Sandton is a vast residential and business town just a few kilometers north of the Johannesburg city centre (central business district, CBD) in the Gauteng province of South Africa. When established on the 1st of July 1969 Sandton was very much a residential area made up of a few suburbs of mainly small holdings. Little did the first town clerk , Bob Louttit, and first mayor, Alec Tweedale, know that Sandton would arguably become the economic hub of South Africa by the turn of the century.

Much has changed since those early days. Today the Municipality of Sandton no longer exists in it's old form - after South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994 all of the municipalities in greater Johannesburg were combined to form the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council (GJMC). This meant that the municipalities of Johannesburg, Randburg, Roodepoort and Sandton were all amalgamated to form one single, centrally administrated municipal area. Having completed the transition phase, from 2001 the GJMC became one official "mega-city" and is now known as the City of Johannesburg.

There is much debate within the community and even national government as to whether the amalgamation of all of the old municipal areas was a sound economic and management move. Although Sandton has been forced to loose much of it’s individuality, Sandtonians are proud of our town’s heritage and prosperity.

Early Hominids and the Early Stone Age

Evidence of early man (Australopithecus africanus, southern ape-man) has been found in cave sites near Sandton. This southern-ape man was the first to walk upright and to resemble modern man. About 2.3 million years ago evidence suggests that this ape-man was replaced by homo habilis (the ‘handy man’) – the start of the Stone Age. About 1 million years ago a descendant of ‘handy man’, homo erectus wandered through Sandton. His control and use of fire was vital to the development of human life. 

Middle Stone Age

The first real residents of Sandton settled in the area approximately 30,000 years ago, when Middle Stone Age hunters established themselves on the granite hills of Witkoppen Tor (Fourways Gardens), Lone Hill and Norscot Koppies. These three sites and have been extensively excavated and have yielded impressive finds.

With the perennial watercourses of the 3 north flowing streams (the Klein Jukskei, Sand Spruit and Braamfontein Spruit) the area was able to support a large wildlife population and species such as kudu, impala, steenbok, dassies, and even lion and leopard roamed what are now the luxuriant gardens of suburbs such as Bryanston and Morningside.

Late Stone Age and Iron Age

About 10,000 years ago (Late Stone Age) another group of hunter-gatherers, ancestors of the modern San (or bushman), moved into the area. But Sandton’s precolonial fame rests on its Iron Age heritage. Iron Age Bantu-speaking communities probably evicted the old Stone Age dwellers form the area around 1500-1600. Archaeological evidence suggests that these Iron Age residents were ancestors of the Hurutshe and thus in the lineage of the modern Sotho-Tswana people.

It is thought that these Iron Age residents fled the area during the “Difaqane”. The Difaqane began in the Kwazulu-Natal province along the eastern coast of South Africa when Zulu expansion led to the dispersal of several large Nguni clans. Mzilikazi was the leader of one. His flight to the Gauteng area set in motion a chain reaction of raiding and counter-raiding, of brutal subjugation and conquest among these communities. The Tswana group suffered greatly; they were split up, their traditions destroyed and ultimately they became Ndebele vassals. Mzilikazi’s kingdom, with its headquarters in the north of Sandton, was immensely powerful for some decades. In time it was weakened by invasions of the Griqua, Korana, Zulu and white Voortrekkers.

Farmers and Small Holders

The first white settlers in Sandton were not industrialists like the Bantu-speakers who preceded them, but farmers who left the then Cape Colony (Western Cape province) in organized groups in the mide-1830s in order to liberate themselves from British rule. The real thrust of white immigration into Gauteng began after Kwazulu-Natal was annexed by the British in 1843.

The Voortrekkers of Sandton were initially placed under the rule of the Pretoria landdrost or magistrate. The municipal area of Sandton is made up of parts of five Voortrekker freehold farms. The farms were laid out as follows :

1. Cyferfontain was closest to what is now the Johannesburg CBD

2. Zandfontein consisted of the area around Sandown and it’s environs

3. Driefontain was Parkmore and parts of Bryanston

4. Rietfontein comprised Rivonia and adjoining ares

5. Witkoppen was the most northerly farm

Sandton derives it’s name from Zandfontein – an English simplification of this Afrikaans name. A memorial stone on the graves of the Esterhuysen Voortrekker family (of the Zandfontein farm) still stands in the suburb of Strathavon (off South Rd).

The discovery of the rich gold bearing reef south of the Johannesburg CBD in 1886 brought many changes to Sandton. Land values increased and the old farms were subdivided and sold to developers. Economic opportunities arose and many of these small holdings supplied fresh produce to the goldfields.

Alexandra

The Alexandra township borders Sandton on the east (between the M1 and N3 highways). Initially aimed at the white market in 1905, Alexandra – named after the wife of the developer, HB Papenfus – did not attract buyers because of the small size of the stands. In about 1912 Papenfus began to sell the land to blacks who were streaming into Johannesburg to seek employment. Under the Hertzog government (circa 1924), freehold sales to blacks were curtailed, and Alexandra became over-crowded and with a tenant population, often renting from unscrupulous landlords. In the 1930s Alexandra was administered by a Health Committee which had limited powers, and was not able to prevent the emergence of an urban slum. While Sandton became populated with generally well-off white people, very close by was growing an enormous working class population which had a completely different lifestyle characterized generally by poverty and deprivation. Although providing much of the labour on which Sandton depended, Alexandra was always an entity distinct from Sandton. Segregationist attitudes and legislation – and later Apartheid – precluded any sense of community from developing among the residents of these Sandton and Alexandra, although, in the economic sphere, they were closely linked.

Sandton covers an area of approximately 156 km² while Alexandra is just under 4 km². It is estimated that the population of Alexandra is the same as that of Sandton itself.

Development of the Sandton CBD

The Sandton Town Council formally ended Sandton’s rural phase in 1979. The Council took a “more positive attitude towards development”. The rural ‘horsey’ lifestyle of Sandton gave it the image of being a ‘smart address’ : it was dubbed the ‘mink and manure’ belt of Johannesburg. These qualities proved very attractive and a new wave of residents came to Sandton. Development happened quickly, for the wide open spaces were a property developer’s paradise. Sandton became richer and larger and consequently yielded more power in local government. Today Sandton is indeed a powerful town – with the continued decentralization of many companies from the Johannesburg CBD to the attractive leafy Sandton CBD it continues to grow ever-more powerful. The prestigious Sandton City shopping mall opened in 1973; it was the first ‘modern shopping mall’ in South Africa.

In 1994 47 of South Africa’s top 300 companies had their national head quarters in Sandton – this figure has now increased substantially.

The powerhouse of the South African economy, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange relocated to Sandton in 2000. Investec, Nedcor, MTN, South African Breweries, Rand Merchant Bank and Didata are but a few of the major corporations who are now established in Sandton.

Tourism too plays a major role in Sandton; with a wide range of luxury hotels and excellent facilities in the area international visitors flock to the town; using Sandton as a base from which to explore the wonders of South Africa. Sandton also boasts world class conference facilities.