Benoni, Gauteng
Encyclopedia
Benoni is a city
with 654,509 inhabitants on the East Rand in the South Africa
n province
of Gauteng
. Since 2000, it has been part of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality.
to her son (who later became known as Benjamin
) in the biblical Book of Genesis. In September 1887, gold
was discovered and the Chimes Mine was established by Cornishmen. The village became known as “Little Cornwall
” for a time.
Sir George Farrar, the chairman of a mining company, undertook the planning of the rapidly growing mining town in 1904. A river was dammed to create a series of reservoirs for mine use. Today the reservoirs remain and are populated with fish; recreational activities including boating and picnicking are enjoyed by many people.
Thousands of trees were also planted in the new mining district and it was declared the township of Benoni in 1906. Most residents were British miners followed by a strong Jewish population who had suffered anti-Semitism in eastern Europe and lost all their possessions.
In 1907, the first synagogue and the Benoni Race Track were opened. This horse-racing track was breathtaking by its sheer size as compared to the small mining town in which it was situated. The first race was run on Saturday 7 December 1907 and was won by a pony named Fusy owned by Mr John (Jack) William Travis, a Jewish farrier
on the gold mines who had come from England. Two unusual prizes were awarded for that first race, a mounted golden whip for the jockey and a gold medal for the owner of the pony. John William Travis was also responsible for importing the first race horses from England.
In 1922, the Rand Revolt (or 1922 Strike) broke out throughout the mines on the Witwatersrand
and thousands of white miners went on strike. The strike was partly led by the South African Communist Party
and was not well received by the South African Government so soon after the Russian Communist Revolution
of 1917.
The strike quickly degenerated into open revolt, with armed miners fighting the South African police and army in the streets. The revolt lasted for about a year and the miners were bombed by the newly formed South African Air Force
(SAAF) during this time. Some of the SAAF aeroplanes were shot down by groundfire from the miners. During the revolt, Benoni was used as one of the headquarters of the miners and much fighting took place in and around the area. The Benoni Museum details this episode in the town’s history.
During World War II, the South African Airforce was training pilots in Benoni.
In 1957, in an effort to introduce the sport of rugby league
to South Africa, Great Britain
and France
played the first of a series of three exhibition matches in Benoni.
During the apartheid era, designated townships
for Blacks were established outside Benoni, namely Daveyton
and Wattville
. The township of Actonville was established for the habitation of Indians
, whilst Benoni proper was reserved for 'whites only'. These various suburbs remain although the town is today relatively well integrated and members of all race-groups may live anywhere they please.
was founded here in 1998.
Over time gold mining has decreased in importance. Today the town is focused more on industry and services, rather than mining, and is used as a service hub for other East Rand towns such as Brakpan, Nigel
and Springs
. Benoni is also the site of the Benoni Heliport
, for the use of helicopters.
Visitors to the town may visit the local museum, the many lakes, the Lakeside Shopping Mall (built in the shape of a Mississippi
Steamboat on one of the lakes) or Northmead Square (known as the first shopping centre to bring cinemas back to Benoni) located in the suburbs. Near Northmead Square is the Bunny Park, which contains hundreds of rabbits and other small animals and is aimed at children. Willowmoore Park
is a provincial and One Day International Cricket
venue. Sibikwa, an internationally recognised and acclaimed community theatre, has been situated in the east of the town since 1989
It is believed that Benoni has more horse stables per square kilometre than any other place in the Southern Hemisphere.
During the 1990s Benoni was the site for the WOMAD Festival (the World of Music, Arts and Dance), an international cultural festival held annually around the world and used to showcase various artists.
World famous Oscar winning actress Charlize Theron
was born in Benoni. She then moved to become a star in Hollywood, but was again seen in Benoni while promoting her movie Monster.
Benoni was also the setting for the MTV-inspired movie Crazy Monkey: Straight Outta Benoni, released internationally in 2005.
The town is currently run by the African National Congress
(ANC), with the liberal-democratic Democratic Alliance being the official local opposition. The City Hall, built in 1937, is a good example of art deco
architecture.
A resident of Benoni who actually knows his hometown and doesn't out important Benonians or a third of its suburbs.
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
with 654,509 inhabitants on the East Rand in the South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
of Gauteng
Gauteng
Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...
. Since 2000, it has been part of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality.
History
Benoni’s inauspicious beginnings were in 1881 when then surveyor-general Johan Rissik found it difficult to assign title deeds to all unclaimed state property. He named a piece of land in the area Government Farm Benoni, after the Hebrew name (meaning "son of my sorrow"), given by RachelRachel
Rachel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, is a prophet and the favorite wife of Jacob, one of the three Biblical Patriarchs, and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She was the daughter of Laban and the younger sister of Leah, Jacob's first wife...
to her son (who later became known as Benjamin
Benjamin
Benjamin was the last-born of Jacob's twelve sons, and the second and last son of Rachel in Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Benjamin. In the Biblical account, unlike Rachel's first son, Joseph, Benjamin was born in Canaan. He died in Egypt on...
) in the biblical Book of Genesis. In September 1887, gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
was discovered and the Chimes Mine was established by Cornishmen. The village became known as “Little Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
” for a time.
Sir George Farrar, the chairman of a mining company, undertook the planning of the rapidly growing mining town in 1904. A river was dammed to create a series of reservoirs for mine use. Today the reservoirs remain and are populated with fish; recreational activities including boating and picnicking are enjoyed by many people.
Thousands of trees were also planted in the new mining district and it was declared the township of Benoni in 1906. Most residents were British miners followed by a strong Jewish population who had suffered anti-Semitism in eastern Europe and lost all their possessions.
In 1907, the first synagogue and the Benoni Race Track were opened. This horse-racing track was breathtaking by its sheer size as compared to the small mining town in which it was situated. The first race was run on Saturday 7 December 1907 and was won by a pony named Fusy owned by Mr John (Jack) William Travis, a Jewish farrier
Farrier
A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves...
on the gold mines who had come from England. Two unusual prizes were awarded for that first race, a mounted golden whip for the jockey and a gold medal for the owner of the pony. John William Travis was also responsible for importing the first race horses from England.
In 1922, the Rand Revolt (or 1922 Strike) broke out throughout the mines on the Witwatersrand
Witwatersrand
The Witwatersrand is a low, sedimentary range of hills, at an elevation of 1700–1800 metres above sea-level, which runs in an east-west direction through Gauteng in South Africa. The word in Afrikaans means "the ridge of white waters". Geologically it is complex, but the principal formations...
and thousands of white miners went on strike. The strike was partly led by the South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party is a political party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa by the joining together of the International Socialist League and others under the leadership of Willam H...
and was not well received by the South African Government so soon after the Russian Communist Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
of 1917.
The strike quickly degenerated into open revolt, with armed miners fighting the South African police and army in the streets. The revolt lasted for about a year and the miners were bombed by the newly formed South African Air Force
South African Air Force
The South African Air Force is the air force of South Africa, with headquarters in Pretoria. It is the world's second oldest independent air force, and its motto is Per Aspera Ad Astra...
(SAAF) during this time. Some of the SAAF aeroplanes were shot down by groundfire from the miners. During the revolt, Benoni was used as one of the headquarters of the miners and much fighting took place in and around the area. The Benoni Museum details this episode in the town’s history.
During World War II, the South African Airforce was training pilots in Benoni.
In 1957, in an effort to introduce the sport of rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
to South Africa, Great Britain
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
and France
France national rugby league team
The France national rugby league team represent France in international rugby league tournaments. They are also sometimes referred to as "Les Tricolores" or more commonly "Les Chanticleers"...
played the first of a series of three exhibition matches in Benoni.
During the apartheid era, designated townships
Township (South Africa)
In South Africa, the term township and location usually refers to the urban living areas that, from the late 19th century until the end of Apartheid, were reserved for non-whites . Townships were usually built on the periphery of towns and cities...
for Blacks were established outside Benoni, namely Daveyton
Daveyton, Gauteng
Daveyton is a township in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality Gauteng in South Africa. It borders Etwatwa to the north, Springs to the east, Benoni to the south, and Boksburg to the West. The nearest town is Benoni, which is 18 kilometres away...
and Wattville
Wattville
Wattville is a township south of Benoni in Ekurhuleni Metropolitan municipality, Gauteng, South Africa. It was established in 1941, and by 1948, 400 houses were built on 34 hectares. After 1948, building stopped as it was threatened with destruction. This was because it was considered too close to...
. The township of Actonville was established for the habitation of Indians
Asians in South Africa
The majority of the Asian South African population is Indian in origin, most of them descended from indentured workers transported to work in the 19th century on the sugar plantations of the eastern coastal area, then known as Natal. They are largely English speaking, although many also retain the...
, whilst Benoni proper was reserved for 'whites only'. These various suburbs remain although the town is today relatively well integrated and members of all race-groups may live anywhere they please.
Benoni today
Benoni is very diverse, with people of every colour and denomination. There are over ten schools in Benoni and in some areas there is a concentration of up to 6000 students within a 5 km radius. Ashton International CollegeAshton International College
Ashton International College is an English medium school situated in Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa.-History:The school was founded in January 1998. Mr. André Buys was the proprietor and Mrs. Reena Snelling the executive principal...
was founded here in 1998.
Over time gold mining has decreased in importance. Today the town is focused more on industry and services, rather than mining, and is used as a service hub for other East Rand towns such as Brakpan, Nigel
Nigel, Gauteng
Nigel is a small gold mining town in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The town is on the edge of the area known as the East Rand, the industrial engine room of Johannesburg....
and Springs
Springs, Gauteng
Springs is a city on the East Rand in the Gauteng province of South Africa.It lies 50 km east of Johannesburg. The name of the city derives from the large number of springs in the area; it has a population of more than 200,000, and is situated at 5,340 ft a.s.l...
. Benoni is also the site of the Benoni Heliport
Heliport
A heliport is a small airport suitable only for use by helicopters. Heliports typically contain one or more helipads and may have limited facilities such as fuel, lighting, a windsock, or even hangars...
, for the use of helicopters.
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
Steamboat on one of the lakes) or Northmead Square (known as the first shopping centre to bring cinemas back to Benoni) located in the suburbs. Near Northmead Square is the Bunny Park, which contains hundreds of rabbits and other small animals and is aimed at children. Willowmoore Park
Willowmoore Park
Willowmoore Park is a multi-purpose stadium in Benoni, South Africa. It is currently used mostly for cricket matches and hosted two matches during the 2003 Cricket World Cup. The stadium holds 20,000 people and opened in 1924...
is a provincial and One Day International Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
venue. Sibikwa, an internationally recognised and acclaimed community theatre, has been situated in the east of the town since 1989
It is believed that Benoni has more horse stables per square kilometre than any other place in the Southern Hemisphere.
During the 1990s Benoni was the site for the WOMAD Festival (the World of Music, Arts and Dance), an international cultural festival held annually around the world and used to showcase various artists.
World famous Oscar winning actress Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
was born in Benoni. She then moved to become a star in Hollywood, but was again seen in Benoni while promoting her movie Monster.
Benoni was also the setting for the MTV-inspired movie Crazy Monkey: Straight Outta Benoni, released internationally in 2005.
The town is currently run by the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
(ANC), with the liberal-democratic Democratic Alliance being the official local opposition. The City Hall, built in 1937, is a good example of art deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
architecture.
Suburbs of Benoni
Benoni contains numerous attractive and tree-lined suburbs, and has a strong suburban character, quite unlike many other East Rand towns, which tend to be more industrialised. The main suburbs are:- Actonville
- Airfield
- Alphen Park
- Benoni North Agricultural Holdings
- Bredel
- Brentwood Park
- Crystal Park
- Cloverdene
- Daveyton
- Etwatwa
- Fairleads
- Farrarmere
- Goedeburg
- Lakefield
- Lakeside
- Mackenzie Park
- Morehill
- Norton Estates
- Northmead
- Northvilla
- Rynfield
- The Stewards
- Wattville
- Westdene
- Western Extension
People from Benoni
- Bryan HabanaBryan HabanaBryan Gary Habana is a South African rugby union player who plays as a wing for the Western Province in the Currie Cup, the Stormers in Super 14, and the 2007 Rugby World Cup champions Springboks...
, current SpringboksSouth Africa national rugby union teamThe South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
rugby unionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player - Brian LiebenbergBrian LiebenbergBrian Liebenberg is a South Africa-born French rugby union footballer. His usual position is at centre, where he plays for the Top 14 club, Stade Français, as well as the national team. He was a part of Stade Français' championship victory of 2004, as well as the runner-up of the French...
, current international rugby unionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player - Mildred MangxolaMildred MangxolaNontsomi Mildred Mangxola is a South African mbaqanga singer, and a singer in the acclaimed group the Mahotella Queens. Mangxola was born in Benoni, Johannesburg, in South Africa, and loved singing from a young age...
, singer and member of the Mahotella QueensMahotella QueensThe Mahotella Queens are a South African singing group formed in 1964 comprising Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola... - Jessica MaraisJessica MaraisJessica Dominique Marais is an Australian actress who hails from Perth, Western Australia. She is best known for her role as Rachel Rafter in the television series Packed to the Rafters.-Early Life:...
, actress - Brian Mitchell, boxing champion,
- Koos RasKoos RasKoos Ras was born on August 4, 1928, on a farm named Paardekop in Northern Natal Province in South Africa. As a young boy he often visited his father's neighbour , who taught him how to play a "Konsertina"....
, singer, comedian, writer and businessman - Charlize TheronCharlize TheronCharlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
, Oscar-winning actress - Gavin WilliamsGavin WilliamsGavin John Williams is a Welsh international professional footballer who is currently plays for League One side Yeovil Town.Williams' younger brother Lewis is a winger with Pontypridd RFC.-Hereford United:...
, co-creator of Crazy Monkey - Charlène, Princess of Monaco, (née Charlene Wittstock), swimmer, and consort of Prince Albert II of Monaco
- Victor Vic Anthony Toweel, undisputed World bantamweight champion and South African boxing champion. He and his brothers were known as the 'Fighting Toweels' as they'd all won various regional boxing titles acround the world and Willie Toweel won bronze medal at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki.
- Oliver Reginald Tambo, ANC, ANCYL and SACP hero during the Apartheid regime. He is one of the original co-signees (along with Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela et al) to the ANC's Freedom Charter (signed in 1955), most of which formed the preamble to South Africa's Constitution and many of the country's current policies.
- Frith van der Merwe, former schoolteacher and the most prolific female runner in the history of the Comrades Marathon. Her records in the up and down runs in the Comrades Marathon (set in 1988 and 1989 respectively) as well as her 1989 Two Oceans Marathon winning times still stand today.
- Mark Stent, DJ/Producer, Record Label Owner
A resident of Benoni who actually knows his hometown and doesn't out important Benonians or a third of its suburbs.