Johannesburg, South Africa — Where to Go
Johannesburg Sightseeing Overview
Sightseeing in Johannesburg may lack a distinctive iconic sight, but there is much to see. This includes vibrant Soweto, Gold Reef City Theme Park and Casino, the Johannesburg Zoo and Military History Museum, the culturally alive Newtown district, and the excellent thought-provoking Apartheid Museum.
The capital of South Africa's Gauteng province was originally built on the richest gold reef in the world: between the 1880s-1970s, the city produced 40% of all the world's gold. In the years since the mines ran ran out of ore, the city’s towering yellow dumps have gradually given way to new commercial, retail and industrial districts.
The breakdown of apartheid in the 1980s and 1990s gave black citizens, who were formerly confined to townships such as Soweto the opportunity to move into the inner-city areas. The center of Johannesburg took on an African feel again with a clamouring street life, but criminal elements also moved in, and the former privileged (white) citizens moved out to the northern suburbs.
Meanwhile new southern African migrants settled on the periphery, their makeshift shacks of scrap illustrating the chasm between the fantastically wealthy and the desperately poor that still divides this city.
Johannesburg Tourist Information
Gauteng Tourism Authority
1 Central Place, corner of Henry Nxumalo and Jeppe Streets, Mary Fitzgerald Square, Newtown
Tel: (011) 639 1600.
Website: www.gauteng.net
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1700.
The tourism authority also runs information kiosks at OR Tambo International Airport (tel: (011) 390 3602), which is open 0600-2200; at the African Craft Market in the Mall of Rosebank (tel: (011) 390 3614), daily 0900-1800; and in Sandton City Mall (tel: (011) 784 9597), daily 0900-1800.
Johannesburg Tourism Company
Grosvenor Corner, 195 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North
Tel: (011) 214 0700.
Website: www.joburgtourism.com or www.joburg.org.za
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0800-1700; Sat 0900-1300.
Key Attractions in Johannesburg, South Africa
Apartheid Museum
Johannesburg's powerful and critically acclaimed Apartheid Museum documents the implementation of apartheid by the National Party from 1948 to the release of Nelson Mandela and the birth of democracy.
Among the highlights are a room where 121 nooses hang from the ceiling, representing the 121 political prisoners executed during apartheid; footage of a remarkable 1961 interview with Nelson Mandela; and a room dedicated to the 1976 Soweto student uprising when police opened fire on defenseless children. TVs show footage from the era, reminding the visitor just how recent this slice of history is.
Corner of Northern Parkway and Gold Reef Road, Ormonde
Tel: (011) 309 4700.
Website: www.apartheidmuseum.org
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1700.
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Constitution Hill Museum
This excellent interactive museum stands on the site of the notorious old Number Four prison complex which used to process some 2,000-3,000 black prisoners a day, typically for not carrying their pass books. Famous inmates included Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi.
Original graffiti is still etched on the back of cell doors, giant pots from which the prisoners were made to feed like dogs are still encrusted with porridge, and visitors can see the dark pits where prisoners would spend up to a year in solitary confinement living off nothing but rice water. TV monitors throughout the complex display period footage and interviews with former prisoners.
Corner of Kotze and Hospital Streets, Braamfontein
Tel: (011) 381 3100.
Website: www.constitutionhill.org.za
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1700, Sat-Sun 0900-1500.
Admission charge: Y (except for Tuesdays).
Disabled access: Y.
Lesedi Cultural Village
Lesedi is a Sotho word that means ‘light' - the nickname for the founder of the Basotho nation (Lesotho), King Moshoeshoe. The 2.5 hour experience includes displays of indigenous dancing, recreated Zulu, Ndebele, Sotho, Xhosa and Pedi villages, and a meal of local cuisine at the Nyama Choma restaurant
Broederstroom, on the R512 towards Hartbeespoort Dam
Tel: 0847 940 9933.
Website: www.lesedi.com
Opening hours: Daily (1130) and evening (1630) shows, or by arrangement.
Admission charge: Y.
Soweto
Soweto (an acronym for South Western Townships) has become a symbol of victory over oppression. Nelson Mandela lived here before being sentenced to life imprisonment for treason by the former apartheid government. An intimidating labyrinth of tiny council houses, grim-looking dormitory-style, mine-worker hostels and ostentatious mansions, it was originally intended to provide temporary shelter for contract workers toiling underground in the Witwatersrand gold fields, but it's now a lively and characterful district housing around one million people.
Due to the absence of street signs and lack of safe public transport, Soweto is best visited with a tour operator that offer fascinating half-day and full-day historical tours or evening trips to the shebeens (informal pubs), with resident guides who really capture the history and character of the place.
Website: www.soweto.co.za
Gold Reef City Theme Park and Casino
Conceived to replicated downtown Johannesburg circa 1890, Gold Reef City's gold rush museums and curiosity shops have been eclipsed by the ‘largest rollercoaster in the Southern Hemisphere', a 60-table casino, the Globe Theater and the Lyric Theater. However, (literally) beneath the theme-park veneer lies a gold mine that operated from 1887-1971. Tours take visitors down a 200m (656ft) shaft where workers sweated, toiled and died. The detailed and fascinating model of the surface and subterranean installations is one of the highlights. A gold bar is poured once a day - legend has it that anyone who can pick it up with one hand can take it home with them.
Gold Reef City, Ormonde, 8km (5 miles) from city center
Tel: (011) 248 6800.
Website: www.goldreefcity.co.za
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 0930-1700.
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Newtown
Once a downtown slum, Newtown has undergone radical alterations: the creation of Mary Fitzgerald Square, the Nelson Mandela Bridge and the Metro Mall minibus terminus. The famous MuseuMAfricA and Market Theater are housed in a magnificent Victorian building that was the city's main market before the stall holders, mainly of Indian origin, were moved to the nearby Oriental Plaza, now an excellent place to savour Indian food or buy clothing and fabric at discount prices.
MuseuMAfricA, which incorporates the Bensusan Museum and Library of Photography, the Museum of South Africa Rock Art and the Bernberg Museum of Fashion, was South Africa's first post-apartheid museum. Its exhibits cover a wide range of African themes. The Market Theater hosted protest plays during the anti-apartheid struggle.
The South African Breweries (SAB) World of Beer is dedicated to the brewing process, with beer tastings at the end. There are also mock-ups of a shebeen and a honky-tonk pub.
Newtown is accessed off the M1 or over the Nelson Mandela Bridge from Bertha Street in Braamfontein to Ntemi Piliso Street in Newtown.
MuseuMAfricA
121 Bree Street
Tel: (011) 833 5624.
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 0900-1700.
Admission charge: Y.
Market Theater
121 Bree Street
Tel: (011) 832 1641.
Website: www.markettheater.co.za
Opening hours: Variable.
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
SAB World of Beer
15 President Street
Tel: (011) 836 4900.
Website: www.worldofbeer.co.za
Opening hours: Tues-Sat 1000-1800.
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Oriental Plaza
Sixth Avenue, Fordsburg
Tel: (011) 838 6572.
Website: www.orientalplaza-fordsburg.co.za
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0830-1700, Sat 0830-1430.
Admission charge: N.
Disabled access: Y.
Johannesburg Zoo
Guided day, night and ‘behind the scenes' tours can be arranged at this zoo and children are particularly well catered for. Over 2,000 animals live in its spacious vegetated plots, arranged in zones: the Spice Route (animals found in Asia), Heart of Africa (gorillas, chimpanzees and other central African species), Southern Safari (local animals), Extreme Environments (camels, polar bears and penguins) and Amazonia (animals of South America).
Corner of Jan Smuts Avenue and Upper Park Drive, Parkview
Tel: (011) 646 2000.
Website: www.jhbzoo.org.za
Opening hours: Daily 0830-1730; last entry 1600.
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Further Distractions
Johannesburg Botanic Gardens
Covering 148 hectares (365 acres) of highveld hillside rising up from the western shores of the Emmarentia Dam, this is one of the city's most tranquil spots. The dam has a yachting and canoeing club, while the gardens include a magnificent terraced rose garden (allegedly the world's largest) set among water features with a classical theme. Although a park ranger is on duty, it is not advisable to wander into remote areas unless with a group. Picnics and braais (barbecues) are permitted and there’s a restaurant.
Olifants Road, Emmarentia
Tel: (011) 782 0517.
Website: www.jhbcityparks.com
Admission charge: N.
Disabled access: Y.
Melville Koppies Nature Reserve
Just north of the suburb of Melville, this reserve protects an extensive area of typical highveld vegetation and includes archaeological remains of both Stone and Iron Age settlements, including iron furnaces. It's popular with dog walkers and birdwatchers. Melville itself is also worth exploring. Wander along bohemian Seventh Street, delve into its second-hand bookshops, antique dealers, and pavement cafés.
Entrance from Arundel Road at the north end of 3rd Avenue, Westdene
Tel: (011) 482 4797.
Website: www.mk.org.za
Admission charge: N.
Disabled access: Y.
South African Museum of Military History
Near the zoo, this small but comprehensive museum covers most periods and armaments of South Africa's military history. Displays include uniforms, tanks, artillery pieces (including the South-African-built G-6), small arms, 12 aircraft, a military submarine and CASSPIRS, the armoured personnel carriers used by security forces in the townships during black uprisings against apartheid.
22 Erlswold Way, Saxonwold
Tel: (011) 646 5513.
Website: www.militarymuseum.co.za
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1630.
Admission charge: Y.
Art galleries
Johannesburg has a surprising number of excellent galleries, ranging from the corporate to the private and the off-beat to the mainstream. The Edward Lutyens-designed Johannesburg Art Gallery houses traditional African art, contemporary South African landscapes and the interesting William Kentridge collection. The Goodman Gallery encourages contemporary South African artists, while the Kim Sacks Gallery displays traditional South African artifacts and contemporary crafts.
Johannesburg Art Gallery
King George Street (off Klein Street), Joubert Park
Tel: (011) 725 3130.
Admission charge: N.
Goodman Gallery
163 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood
Tel: (011) 788 1113.
Website: www.goodman-gallery.com
Admission charge: N.
Kim Sacks Gallery
153 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood
Tel: (011) 447 5804.
Admission charge: N.
