If you are a resident of Johannesburg and have ever had visitors come to stay, be they local or foreign, you have probably been confronted with the conundrum of what to do and where to take them to get a real feel for the history of the place.

On the surface, it may seem that there is a distinct lack of major museums and heritage sites in the city and residents are often stumped when trying to think of worthwhile attractions to visit beyond the obvious Apartheid Museum, Museum Africa and, dare I say, Gold Reef City.

I was confronted with a similar conundrum a few weeks ago, when a Swiss friend, a first-time visitor to Southern Africa, came to stay for a few days after what had been an epic road trip through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Now my friend, being Swiss, had done thorough research on the city’s tourist offerings and decided the City Sightseeing Joburg and Soweto Red Bus experience would be his best option. Admittedly, despite being a self-proclaimed Joburgophile and tourist attraction aficionado, I had never done the City Sightseeing route of Johannesburg. So, I jumped on the proverbial bandwagon and accompanied my Swiss visitor for the day. Kudos must be given to the trademarked City Sightseeing initiative, for, in every city I have done that particular bus tour, the experience has always been enjoyable and fascinatingly informative. This is certainly true of the Joburg tour.

The route focuses on the historical heart of Johannesburg and weaves through Marshalltown, Newtown, Braamfontein, the city centre, La Rochelle, Turffontein and Ormonde. (Soweto is done as part of a separate tour.)

While on the bus, passengers are able to listen to the history of gold mining in Johannesburg as well as the historical narrative of the various suburbs and sites of significance that are passed along the route. The audio history is incredibly well researched and accurate and offers tourists fascinating snippets of the city’s chequered past.
Although every one of the 11 stops on the route offers interesting attractions and experiences, by far the most fascinating and worthwhile stop, especially in terms of the city’s mining history, is the ‘Mining District Walk’, in Marshalltown.

The focal point of this walk is Main Street Mall, which runs along the heart of South Africa’s corporate mining district. Apart from being home to many South African mining icons, such as the Anglo American Corporation, the Chamber of Mines, BHP Billiton and the former JCI, Main Street Mall is also host to a very informative outdoor museum, which is dotted with various artefacts and a plethora of information boards that portray and explain aspects of the history and legacy of mining in this country.

The highlight of the open-air museum must certainly be the Langlaagte Stamp Battery. In fact, it is one of the most historic pieces of mining equipment on the Witwatersrand, having been erected on the farm Langlaagte soon after the discovery of gold in 1886. This stamp battery was once located at George Harrison Park but, after falling victim to years of neglect, vandalism and a serious fire, it was removed from the site by the City of Johannesburg’s Department of Immovable Heritage, restored and mounted at its present site, outside the Chamber of Mines building in the Main Street Mining Mall.

Another significant attraction is a towering 58 t headgear, which was donated by Anglo American Platinum from its Waterval West vertical shaft, in Rustenburg, and erected on Main street in 2006.

Just across the road is a prominent sculpture of a black mineworker at work at the mine face. Its erection was the direct result of a pact between the Chamber of Mines and the various mine unions during the wage negotiations of 2007 to recognise the role played by mineworkers in developing the economy of South Africa. The plaque states: “The monument represents the symbolic and historical role played by mineworkers in shaping the economics of the mining towns and labour-sending areas, in particular, and that of South Africa, in general.”

Further along Main Street Mall is a replica of the golden Mapungubwe Rhino, which was unearthed by University of Pretoria archaeologists in 1934. The replica is meant to put Johannesburg’s mining history into perspective, as there were clearly Southern African goldsmithing communities more than eight centuries ago building their cities on the back of gold.

The only museum to speak of in the area is the Mine Shaft Museum, located a few blocks away in the Standard Bank head office, on Simmonds street. During the excavation of the foundation for Standard Bank’s new corporate headquarters in the mid-1980s, engineers unearthed the entrance to the Ferreira mine, one of the oldest mines in the city. It is to the bank’s immense credit that it opted to preserve that heritage, and the original design of the building was modified to incorporate a mine shaft museum, extending three floors below ground level.

These are just a few of the highlights one can expect to see on a stroll through this excellent tourist attraction and, whether you are a native Joburger wanting a mining-heritage-inspired day out or an out-of-town visitor, Johannesburg’s well-maintained and secure Mining District Walk cannot be more highly recommended.