Witwatersrand+Gold+Rush+(1886)

The Witwatersrand Gold Rush was the founding event for the town of Johannesburg in 1886. The rush occurred at Witwatersrand, a escarpment, or an eroded, steep cliff, in the province of Gauteng. It is believed that an Australian man by the name of George Harrsion discovered the central gold-bearing reef in the area and soon after claimed the reef officially with the South African government of the time. However, he then sold his claim for a measly ten pounds and then vanished off the face of the Earth. Once the news of a gold reef reached other parts of the world, people came in flocks to mine themselves a share. In a ten year span, the town of Johannesburg was created and became the largest town in South Africa, out-populating the record holder of the time, Cape Town.

Whenever a new site of gold was discovered in the area, another mining camp formed for those willing to mine to occupy. These camp sites would later merge into one, later become the city of Johannesburg. Hundreds of fortunes seekers arrived at these mining camps every week. Three groups of people came to be in the camps: the miners, the laborers, and indirect profiteers. The miners did what their title implies; they mined out the gold in order to come out with a huge profit. The laborers also came for a profit, but did not settle permanently and usually headed home once they’d accumulated enough gold to satisfy their money needs. Finally, the indirect profiteers were the people who did not mine, but rather sold goods and offered other services in the camps, such as barbers or lawyers.

The gold rush came with its consequences too. The event is a direct cause of the Second Boer War, a war based around the denial of rights and heavy taxation to the foreigners and miners of Johannesburg. Today, the reef is known as George Harrison Park and in 1994 was declared a national monument.