Randfontein
| Randfontein | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 26 ° 10 ′ S , 27 ° 42 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | South Africa | ||
| Gauteng | |||
| District | West edge | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | ZA-GP | ||
| local community | Edge West City | ||
| height | 1774 m | ||
| Residents | 80,492 (2011) | ||
| founding | 1890 | ||
 Randfontein town hall
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Randfontein is a mining town in South Africa .
geography
The city is located on the western Witwatersrand , West Rand District , Gauteng Province in South Africa . It is the administrative seat of the Rand West City community, which was formed in 2016, and is located around 45 kilometers west of Johannesburg . In 2011 it had 80,492 inhabitants.
history
The city's more recent history begins with the gold discoveries in the late 1880s. Mining financier Sir Joseph Benjamin Robinson acquired the area around 1889 and founded the Randfontein Estates Gold Mining Company (REGM). In the following 100 years the REGM played an important role in the development of the city. The mine developed into one of the deepest gold mines in the world. It had a length of 16 kilometers in north-south direction. In the 1930s, it was the most profitable gold mine in South Africa.
On July 29, 1964, a passenger train derailed near Randfontein . More than 21 people died.
sons and daughters of the town
- Dolly Rathebe (1928–2004), jazz and blues singer and actress
- David Goldblatt (1930–2018), photographer
- Pieter Mulder (* 1951), politician
- Pule Patrick Ntsoelengoe (1956-2006), football player and coach
Web links
- Official website of the municipality (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ 2011 census , accessed October 4, 2013
- ^ Peter WB Semmens: Catastrophes on rails. A worldwide documentation. Transpress, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-344-71030-3 , p. 169.