September 26, 2025

September 26, 2025

Two billion years ago, the largest meteor to strike the earth happened here in Johannesburg. The resulting 200-mile-wide crater prevented erosion of mineral deposits. The trapped gold vein was the world’s largest producing an incredible 25% of the gold ever mined on earth. The crater edge, Witwatersrand or just Rand (Dutch for ridge) gave its name to the South African currency.

Jo’burg boomed overnight and the population swelled. On our tour of the area, we see yellowish mine tailing piles everywhere. They are from some of the deepest mines in the world. Much of the gold has petered out but the money to restore these sites has vanished. Dust from these piles obscures the horizon.

I grinned when I saw two more hyperbolic cooling towers. This time from a decommissioned power plant. They have been gaily painted. Jo’burg sits on an arid grassland plateau. It is the largest city not near a river, lake or shoreline. As a result these towers help conserve water.

The power struggle over the gusher of gold and diamonds was inevitable. The wealthy used apartheid to control the army of workers who did the work. Our first stop was in the old Southwestern Township (shortened to Soweto) where blacks were segregated. Soweto was the epicenter of protests. We stopped at the Nelson Mandela House where he lived before getting arrested. He spent 27 years behind bars and became the face of resistance.

Nearby we stopped at a monument to the 1976 Soweto Uprising. The catalyst was a new law that required school lessons in Afrikaans, the language of the oppressor. During a student protest several young boys were shot. A smuggled photo was sent round the world. We got a stirring description from the sister of the murdered boy in the picture. These memorials are part of the new Mandela Legacy World Heritage Site.

Our next stop was the Apartheid Museum. We got a guided tour of the long struggle for equality. The story has echoes from similar problems all over the world. Each country has a different slant on these issues especially colonialism. We had our own battles with Native Indians and Black Civil Rights. The South Africa story would have been totally different without the huge gold discovery. I am sure the money is still a corrupting influence in South African politics.

We had lunch in the museum cafe and then drove to a private market. Browsing the store was interesting even for me. While Aimee shopped for more African fabric, I was fascinated by all the taxidermy heads lining all the walls. Africa has lots of cool and unique stuff to buy. None of it would go with Tucson decor though.