Johannesburg is a city that takes on many names—Jozi, Mzanzi, Joburg, Joeys—depending on how you feel. Most commonly, Johannesburg is known as Egoli or the City of Gold. Though its birth can be attributed to the discovery of gold in 1886 by Australian prospector George Harrison, Johannesburg was only officially declared a city in 1928. Since then, it has welcomed an influx of new prospectors from around the world, seeking new fortune in the high-stakes gold rush of its economic hub. As the
As it steadily sits on the periphery of the world’s largest gold deposit, expanding rapidly to accommodate its insatiable growth, remnants of Johannesburg’s past can still be seen in the clusters of Dutch, British-colonial and Marxist architecture of its city centre, and in the old mine dumps strewn across the city, often seen from its rambling highways. Though Johannesburg is arguably believed to have been named after two
I spent a glorious time at the the 12 Decades Hotel while traveling solo in South Africa a few years ago. One great thing about it was that there was so much to do on the same block. The ground floor has an art gallery, movie theater, a live theater, and a cafe. Plus, I enjoyed the restaurant with live music next door.