Brakpan, Gauteng
Encyclopedia
Brakpan is a 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...

 and uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...

 mining town with 346,735 inhabitants in the 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...

 province of 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...

. The name Brakpan was first used by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in the 1880s because of a non-perennial lake that would annually dry to become a "brackish pan".

History

The name Brakpan comes from a small pan on a farm called Weltevreden, which was filled with very brackish water and was probably referred to as the " brakpan" and it was near this pan that the first settlement started. In 1888, a coal seam was discovered and a coal mine under the name of Brakpan Collieries was started. When a railway line was constructed from Germiston to 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...

, Brakpan became one of the stations along the route.

With gold fever running high 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...

 in the early years of the twentieth century, it was not long before gold was discovered. In 1905, Brakpan Mines Company sunk its first two gold mining shafts. One of its claims to fame was that it had the highest mine dump in the world at that time, its height being 120 metres (393.7 ft) above ground level. This was higher than any of the pyramids of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 except the Pyramid of Cheops.

From that moment the village began to grow rapidly, remaining a suburb of Benoni
Benoni, Gauteng
Benoni is a city with 654,509 inhabitants on the East Rand in the South African province of Gauteng. Since 2000, it has been part of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality.- History :...

 until 1912 when it was granted the status of a municipality and proclaimed as a town. Brakpan's central position in makes it a good distribution centre for industry, especially engineering works and foundries. More recently the municipality allowed the building of a huge casino (Carnival City) and entertainment complex, which opened the town to tourists and provided much-needed jobs for the people.

The first activity which drew people to the area was the British coal mining in 1888 and the large coal powered power station also built by the British. A tram line to Johannesburg was built at this time to service the power station.

The Main Reef Road linked Brakpan to all the other mining towns in 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...

. Brakpan was a suburb of Benoni from 1914-1919 when it was granted municipal status. The Brakpan miners were involved in the miners' strike of 1922
Rand Rebellion
The Rand Rebellion was an armed uprising of white miners in the Witwatersrand region of South Africa, in March 1922, sparked off by their intensified exploitation by their employers. Jimmy Green, a prominent politician in the Labour Party, was one of the leaders of the strike...

. The town has gradually lost its importance as a gold mining area as the surrounding mines become low yield / high cost. Many British residents emigrated during the apartheid era leaving a vacuum in the town which was filled by Afrikaner farmers who had lost interest in farming.

Expansions to the town in the early 1990s (example Brakpan North) and the opening of the Casino complex Carnival City have done little to dispel its conservative image.

Part of Ekurhuleni. The main street is Prince George
Prince George
-British princes:* Prince George Augustus, later George II of Great Britain * Prince George William of Great Britain , son of George II* Prince George William Frederick, later George III of the United Kingdom...

 Rd. It is situatued between 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...

 and Benoni
Benoni, Gauteng
Benoni is a city with 654,509 inhabitants on the East Rand in the South African province of Gauteng. Since 2000, it has been part of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality.- History :...

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