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Top Attractions in Mogale City

Cradle of Humankind

The Cradle of Humankind is a World Heritage Site first named by UNESCO in 1999, about 50 kilometres northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa in the Gauteng province. This site currently occupies 47,000 hectares; it contains a complex of limestone caves, including the Sterkfontein Caves, where the 2.3-million-year-old fossil Australopithecus africanus was found in 1947 by Dr. Robert Broom and John T. Robinson. The find helped corroborate the 1924 discovery of the juvenile Australopithecus africanus skull, "Taung Child", by Raymond Dart, at Taung in the North West Province of South Africa, where excavations still continue. The name Cradle of Humankind reflects the fact that the site has produced a large number of, as well as some of the oldest, hominin fossils ever found, some dating back as far as 3.5 million years ago. Sterkfontein alone has produced more than a third of early hominid fossils ever found prior to 2010.

Swartkrans

Swartkrans is a South African National Heritage Site, around 20 miles from Johannesburg. Swartkrans is a farm near to Sterkfontein, notable for being extremely rich in archaeological material, particularly hominin remains. It was purchased by the University of the Witwatersrand in 1968. The oldest deposits present at the site are believed to be between 1.8 and 2 million years old. Some of the earliest evidence of controlled use of fire by humans can be found at Swartkrans, up to 1.5 million years ago. Fossils discovered in the limestone of Swartkrans include Telanthropus capensis Paranthropus and Homo habilis Noted paleontologist Robert Broom was a frequent digger. He was followed by C. K. 'Bob' Brain whose excavations at the site inspired his book The Hunters or the Hunted? in which he demonstrated that instead of being bloodthirsty killer apes, the hominin fossils found at the site were themselves victims of predation by big cats. Swartkrans is part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.

Rising Star Cave

Rising Star Cave is located in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site near Krugersdorp in South Africa. It became notable in October 2013 for the more than 1200 hominid fossil elements recovered and catalogued from November 7 to November 28, 2013, representing at least a dozen individuals. Only 20 out of 206 bones in the human body were not found in the cave as of Summer, 2014. By April 2014, between two localities, 1724 specimens were recovered. The exploration of the cave was unusual for the media interest it generated, for its real-time coverage in the social media such as Twitter and YouTube, and for the large number of international palaeontologists, anthropologists and archaeologists who converged on the site. The work was jointly sponsored by Witwatersrand University and the National Geographic Society, and though at its launch the project was geared to the recovery of a single skeleton, it soon became apparent that decades of work lay ahead. The site and its fossils was discovered on 13 September 2013 by two cavers, Steve Tucker and Rick Hunter, as part of an exploration organised by geologist Pedro Boshoff. Lee Berger, who subsequently became the project leader, was first notified on 1 October 2013 about the find. Berger then arranged funding for the expedition which commenced on 7 November. The rich lode of ancient hominid fossils came from a chamber called UW-101 some 30 metres below the surface, and accessible with difficulty through a long, narrow crack about 18 cm wide. The work of retrieving the fossils was carried out over a period of 3 weeks by a team of 6 female researchers, K. Lindsay Eaves, Marina Elliott, Elen Feuerriegel, Alia Gurtov, Hannah Morris, and Becca Peixotto, chosen for their slight build, paleoanthropological expertise, and caving experience. They were supported by cavers from the Speleological Exploration Club of South Africa. Updates were provided live on Twitter by Lee Berger, John Hawks, Elen Feuerriegel, and Lindsay Eaves while the team leaders monitored the activities on a CCTV system. The 1200 pieces retrieved came from soft, damp dirt in an area of only one or two square metres, and excavated to a depth of 10 or 20 cm. By the time the excavation was closed down, it became apparent that thousands of bones were still in place, including articulated remains, and that the greater part of the fossil trove had not been touched. The quality and completeness of the fossils is better than anything found to date. A collaborative workshop took place on May 2014, the first of its kind in the field of paleoanthropology. It included early-career scientists in the processing, analysis, and interpretation of the fossil remains. The large number of individuals found in a tiny underground chamber, though, invites speculation on the cause. The cave system has been previously visited by recreational cavers. The site itself is only 800m from the archaeological site Swartkrans, where there is the oldest evidence of fire use by humans. On February 20, 2014 it was announced that a second, possibly unrelated, fossil hominin site was found in the cave complex. The site, designated UW-102 was found by cavers Rick Hunter and Steve Tucker on the last day of the first Rising Star Expedition and evaluated in February 2014 by Rick Hunter, Lee Berger, John Hawks, Alia Gurtov, and Pedro Boshoff.

Sterkfontein

Sterkfontein is a set of limestone caves of special interest to paleo-anthropologists located in Gauteng province, about 40 km Northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa in the Muldersdrift area close to the town of Krugersdorp. The archaeological sites of Swartkrans and Kromdraai are in the same area. Sterkfontein is a South African National Heritage Site and was also declared a World Heritage Site in 2000 and the area in which it is situated, was named the Cradle of Humankind. The Sterkfontein Caves are also home to numerous wild African species including Belonogaster petiolata, a wasp species of which there is a large nesting presence. Numerous early hominin remains have been found at the site over the last few decades. These have been attributed to Australopithecus, early Homo and Paranthropus.

Magaliesburg

Magaliesburg is a small town situated below the Witwatersrand mountain range in Gauteng, South Africa. The Magaliesberg mountain range is north and visible from town, hence the name "Magaliesburg". Burg is the Afrikaans name for Town whereas Berg is for mountain. The town and surrounds are popular holiday and weekend destinations for the residents of Johannesburg. With more than 100 accommodation venues and a great variety of activities, this small village at the foot of the Magalies Mountain is the ideal escape for city dwellers. Magaliesburg is the home of the oldest mine in Gauteng. At The Blaauwbank mine gold was discovered there more than 100 years ago. Besides tourism, the main income generating activity of Magaliesburg and the surrounding area is agriculture. Beef, Maize, and large scale vegetable farming are most prevalent. The village has become a very attractive option for city dwellers who wish to live closer to nature. Homesteading is popular with many individuals and families going out of their way to be as self-sufficient as they are able. As this is a very difficult goal for most, there are a lot of Magaliesburgers who live in the area but commute to JHB or Pretoria for income generating employment.

Kromdraai Conservancy

Kromdraai Conservancy is a protected conservation park located to the south-west of Gauteng province in north-east South Africa. It is in the Muldersdrift area not far from Krugersdorp. Its name is derived from Afrikaans meaning "Crooked Turn" after a kink in the meandering Crocodile River. It was established to protect the caves, old gold mines, fossil sites, trout farm and a game reserve in the area. The caves in the area, known as the Sterkfontein caves have an extensive number of fossils and dolomite caverns. A well known fossil site is also named Kromdraai and it, along with such sites as Sterkfontein, Coopers, Swartkrans and Plovers Lake form part of the conservancy. Part of the Kromdraai conservancy also falls within the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, proclaimed by UNESCO in 1998.
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