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Top Attractions in Johannesburg

Nelson Mandela Bridge

Nelson Mandela Bridge is a bridge in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was completed in 2003, and cost R102-120 million to build. The proposal for the bridge was to link up two main business areas of Braamfontein and Newtown as well as to rejuvenate and to a certain level modernise the inner city. The bridge was constructed over 42 railway lines without disturbing railway traffic and is 284 metres long. There are two pylons, North and South, and are 42 and 27 metres respectively. Engineers tried to keep the bridge as light as possible and used a structural steel with a concrete composite deck to keep weight down. Heavier banks along the bridge were reinforced by heavier back spans. The bridge consists of two lanes and has pedestrian walk-ways on either side. The bridge can be viewed from one of Johannesburgs most popular roads, the M1 highway. In June 2010, the bridges lighting was upgraded by Philips for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The new LED lighting technology alternates between the colour spectrum, creating a light show at night. Due to copper wiring being stolen from the bridge, tighter security measures have been put in place, including full 24-hour video surveillance of the bridge. A bridge linking Braamfontein to the Johannesburg city centre was first mooted by Steve Thorne and Gordon Gibson, urban designers, in 1993 in their urban design study of the Inner City of Johannesburg. In their study they named the bridge the Nelson Mandela bridge in recognition of the role Nelson Mandela was having in uniting South African society, and the symbolism of linkage and unity provided by the bridge.

Johannesburg Civic Theatre

Johannesburg (also known as Jozi, Jo'burg, eGoli, and Joeys, and abbreviated as JHB) is the largest city in South Africa. It is the provincial capital of Gauteng, which is the wealthiest province in South Africa. The city is one of the 50 largest urban agglomerations in the world, and is also the world's largest city not situated on a river, lake, or coastline. The city was named and established in 1886 following the discovery of gold on what had been a farm. The name is attributed to one or all of three men involved in the establishment of the city. In ten years, the population was 100,000 inhabitants. While Johannesburg is not one of South Africa's three capital cities, it is the seat of the Constitutional Court, which has the final word on interpretation of South Africa's constitution as well as with issues in connection with constitutional matters. The city is the source of a large-scale gold and diamond trade, due to its location on the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range of hills. In 2011, the population of the city of Johannesburg was 4,434,827, making it the largest city in South Africa. In the same year, the population of Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area was 7,860,781. Some view the area surrounding the city of Johannesburg yet more broadly than the Metropolitan Area, adding Ekurhuleni, West Rand and Lenasia; that larger area had a population of 10,267,700 in 2007. The land area of the municipal city 1,645 km2 is large in comparison with those of other major cities, resulting in a moderate population density of 2,364/km2 (6,120/sq mi). A separate city from the late 1970s until the 1990s, Soweto is now part of Johannesburg. Originally an acronym for "South-Western Townships", Soweto originated as a collection of settlements on the outskirts of Johannesburg, populated mostly by native African workers from the gold mining industry. Soweto, although eventually incorporated into Johannesburg, had been separated as a residential area for blacks, who were not permitted to live in Johannesburg proper. Lenasia is predominantly populated by English-speaking South Africans of Indian descent.

Westpark Cemetery

Westpark Cemetery is a large cemetery in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is the resting place of some of the countrys well-known citizens. It is a non-denomination designated burial ground, and thus has Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Chinese burial areas. It was opened in 1942, and historically was part of one of Johannesburgs original farms, Farm Waterval, which was purchased in 1887 by two Geldenhuys brothers in the hope of finding gold. While they did not find gold, Louw Geldenhuys employed Boer War veterans to build the Emmarentia Dam, and leased smallholdings with fruit trees. There are also specific areas for servicemen who have died in the line of duty. This cemetery contains war graves of 617 Commonwealth service personnel of World War II, mostly burials from military hospitals and an airfield, besides 21 non-Commonwealth war graves and seven non-war graves that are in care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The cemeterys main Military Plot contains the Johannesburg Cremation Memorial to 69 Commonwealth service personnel cremated at Johannesburgs Braamfontein Crematorium during the same war. In 1993, 13 hectares were donated to the city for public recreation and, eventually with the other sections, became the Johannesburg Botanic Gardens, Marks Parks Sports Club and the Westpark Cemetery. Today, the sprawling cemetery is the resting place of thousands of Johannesburg residents, and has separate Chinese, Muslim, Christian and SANDF burial areas. Many ornate gravestones and mausoleums can be found throughout the park. Westpark is an active cemetery, as burials are still allowed and performed.

Ruimsig Stadium

Ruimsig Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Roodepoort, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is used mostly for football matches and is set to be used as a training field for teams participating in the 2010 FIFA World Cup after being renovated in 2009 and brought up to FIFA standards. At the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, Iraq used Ruimsig Stadium for their training sessions. The stadium hosted an international friendly between Australia and Denmark, and one between the USA and Australia on 5 June 2010. Ruimsig Stadium was constructed in 1994 at a cost of R24 million as an international Athletics venue to the latest IAAF standards at the time. The track is an 8 lane full polyurethane track with duplicate facilities in both directions for all field events. Between 1995 and 2001 it hosted a number of international Athletics meetings including an IAAF Grand Prix Athletics Meeting in April 1995 as the opening event of the track [O'Neil Fourie, Stadium Designer and Project Manager Ruimsig Stadium]. The venue forms part of a multi-sport events complex which was designed so that sporting codes that require access to open land and open water can also be staged at this venue, and the events that have taken place include Road Running, Cross County Running, Triathlon, Duathlon, Mountain Biking, Off-road Triathlon, Road Cycling and model aeroplanes. The terrain was also designed to accommodate BMX, model cars and moto cross, although the various managers have at different times not always allowed motorised sport. The annual Urban Assault Mountain Bike Race at the stadium attracts up to 2,000 participants and has been running for ten years. The facilities for the other sporting codes planned on the site have never been completed, and there are two Cricket ovals, two Football pitches, and a Hockey pitch that are grassed and in use, but the spectator seating and clubhouses planned for these facilities have never been constructed. The master plan also includes a multi-purpose indoor hall, Tennis courts, Netball courts, and multi-purpose courts, but the platforms for these facilities are used as grassed events areas for the start and finish of mountain bike races, etc.

Wanderers Stadium

The Bidvest Wanderers Stadium is a stadium situated just south of Sandton in Illovo, Johannesburg in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Test, One Day and First class cricket matches are played here. It is also the home ground for the Highveld Lions, formerly known as Gauteng . The stadium has a seating capacity of 34,000, and was built in 1956 to replace the Old Wanderers Stadium. It was completely overhauled following South Africa's readmission to international cricket in 1991. In 1996, five new 65 metre high floodlight masts replaced the existing four 30 metre high masts enabling day-night limited-overs cricket. It is nicknamed 'The Bullring' due to its design and intimidating atmosphere. The ground is among the most historically significant cricket grounds of the twenty-first century. It has staged some of the most important matches in ODI and T20I history, and has witnessed a number of outstanding world records. The 2003 Cricket World Cup final was held at the Wanderers Stadium. This stadium also hosted one of the greatest One-day international matches. The match was played between South Africa and Australia in which a world record score of 434 was chased down by South Africa. It hosted matches of the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 including the first match and the final which was won by India, who defeated Pakistan. On 1 October 2004, the Wanderers Clubhouse was virtually destroyed by fire. At that stage it was known as Liberty Life Wanderers, but as from the 2008/09 season, Bidvest Group took up the sponsoring of the ground, thus it became its present-day name of BIDVest Wanderers Stadium. The pitch is considered very bouncy on cracks and dangerous for batting as acknowledged in 2009 ICC Champions Trophy and teams like Pakistan and Sri Lanka have always struggled there. The stadium had also hosted the 2009 Indian Premier League's second semi-final and the final in which the Deccan Chargers beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore to grab the championship title. The Wanderers Stadium also hosted a rugby union test match in April 1980 between South Africa and the South American Jaguars while Johannesburg's normal venue, Ellis Park Stadium, was being redeveloped. In a T20 played on 11 January 2015, between West Indies and South Africa, West Indies chased a world record score of 236 in any T20 International cricket match. On 18 January 2015, the Wanderers stadium saw South Africa's AB de Villiers break the 19-year-old record for fastest ODI half-century, previously held by Sanath Jayasuriya, by making 50 off 16 balls against the West Indies. In the same match, he also broke Corey Anderson's fastest ODI century record by making 100 off 31 deliveries. He finished on 149, caught on the boundary in the final over, scored off 44 balls with a strike rate of 338.63. He also equalled Rohit Sharma's record for most sixes in an innings with 16 sixes.

Witwatersrand

The Witwatersrand is a 56-kilometre-long north-facing scarp in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite sedimentary rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which account for the name “Witwatersrand”, meaning the “ridge of white waters” in Afrikaans. This east-west-running scarp can be traced with only one short gap from Bedfordview in the east, through Johannesburg and Roodepoort, to Krugersdorp in the west (see the diagram bottom-left below). The scarp forms the northern edge of a 7- to 10-kilometre-wide plateau which rises about 200 m above the surrounding plains of the Highveld. The entire plateau-like structure is also often called the “Witwatersrand”. The plateau’s elevation above sea-level is between 1700-1800 m. The Witwatersrand plateau forms a continental divide with the run-off to the north draining into the Indian Ocean via the Crocodile and Limpopo Rivers, while the run-off to the south drains via the Vaal into the Orange River and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean. The Witwatersrand lies within the province of Gauteng, formerly called the “PWV”, an acronym for Pretoria, "Witwatersrand" and Vereeniging. When used in this latter context, the term Witwatersrand refers to the entire Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area. This conurbation is oblong in shape and runs from Springs in the east to Randfontein and Carletonville in the west, as well as Soweto to the south. This area is also often colloquially referred to as “the Rand” or “Wits”. Because of the extraordinary quantities of gold that have been extracted from the Witwatersrand rocks, the South African currency was named the “Rand” in 1961.

Ellis Park Stadium

Ellis Park Stadium is a rugby union and association football stadium in the city of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It hosted the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which was won by the country's national team, the Springboks. The large stadium was the country's most modern when it was upgraded in 1982 to accommodate almost 60,000 people. Today, the stadium hosts both football and rugby, and is also used as a venue for other large events, such as open-air concerts. It has become synonymous with rugby as the only time when rugby was not played at Ellis Park was during 1980 and 1981 when the stadium was under construction during an upgrade. The stadium was originally named after Mr J.D. Ellis, who made the area for the stadium available. A five-year ZAR 450 million naming rights deal was signed in 2008 with The Coca-Cola Company, resulting in the stadium being renamed to Coca-Cola Park between 2008 and 2012. League, provincial, and international football games have all been played at the stadium, and it has seen such teams as Brazil, Manchester United and Arsenal play. Ellis Park Stadium is the centerpiece of a sporting sector in the south-east of Johannesburg, where it neighbours Johannesburg Stadium , Standard Bank Arena, Ellis Park Tennis Stadium, and an Olympic-class swimming pool. Ellis Park is home to the following teams: Lions (Cats until September 2006), Super Rugby Southern Hemisphere rugby competition Golden Lions, Currie Cup domestic rugby competition Cricket matches were held at the stadium in the past. It hosted six Test matches between 1948 and 1954, but it has not been used for first-class cricket since New Wanderers Stadium opened in 1956 and is now used only for rugby and soccer.

Ellis Park Stadium disaster

The Ellis Park Stadium disaster was the worst sporting accident in South African history. On 11 April 2001, spectators poured into the Ellis Park Stadium in the city of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, for the local Soweto derby association football match between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. There was already a 60,000 capacity crowd in the stadium, but reports suggest a further 30,000 fans were still trying to gain entry to the stadium. Reports also suggest that 120,000 fans were admitted into the stadium. An Orlando Pirates equaliser sparked a further surge by the fans trying to gain entry as they scrambled to see what had happened. As the crowd surged to gain seats and see the pitch, they overspilled into press boxes. As the stampede pressed forward, 43 people were crushed to death. Apparently untrained security guards firing tear gas at the stampeding fans exacerbated the situation, and may have been the cause of some of the deaths. The South African Police Department denies these claims. The final inquiry into the incident concluded that a major cause was bribed security personnel admitting fans without tickets into the stadium and poor crowd control. When it became apparent what had happened, the match was halted and the crowd was dispersed. The bodies were laid out on the pitch for identification and medical attention, but none were revived. It is the worst sporting accident in South African history. The second worst, the Oppenheimer Stadium disaster, mirrored this one as it involved the same two teams. Forty-two people died in 1991 in a stampede after too many fans were admitted to Oppenheimer Stadium in Orkney, a provincial town some 200 kilometres from Johannesburg.

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