Hunter-gatherer days:

Professor Jane Carruthers, author of Sandton – the Making of a Town, explained that a later hunter-gatherer society, the San, lived in the area. They inhabited the areas now known as Lonehill and Witkoppen.

Early 1800s:

Fast forward many years, the evacuation of the Tswana communities in the 1820s caused many to relocate. In the mid-1840s the Boers lived as farmers and created small ‘cities’ while Sandton still fell under the Potchefstroom Republic.

Dr Carruthers added that in 1852, the Sand River Convention allied the creation of an independent country called the Zuid-Afrikaanse Republiek (Transvaal). Sandton then became part of the Pretoria area.

The earlier farms of Sandton included Zandfontein, Cyferfontein, Driefontein, Rietfontein and Witkoppen.

Gold in Sandton:

According to the SA History Online, Pieter Jacobs Marais reports his discovery of alluvial gold in the Jukskei River on B J Liebenberg’s farm, Bultfontein, in 1853. This would be the same site as where the now William Nicol Drive crosses the Braamfontein Spruit.

Times before and after war:

Life changed for the then Sandtonites with the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War from 1899 to 1902. It was then that the historic Driefontein Farmhouse was built in 1906.

The Zuid-Afrikaanse Republiek now became a British colony (The Transvaal Colony).

In the 1930s, a property boom hit the area and the already wealthy residents sought after entertainment – thus introducing ‘gentlemen’s clubs’ such as the later-to-come club at the Balalaika Hotel in 1948 [See page 6 for a full history].

Suburbs such as Rivonia in 1903, Parkmore in 1904 and Sandown in 1905 were established.

School farmhouses:

The first school in Sandton according to the book, Sandton Places, by Gerald Garner, was the Rietfontein Number 15 Farm School which opened on 10 November 1903. In 1912, the principal William Stopforth moved the school to where the now Rivonia Primary School still exists.

Many farmhouses were established in those days as poorer people were able to purchase smaller parts of land, farming flowers, vegetables and raised chickens.

It is this development that contributed to Johannesburg being the largest man-made urban forest in the world.

1930s to 1960s onwards:

Transport was improved significantly between the 1930s to the 1960s which helped catapult the growth of Joburg North.

Referring to information in Dr Carruther’s book, there was a political tug of war in the 1930s.

Due to urbanisation, debates sparked about whether or not to incorporate the farming lands of Sandton into Johannesburg.

This was a war over rates and taxes, with the usual community grumbling of how funds would be allocated, seeing as there were no municipalities existing at the time.

The year 1945 marked the opening of Redhill School, followed by Sandown Primary School in 1946. After a rates boycott in 1950, development continued to blossom with St Stithians College opening in 1953 and Bryanston Primary School in 1954.

The 1960s marked yet another boom in development, with areas such as the Northern Joahnnesburg Local Area Committee (Sandown), the Bryanston Local Committee and the North-Eastern Johannesburg Local Area (Kelvin, Linbro Park and Buccleuch) had around 30 000 residents at the time.

Utility infrastructure was put in place pulling in new occupants. Of course, the William Nicol ‘highway’ was built thereby drastically transforming the area from horseback roads to a suburban Mecca.

According to Sandton Places, in January 1964

P H B Grobler came up with the idea to merge three areas (Bryanston, Sandown and

North-East) into one region.

After a red-tape-smeared commission inquiry under the Peri-Urban Areas Health Board, Sandton was finally established as a municipality in 1969.

#1

Fact

What’s in a name?

Can you imagine Sandton being called Zandfontein or even Sandpark, Sandia, Sandrand or Sandston? We can’t either!

According to Dr Carruthers, the Rand Daily Mail took it upon itself to ask the public for more suitable names. Sandown proved to be the most popular but after some debate, Sandton was chosen.