Alberton, South Africa

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Alberton
PO box		1450
Area code	011
Website	www.alberton.co.za

Alberton is a town situated on the southern part of the

.

Alberton is described as a typical suburban community, one which is primarily residential in character, with most of its workers commuting to work in nearby suburbs or cities such as Johannesburg and Germiston.

History

In the early 1840s, the Voortrekkers Johan Georg (Org) Meyer and Hester Catharina Elizabeth (née Mulder) arrived in the Transvaal after moving from their home in Prince Albert, in what was then the Cape Colony.^[2]

Org sourced land and selected three farms, namely Klipriviersberg, Elandsfontein and Swartkoppies. In 1856, Johannes Petrus Meyer (better known as Jan Meyer) acquired 11 hectares (27 acres) of his father's Elandsfontein farm and built a house next to the Natalspruit, close to where the civic centre stands today. In 1890, he built a new farmhouse mansion on the opposite end of the farm that was miraculously left unharmed during the

The Afrikaans medium primary school Jan Meyer was named for the original owner of the farm, and the affluent suburb Meyersdal also refers to the family whose original farmhouse mansion still stands on the land behind the Meyersdal koppie. The primary school Generaal Alberts, and Hennie Alberts Avenue in the suburb of Brackenhurst, are named after the town founder.

The first official

Voortrekker leaders

to coincide with the 100 year commemoration of the Great Trek. A well-known landmark of the city, ABC STORE, was established in 1943 on Pieter Uys Avenue, Alberton North, and is still trading today as a general store specializing in school uniforms.

Alberton was incorporated into the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality governing the East Rand in the year 2000 and celebrated its centenary year in 2005.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census conducted by Statistics South Africa, Alberton had a population of 121,536; but this figure excludes the black township of Thokoza, which has a population of 105,827.

Geography

Alberton lies at an elevation of approximately 1,570 m (5,150 ft) above sea level on the banks of the Natal Spruit, approximately 11 km south-east of Johannesburg CBD, 59 km south of Pretoria and 49 km north-east of Vereeniging. Organisationally and administratively, it is included in the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality.^[2][4]

Alberton is bordered by the city of Germiston to the north-east, the townships of Thokoza and Katlehong to the east, and the city of Johannesburg to the west and north-west.^[5]

Cityscape

The city's initial centre of development was in the area now known as Alberton North or 'Old' Alberton. The original black settlement in Alberton was in the area of the Alberton Dam. During the

stretching over an area of 77 km². The city, as per South African in whole, is no longer segregated although surrounding black townships (which are now also not exclusively black) still remain.

Suburbs

Alrode, which is Alberton's industrial suburb, was established in 1943. One of the most notable industries to be established in the town during this time was CJ Fuchs (Pty) Ltd. Venturing into the production of domestic electrical appliances under licence from the American company Westing House Electric International, the business was relocated from central Johannesburg to a newly built, modern factory in Alrode in 1948. Until the mid-seventies, CJ Fuchs (Pty) Ltd would continue to grow into a multi-million Rand operation, employing thousands of people in several subsidiary companies within the group. After Carl Fuchs' death in April 1976, the company was sold to the then Barlow Rand. In 1973, he was also the first to be admitted as a Freeman of the Town of Alberton.^[4]

The construction of the Alberton Boulevard was a major development started in the late 1980s with the aim of converting a section of Voortrekker Road that runs past the Alberton City Shopping Mall into a pedestrian-friendly zone.

Transport

Alberton has multiple access roads to some of the major freeways in the Gauteng Province such as the R59, N12, N17 and N3.

The R59 Sybrand van Niekerk Freeway is the main highway running through Alberton, separating its western suburbs of Brackenhurst, Brackendowns and Meyersdal from the rest of the town. The regional highway connects Alberton with Vereeniging, Sasolburg and Bloemfontein (via the N1) to the south-west, and Johannesburg to the north-west.

The

to the south-east.

Local major routes in Alberton include: the R554 (Swartkoppies Road) leading north-eastwards to Brakpan and westwards to Lenasia, the M7 (Kliprivier Drive) to Johannesburg, the M31 (Voortrekker Road) to Johannesburg, the M48 (Van Riebeeck Avenue) leading northwards to Germiston, the M61 (Vereeniging Road) to Vereeniging, the M94 (Kritzinger Road/Grey Avenue) to Germiston, and the M95 (Nelson Mandela Avenue) to Johannesburg South.

Sports

There are many well-established sports facilities and clubs for tennis, rugby, road running,^[5] boxing, wrestling, cricket, jukskei, netball, hockey, soccer, bowls, korfball and ring tennis in Alberton.

It is also home to the Reading Country Club and Golf Course.

Alberton was also home to the now defunct New Market Race Course, which is now a shopping mall.

Parks and greenspace

Alberton borders on the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve, located on Peggy Vera Road, Kibler Park, Gauteng (26°18′13″S 28°0′39″E). This reserve is home to many wild animals, including zebra, red hartebeest, porcupines, black wildebeest, otters, blesbok, springbok, duiker and 170 bird species.

There are also

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Infrastructure

Health

facilities include numerous government clinics as well the privately run Netcare Alberton hospital, formerly the Union Hospital and Clinton Clinic respectively.

Notable residents (past and present)

• Trevor Noah (Comedian)
• Japie Mulder (Springbok rugby player)
• Arnold Vosloo (Actor)
• Carl Niehaus (Politician)
• Andrew Hall (Protea cricketer)
• André Pretorius (Springbok rugby player)
• Bernadette Coston (Protea and Olympian hockey player)
• Malcolm Marx (Springbok rugby player)
• Ruan Combrinck (Springbok rugby player)
• Gert van der Merwe (Paralympic athlete)
• Marais Viljoen (State President of South Africa)

Earthquake

On June 11, 2023, Alberton experienced a notable earthquake that originated approximately 2 km from Alberton. Preliminary measurements by the US Geological Survey indicated a magnitude of 5.0 on the Richter scale. The earthquake struck at a depth of around 10 kilometers. Residents from Johannesburg noted that it was the worst earthquake in 6 years.^[7]

Gallery

• 
  Civic Centre looking west
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  Civic Centre from Alberton City rooftop
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  Alberton main post office
• 
  Alberton City shopping centre circa 2010
• 
  Old town hall
• 
  Bus Station circa 1977
• 
  Royal York high-rise
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  Dutch Reformed Church (Eeufeeskerk)
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  The Blue Mill
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  Banks of the Natalspruit
• 
  Reading interchange at R59 Sybrand van Niekerk/Southern Bypass
• 
  Alberton rugby stadium, 2018

References

External links

• Alberton web site Archived 2014-11-02 at the Wayback Machine
• Alberton Blogging and Community web site
• Alberton Online Community Forum and Business Directory Archived 2010-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
• Alberton moving company

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alberton, Gauteng.