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Stuff from Johannesburg

AstraZeneca: COVID-19 vaccine ‘highly effective’ prevention | MyJHB.co.za

Johannesburg in the news:

  1. AstraZeneca: COVID-19 vaccine ‘highly effective’ prevention: Late-stage trials showed that AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine with Oxford University was up to 90% effective in preventing disease. – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  2. Ramaphosa: We must change attitudes that allow sexism and patriarchy to thrive: JOHANNESBURG – President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday said that now was the time for South Africa to change societal attitudes that allowed sexism, chauvinism and patriarchy to thrive. The annual 16 … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  3. Ramifications of SA’s downgrade to junk status: THE downgrade of South Africa’s credit rating by international agencies is a severe blow to the continent’s most advanced economy reeling from the worst coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the region. – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  4. How India transformed from a spin-heavy to a feared pace bowling attack by ‘Hunting in Pairs’: How India transformed from a spin-heavy to a feared pace bowling attack by ‘Hunting in Pairs’ – Each of the trio of Bumrah, Ishant and Shami has taken 50-plus wickets in test matches since 2018, and h … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  5. Decorated footballer Anele Ngcongca dies in car accident: JOHANNESBURG – Former Mamelodi Sundowns and Bafana Bafana footballer Anele Ngcongca has died after a car accident in KwaZulu-Natal in the early hours of Monday morning. Having called Kloorkop his home … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews

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Have you tried: Visiting Port Elizabeth?

Did you know this about Johannesburg? The city has hosted the finals for the FIFA World Cup, Cricket World Cup and IRB Rugby World Cup: The 2010 FIFA World Cup final was played at FNB Stadium. A large soccer ball was fitted to the Hillbrow Tower during this time. The city also hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup final (at The Wanderers) and the 1995 IRB Rugby World Cup final (at Ellis Park Stadium). London is the only other city in the world that has hosted all 3 World Cup finals.

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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.