MEDIA RELEASE 4 October 2006 Joburg 120 The Beginnings A series of events lead to the discovery of the world's richest gold fields. For many years people suspected that there are gold resources on the Witwatersrand and prospectors had been scouring the Witwatersrand with varying degrees of success. But, gold was seen as a threat to the sovereignty of The Boer Republic (ZAR) and any claims of a payable gold discovery was silenced. In 1852 a Welshman named John Henry Davis found gold in considerable quantities on the farm Paardekraal near the present Mogale City. The President of the Boer Republic at the time, Andries Pretorius, instructed the Treasury to buy the gold and ordered Davis out of the country. Two years later Pieter J Marais, a veteran of the Californian and Australian gold rushes, found some gold in the Crocodile and Jukskei Rivers. He signed and agreement with the "Volksraad" (Government) giving him the right to continue to search for gold and other minerals in the then Transvaal in return for a reward should he find payable gold resources. However, part of the agreement was also that he would be punishable by death should he tell any outsiders of a discovery. Marais went northwards and never returned to the Witwatersrand to prospect. In spite of the ZAR government's controlling measures, more and more prospectors flocked to the Witwatersrand. Among them Lieutenant R N Lys and later his son Godfray Lys, Jan Gerritse Bantjes and the brothers Fred and Harry Struben. Harry and Fred erected a five-stamp battery (the original on display today in Goldman Street, Florida) on the farm Wilgespruit where they mined a quartz reef, which they called "Confidence Reef". What the Strubens, Bantjes and Godfrey Lys did not know was that the actual gold was not to be found in the quartz or in the alluvial diggings as was the case in other places, but in the conglomerate formation or "Banket" (so-called because the conglomerates resembled a Dutch almond-studded cake called "banket"). An outcrop of gold bearing conglomerate was found on the widow Nellie Oosthuizen's farm Langlaagte in February 1886 and this lead to official proclamation of a gold field on the Witwatersrand. Conflicting historical accounts make it impossible to know how and by who this discovery was actually made. Part of the confusion is caused by the different claims and accounts of the contributions made by the "Three Georges" - George Walker, George Harrison and George Honeyball. At the time Harrison and Honeyball were living on Harrison's aunt, Nellie Oosthuizen's farm Langlaagte where they were busy building a cottage for her. Walker was working for Fred Struben and Godfrey Lys on Wilgespruit. In an attempt to clarify matters a commission was appointed in 1941 by the then Historical Monuments Commission to inquire into the discovery of gold in the Transvaal. Their verdict was that the Strubens made the greatest individual contribution to the discovery of the Witwatersrand and that George Walker (not George Harrison, who received the "Founder Claim") was responsible for actually discovering the main reef. Joburg 120 Exhibition On the 4th October 2006, Joburg celebrates its 120th anniversary with a commemorative exhibition at MuseuMAfricA. The exhibition is a visual record tracing the development of Johannesburg's Central Business District from 120 years ago when it was simple flat, patchy grassland, interspersed with rocky outcrops. That was until gold was discovered in 1886 and a town was born, taking its shape from the largest square in the country, Market Square. The exhibition is a visual record from 1886 to the present day. The central focus is on the development of Market Square [now Beyers Naude Square]. Six blocks in all, Market Square stretched from Rissik Street in the east to Sauer Street in the west, bordered by President and Market streets. The eastern half of the square became a produce and general dealers' market, while the western half was a cattle market. Another section of the exhibition focuses on the Newtown Market at the western end of Bree Street, which was the largest building of its kind in South Africa when it opened in 1913. The building consisted of a fruit and vegetable market hall as well as a grain and forage section, a poultry market and a meat market annex. South of the building was a large open space, known as the 'Outspan', where a wagon market was conducted, with farmers being provided with accommodation for their wagons and stock. Newtown was a lively and cosmopolitan place in the best tradition of city markets everywhere. In 1974 the market was moved from Newtown to City Deep and in 1976, the City Council decided to allow the Africana Museum to use the main market hall of the old market. In 1994, MuseuMAfricA, formerly the Africana Museum) moved into this building. It is Johannesburg's major history and cultural history museum. This exhibition also showcases items of significance to Joburg as well as contemporary work of some masters of South African photography such as David Goldblatt, Leon Levson and Struan Robertson. The portraiture of Ronald Majongwa Ngilima can be seen for the first time on this exhibition. All images and objects used in the exhibition are from 'MuseuMAfricA's collection. The Randjeslaagte Beacon In preparation for the City's 120 anniversary, the Randjeslaagte Beacon was refurbished in June 2006. The structure and surrounds were pressure cleaned and a protective coating was applied by a restoration specialist. In October this year the beacon will receive a ceramic City of Johannesburg heritage plaque explaining the history and significance of the site. The original Randjeslaagte Beacon in Boundary Road, on the border of Berea And Parktown marks the apex of a triangle of land where Johannesburg first developed after the discovery of the main gold-bearing reef in 1886. The southern points of the triangle are in Commissioner Street, at the corners of End Street in the east and Ntembi Pilisio Street in the west. The original beacon marking the northern edge of the town placed there in 1886 took the form of a cairn of rocks with a white pole protruding from them. Soon after the beacon was declared a national monument in 1965, it was covered in a concrete layer. A series of bronze plaques were placed on the beacon, but the structure became neglected and run-down in later years, and the plaques were stripped away by thieves. The Joburg 120 initiative to revive the beacon will restore the dignity and integrity of one of the City's oldest relics. Curator: Rita Potenza Opens 4 October 2006 - 5h30 at MuseuMAfricA, Bree Street, Newtown