Johannesburg Historical and Urban Renewal

About this tour

Let's break the big bad image of one of the most unique cities in the world. Johannesburg is a city that shouldn't be a city.

Join African Timeout on a fact-finding tour of this unique city with a relatively short history. Established only in 1886, because of the largest gold discovery ever made, Johannesburg tells a story of wealth and poverty, and of people from all walks of life coming to find riches.

Our journey starts in the heart of the city, where we get our bearings and take in the skyline of this sprawling metropolis. Driving through the city, we identify some of the old Art Deco buildings being preserved for future generations. The journey takes you through the old, the new and the ugly, as we visit some of the run-down sections of the city.

Johannesburg is now a provincial capital and hosts the highest court in the land. We visit Constitution Hill, with the Fort, the Women's Jail and the notorious Number 4, and appreciate the new-found South Africa after seeing the new court building with its theme "Justice under a tree".

The tour ends with a drive through the affluent northern suburbs, where we see where Nelson Mandela spent his last days.

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