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Stuff from Johannesburg

As Rioters Overwhelm Police, South African Civilians Step In

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa in the news:

  1. As Rioters Overwhelm Police, South African Civilians Step In: If we don’t protect those structures, at the end of the day we will be out of business.” Some taxi operators aided Johannesburg metropolitan police officers to retrieve stolen goods. Community leaders … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  2. Maersk shuts down key South Africa operations as looting continues: Maersk has shut down all its depots, warehouses and cold stores in Durban and Johannesburg, a company spokeswoman said on Wednesday, as looting in the two South African cities bearing the brunt of … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  3. Warren Gatland explains why he opted against making Owen Farrell Lions captain: Warren Gatland has explained why he decided against naming Owen Farrell as the British and Irish Lions’ captain in place of Alun Wyn Jones. – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  4. Communities in S.Africa unite to protect businesses from being looted: Sporadic looting continues in parts of KwaZulu-Natal province, endangering livelihood of many people – Anadolu Agency … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  5. Looting, destruction threatening healthcare system: Prof Mlisana: Professor Koleka Mlisana, co-chair of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 says the mass looting and destruction is posing a serious threat to the healthcare system. – “Johannesburg” – BingNews

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Have you tried: Whale and Dolphin Watching in Algoa Bay?

Did you know this about Johannesburg? Boiling an egg takes one-minute longer: Your cobb salad might take a little bit longer than usual. Johannesburg is 2000m above sea level so the air is not as dense.

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Top Star Drive-In: Destroyed by What Created it

However, the very thing that created the Top Star eventually destroyed it. Because the early miners had used crude methods, the Ferreira Dump—and dozens of others like it—still contained significant traces of gold. As the price of gold rose and new chemical extraction technologies (like the carbon-in-pulp process) made it profitable to “mine the waste,” the ground beneath the Top Star became more valuable than the cinema itself. In 2006, despite fierce opposition from heritage groups who argued that the dump and the drive-in were culturally significant landmarks, the projectors were turned off for the last time.

The reclamation of the dump was a staggering industrial feat. Starting in 2008, mining giant DRDGold used high-pressure water cannons to “monitor” the dump, turning 5 million tons of solid earth back into a liquid slurry. This slurry was then piped 40 kilometers across the province to a processing plant in Brakpan. By 2011, the “mountain” had completely vanished. The 50-meter-high plateau that had dominated the southern skyline for a century was reduced to a flat, dusty crater.

The disappearance of the Top Star is a poignant symbol of Johannesburg’s “extractive” nature. It is a city that consumes itself to stay alive; even its historical landmarks are subject to the fluctuating price of minerals on the London and New York stock exchanges. Today, if you drive along the M2, there is an empty space in the sky where the Top Star used to be. While the reclamation removed a source of toxic dust and “acid mine drainage,” it also erased a piece of the city’s collective memory. The land where the gold-flecked mountain once stood is now being rehabilitated for light industrial use, proving that in eGoli, even the horizon is for sale if there’s enough gold hidden inside it.