 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Alberton, South Africa" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Alberton | |
|---|---|
 Alberton Boulevard | |
  Alberton  Alberton  Alberton | |
| Coordinates:26°16′02″S28°07′19″E / 26.26722°S 28.12194°E /-26.26722; 28.12194 | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Gauteng |
| Municipality | Ekurhuleni |
| Area | |
• Total | 77.16 km2 (29.79 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,570 m (5,150 ft) |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 121,536 |
| • Density | 1,575/km2 (4,080/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 26.5% |
| • Coloured | 14.4% |
| • Indian/Asian | 4.9% |
| • White | 53.2% |
| • Other | 0.9% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Afrikaans | 42.4% |
| • English | 34.6% |
| • Zulu | 6.9% |
| • Sotho | 5.1% |
| • Other | 11.0% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal code (street) | 1447 up to 1458, 1481 |
| PO box | 1450 |
| Area code | 011 |
| Website | www.alberton.co.za |
Alberton is a town situated on the southern part of theEast Rand of theGauteng Province inSouth Africa and is situated very close to the major urban centre ofJohannesburg.
Alberton is described as a typical suburban community, one which is primarily residential in character, with most of its workers commuting to work in nearby suburbs or cities such as Johannesburg andGermiston.
In the early 1840s, the Voortrekkers Johan Georg (Org) Meyer and Hester Catharina Elizabeth (née Mulder) arrived in the Transvaal after moving from their home inPrince Albert, in what was then the Cape Colony.[2]
Org sourced land and selected three farms, namely Klipriviersberg, Elandsfontein and Swartkoppies. In 1856, Johannes Petrus Meyer (better known as Jan Meyer) acquired 11 hectares (27 acres) of his father's Elandsfontein farm and built a house next to the Natalspruit, close to where the civic centre stands today. In 1890, he built a new farmhouse mansion on the opposite end of the farm that was miraculously left unharmed during theAnglo Boer War of 1899–1902. The homestead can still be seen today from the bypassingN12 freeway. Jan's brother, also Johan Georg (Org) Meyer, took over the farm after Jan's death. GeneralHendrik Abraham Alberts, a veteran of theAnglo Boer War, purchased a part of the farm from Org in 1904 and named it Alberton.[3]
The Afrikaans medium primary school Jan Meyer was named for the original owner of the farm, and the affluent suburb Meyersdal also refers to the family whose original farmhouse mansion still stands on the land behind the Meyersdal koppie. The primary school Generaal Alberts, and Hennie Alberts Avenue in the suburb of Brackenhurst, are named after the town founder.
The first officialpost office was opened in 1926, and in 1938 building work started on a town hall. In the same year, street names in the Alberton North suburb were renamed afterVoortrekker leaders to coincide with the 100 year commemoration of the Great Trek. A well-known landmark of the city, ABC STORE, was established in 1943 on Pieter Uys Avenue, Alberton North, and is still trading today as a general store specializing in school uniforms.
Alberton was incorporated into theCity of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality governing the East Rand in the year 2000 and celebrated its centenary year in 2005.
According to the 2011 census conducted byStatistics South Africa, Alberton had a population of 121,536; but this figure excludes the black township ofThokoza, which has a population of 105,827.
Alberton lies at an elevation of approximately 1,570 m (5,150 ft) above sea level on the banks of theNatal Spruit, approximately 11 km south-east ofJohannesburg CBD, 59 km south ofPretoria and 49 km north-east ofVereeniging. Organisationally and administratively, it is included in theCity of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality.[2][4]
Alberton is bordered by the city ofGermiston to the north-east, the townships ofThokoza andKatlehong to the east, and the city ofJohannesburg to the west and north-west.[5]
The city's initial centre of development was in the area now known as Alberton North or 'Old' Alberton. The original black settlement in Alberton was in the area of the Alberton Dam. During theapartheid era, inhabitants were moved to the surrounding black townships and a 'white' suburb was established around the dam and named Verwoerdpark, after former prime ministerHendrik Verwoerd. Over the years, development sprawled out into adjacent areas, and today Alberton is made up of 19suburbs stretching over an area of 77 km2. The city, as per South African in whole, is no longer segregated although surrounding black townships (which are now also not exclusively black) still remain.
Alrode, which is Alberton's industrial suburb, was established in 1943. One of the most notable industries to be established in the town during this time was CJ Fuchs (Pty) Ltd. Venturing into the production of domestic electrical appliances under licence from the American company Westing House Electric International, the business was relocated from central Johannesburg to a newly built, modern factory in Alrode in 1948. Until the mid-seventies, CJ Fuchs (Pty) Ltd would continue to grow into a multi-million Rand operation, employing thousands of people in several subsidiary companies within the group. After Carl Fuchs' death in April 1976, the company was sold to the then Barlow Rand. In 1973, he was also the first to be admitted as aFreeman of the Town of Alberton.[4]
The construction of theAlberton Boulevard was a major development started in the late 1980s with the aim of converting a section of Voortrekker Road that runs past the Alberton City Shopping Mall into a pedestrian-friendly zone.
Alberton has multiple access roads to some of the major freeways in the Gauteng Province such as theR59,N12,N17 andN3.
TheR59Sybrand van Niekerk Freeway is the main highway running through Alberton, separating its western suburbs of Brackenhurst, Brackendowns and Meyersdal from the rest of the town. The regional highway connects Alberton withVereeniging,Sasolburg andBloemfontein (via theN1) to the south-west, andJohannesburg to the north-west.
TheN12Southern Bypass Freeway runs north of Alberton connecting the town withPotchefstroom to the south-west and withBenoni andeMalahleni to the north-east. TheN17 Freeway runs north-east of Alberton connecting the town withSprings to the north-east and theN3 Freeway partially borders Alberton to the west at its eastern suburb of Verwoerdpark connecting the town with Johannesburg to the north-west and withHeidelberg andDurban to the south-east.
Local major routes in Alberton include: theR554 (Swartkoppies Road) leading north-eastwards toBrakpan and westwards toLenasia, theM7 (Kliprivier Drive) to Johannesburg, theM31 (Voortrekker Road) to Johannesburg, theM48 (Van Riebeeck Avenue) leading northwards toGermiston, theM61 (Vereeniging Road) toVereeniging, theM94 (Kritzinger Road/Grey Avenue) to Germiston, and theM95 (Nelson Mandela Avenue) toJohannesburg South.
There are many well-establishedsports facilities and clubs for tennis, rugby, road running,[5] boxing, wrestling, cricket, jukskei, netball, hockey, soccer, bowls, korfball and ring tennis in Alberton.
It is also home to the Reading Country Club and Golf Course.
Alberton was also home to the now defunct New Market Race Course, which is now a shopping mall.
Alberton borders on theKlipriviersberg Nature Reserve, located on Peggy Vera Road, Kibler Park, Gauteng (26°18′13″S 28°0′39″E). This reserve is home to many wild animals, includingzebra,red hartebeest,porcupines,black wildebeest,otters,blesbok,springbok,duiker and 170 bird species.
There are alsoIron Age settlements dating from about 1500 and the ruins of a house built in 1850 byvoortrekker Sarel Marais.[6]
Healthcare facilities include numerous government clinics as well the privately run Netcare Alberton hospital, formerly the Union Hospital and Clinton Clinic respectively.
On June 11, 2023, Alberton experienced a notable earthquake that originated approximately 2 km from Alberton. Preliminary measurements by theUS Geological Survey indicated a magnitude of 5.0 on the Richter scale. The earthquake struck at a depth of around 10 kilometers. Residents from Johannesburg noted that it was the worst earthquake in 6 years.[7]
Communities ofEkurhuleni,Gauteng | ||
|---|---|---|
Seat:Germiston | ||
| Places in Ekurhuleni | .svg) | |
| Suburbs of Kempton Park | ||
| Suburbs of Germiston |
| |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
