Boksburg, Gauteng
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Boksburg is a city on the East Rand of Gauteng, South Africa. Gold was discovered in Boksburg in 1887. It was named after the State Secretary of the South African Republic, Eduard Bok. The Main Reef Road linked Boksburg to all the other major mining towns on the Witwatersrand and the Angelo Hotel (1887) was used as a staging post.
The Mining Commissioner Montague White built a large dam which, empty for years, was dubbed White's Folly until a flashflood in 1889 silenced detractors. The 150,000 square metre dam is now the Boksburg Lake, and is surrounded by lawns, trees, and terraces. A railway was built to link Boksburg to Johannesburg in 1890.
Boksburg is now part of the Ekhuruleni Metropolitan Municipality, that includes much of the East Rand.
[edit] Trivia
- Transvaal President Paul Kruger owned a farm here called Geduld.
- Popular liberation fighter Chris Hani was assassinated outside his Dawn Park, Boksburg home in 1993 and is buried in the town.
- Boksburg is the birthplace of Gerrie "the Boksburg Bomber" Coetzee, former WBA heavyweight boxing champion of the world.
- James Phillips wrote a song called "Boksburg Bomber".
[edit] External links
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