germiston, Bedfordview, Edenvale, Benoni, Kempton Park and Springs, many of its areas have connections to the early mining days of Joburg. 

Jewish folks and others of varied European backgrounds made their homes on the East Rand back in the day, including a large contingent of Lebanese people. 

OR Tambo International Airport, the busiest in Africa with more than 28 million travellers a year passing through its terminals in pre-Covid times, is on this Rand.

Ask any Joburger about the East Rand and more often than not the first words they utter will be The Vale — Edenvale — also referred to as the 1610 (in reference to the postal code). This talks to the deep level of camaraderie to be found in this Rand. Locals band together socially and during times of need, such as the recent lockdowns. 

Interestingly, the town of Springs, in the very east of the East Rand, claims the largest number of small-scale art deco buildings in the world, outside of Miami in the United States, which has earned it the label “art deco’s love child”. 

During the mid-1930s it was one of the six largest towns in South Africa, often mentioned in conversation alongside Joburg, Durban and Cape Town. Sadly, Springs has not continued to enjoy this level of prosperity but still makes for a great art deco walking tour.

In the early 1900s, the streets of Kensington, one of Joburg’s oldest suburbs, were planted with more than 100km of jacaranda trees by nurseryman William Nelson. Come late October each year, as the city erupts in glorious purple blossoms, Kensington puts on one of the best shows in town.

Having shared the impact that time spent in the Rands has had on me, I find myself reflecting on Joburg, the place I call home. I am thankful for her often extreme juxtapositions. It is a place that continues to inspire me through the smile of a local, or an unexpected conversation at a corner café. And in that there is beauty.