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Stuff from Johannesburg

South Africa: Media Statement – Committees Express Their Concern Over Non-Achievement of Mental Health Targets | MyJHB.co.za

Johannesburg in the news:

  1. South Africa: Media Statement – Committees Express Their Concern Over Non-Achievement of Mental Health Targets: The Portfolio Committee on Health, and Select Committee on Health and Social Services, said a separate session is needed for both committees to engage the Department of Health on its poor performance … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  2. Joburg Open: Shaun Norris and Wilco Nienaber share early lead: South African duo Shaun Norris and Wilco Nienaber hold a share of the lead after a low-scoring first round at the European Tour’s Joburg Open. – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  3. Malawi: Chakwera Assures of Improved Affordable Inputs Program – Warns Sexual Offenders: We operate from Cape Town, Dakar, Abuja, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington DC. – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  4. Sa cricketer tests positive for Covid-19 ahead of England series: A South Africa cricketer has tested positive for novel coronavirus ahead of the upcoming limited-overs series against England. According to Cricket South Africa, the player, whose identity has not … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  5. Rand on the back foot ahead of Sarb meeting: The South African currency traded on a weaker footing as traders await the outcome of the Sarb’s final repo rate decision of the year according to NKC Research. – “Johannesburg” – BingNews

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Did you know this about Johannesburg? At 269m high, the Hillbrow Tower is the tallest structure in Johannesburg. It used to have a revolving restaurant at the top, before it was closed down in 1981 for safety reasons. It is a prominent feature in the city’s beautiful skyline.

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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.