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Stuff from Johannesburg

South Africa lays out budget as economy reels from pandemic

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa in the news:

  1. South Africa lays out budget as economy reels from pandemic: South Africa will unveil government spending plans for the 2021 financial year on Wednesday, as the continent’s most industrialised economy grapples with recovering from the coronavirus and a … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  2. Green hydrogen to be produced from solar power at platinum mine: Although platinum group metals (PGMs) mining and marketing company Anglo American Platinum will be starting with a 75 MW solar photovoltaic powered plant at its Mogalakwena mine, planned is an … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  3. Ashley Judd’s leg had no pulse after fall: Ashley Judd’s leg had no pulse after her horrific fall in the Congo last week. The 52-year-old actress has offered her “deepest” thanks to those who treated her in Johannesburg after her fall as she … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  4. Cricket South Africa launches community app for fans: Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Tuesday launched an exciting new digital community application dedicated for fans from South Africa and around the world, to enhance its digital cricket footprint and … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  5. Pace Gallery : David Goldblatt : Strange Instrument: La caméra est un instrument étrange. Cela exige, avant tout, que vous voyiez de manière cohérente. Cela vous permet d’entrer dans des mondes, des lieux … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews

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

Did you know this about Johannesburg? Sophiatown was originally part of the farm Waterval. In 1897 the speculator Hermann Tobiansky acquired a 237-acre portion of the farm, which was situated about four miles or so west of the centre of Johannesburg. In 1903 he had some of the land surveyed as leasehold township, divided into almost 1700 small stands. The township was named after Tobiansky’s wife, Sophia, and some of the streets were named after his children Toby, Gerty, Bertha and Victoria. Blacks started acquiring land in Sophiatown.

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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.