Benoni (Hebrew: בֶּןאוֹנִי) is a city on the East Rand in the South African province of Gauteng. Since 2000 it has been part of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality. The word Hebrew most likely means to cross over, referring to the Semitic people crossing over the Euphrates River. ... For other uses, see City (disambiguation). ... A map of Gauteng, showing the East Rand. ... A province is a territorial unit, almost always a country subdivision. ... Categories: South Africa stubs | Provinces of South Africa | Gauteng Province ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Ekurhuleni Municipality is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa. ...

History

Benoni’s inauspicious beginnings were in 1881 when then surveyor-general Johan Rissik found it difficult to assign title deeds to all unclaimed state property. He named a piece of land in the area Government Farm Benoni (son of my sorrow), after the Hebrew name given by Rachel to her son in the biblical Book of Genesis. In September 1887, gold was discovered and the Chimes Mine was established by Cornishmen. The village became known as “Little Cornwall” for a time. Year 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the Biblical character. ... Genesis (Greek: Γένεσις, having the meanings of birth, creation, cause, beginning, source and origin) is the first book of the Torah (five books of Moses) and hence the first book of the Tanakh, part of the Hebrew Bible; it is also the first book of the Christian Old Testament. ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... For other uses, see Cornwall (disambiguation). ...

Sir George Farrar, the chairman of a mining company, undertook the planning of the rapidly growing mining town in 1904. A river was dammed into a series of dams for mine use. Today these dams remain and are populated with fish. Many people do recreation activities at these dams including boating and picnicking. 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Thousands of trees were also planted in the new mining district and it was declared the township of Benoni in 1906. Most residents were British miners followed by a strong Jewish population who suffered anti-Semitism in eastern Europe and lost all their possessions. 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1907 the Benoni Race Track was opened. This horse racing track was breathtaking by its sheer size as compared to the small mining town in which it was situated. The first race was run on Saturday 7th December 1907 and was won by a pony named Fusy and owned by Mr John (Jack) William Travis, a Jewish farrier on the gold mines from England. Two unusual prizes were awarded for that first race, a mounted golden whip for the jockey and a gold medal for the owner of the pony. John William Travis was also responsible for importing the first race horses from England. Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

In 1922 the Rand Revolt (or 1922 Strike) broke out throughout the mines on the Witwatersrand and thousands of white miners went on strike. The strike was partly led by the South African Communist Party and was not well received by the South African Government so soon after the Russian Communist Revolution of 1917. Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Rand Revolt (or Rand Rebellion, or Second Rand Revolt) was a 1922 armed uprising by white mineworkers in South Africa. ... Witwatersrand is a low mountain range which runs through Gauteng in South Africa. ... SACP symbol South African Communist Party (SACP) is a political party in South Africa. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ...

The strike quickly degenerated into open revolt, with armed miners fighting the South African police and army in the streets. The revolt lasted for about a year and the miners were bombed by the newly formed South African Air Force (SAAF) during this time. Some of the SAAF aeroplanes were shot down by the miners by groundfire. During the revolt, Benoni was used as one of the headquarters of the miners and much fighting took place in and around the area. The Benoni Museum details this episode in the town’s history. The South African Air Force (SAAF) (Afrikaans: Suid-Afrikaanse Lugmag) is the air force of South Africa. ...

During World War II, the South African Airforce was training pilots in Benoni.

In 1957, in an effort to introduce the sport of rugby league to South Africa, Great Britain and France played the first of a series of three exhibition matches in Benoni. Rugby league football (usually shortened to rugby league, football, league) is a full-contact team sport played with a prolate spheroid-shaped ball by two teams of thirteen on a rectangular grass field. ...

During the Apartheid Era designated townships for Blacks were established outside Benoni, namely Daveyton and Wattville. The township of Actonville was established for the habitation of Indians, whilst Benoni proper was reserved for 'whites only'. These various suburbs remain although the town is today relatively well integrated and all race-groups may live anywhere they please. A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ... Children in a township near Cape Town in 1989 In South Africa, the term township usually refers to the (often underdeveloped) urban residential areas that, under Apartheid, were reserved for non-whites (principally black Africans and Coloureds, who were put into separate townships or locations) who lived near or worked... Daveyton is a township near Benoni on the east Rand, Gauteng, South Africa. ... Wattville is a township south of Benoni on the east Rand, Gauteng, South Africa. ...

Benoni Today

Benoni is very diverse, with people of every colour and denomination. There are over ten schools in Benoni and in some areas there is a concentration of up to 6000 students within a 5km radius.

Over time gold mining has decreased in importance. Today the town is focused more on industry and services, rather than mining, and is used as a service hub for other East Rand towns such as Brakpan, Nigel and Springs. Benoni is also the site of the Benoni Heliport, for the use of helicopters. Brakpan is a gold and uranium mining town in Gauteng, South Africa. ... Nigel is a masculine name of English origin and is another form of the name Neil, which is more commonly used. ... Springs is a city in Gauteng province, South Africa and is part of the East Rand region. ...

Middle Lake, Benoni

Visitors to the town may visit the local museum, the many lakes, the Lakeside Shopping Mall (built in the shape of a Mississippi Steamboat on one of the lakes) or Northmead Square (known as the first shopping centre to bring cinemas back to Benoni) located in the suburbs. Near to Northmead Square is the Bunny Park which contains hundreds of rabbits and other small animals and is aimed at children. Willowmoore Park is a provincial and One-Day International Cricket venue. Sibikwa, an international recognised and aclaimed communitytheatre, is situated in the east of the town since 1989 Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 241 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,200 × 361 pixels, file size: 98 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Middle lake, Benoni- photographed from N12 facing S-W I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 241 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,200 × 361 pixels, file size: 98 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Middle lake, Benoni- photographed from N12 facing S-W I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Willowmoore Park is a multi-use stadium in Benoni, South Africa. ... One-Day International (ODI) is a form of cricket, which is played over 50 overs per side between two national cricket teams. ... This article is about the sport. ...

It is believed that Benoni has more horse stables per square kilometre than any other place in the Southern Hemisphere.

During the 1990's Benoni was the site for the WOMAD Festival (the World of Music, Arts and Dance), an international cultural festival held annually around the world and used to showcase various artists. World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) is a festival started in England in 1982. ...

World famous Oscar winning actress Charlize Theron was born in Benoni. She then moved to become a star in Hollywood, but was seen in Benoni again promoting her movie Monster. Charlize Theron (born August 7, 1975) is a South African-American actress and former fashion model. ... Monster is a 2003 film about the life of female serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a former prostitute who was executed in 2002 for killing seven men in the late 1980s and early 1990s. ...

In December 2004, Israel Travis led a historic tour of the city on horseback while some of the tourists rode on an 1800s Victorian Spider carriage. The tourists were dressed in traditional British and Boer clothing. The tour included some of the gold mines and a parade through the main street, Prince’s Avenue.

Benoni was also the setting for the MTV-inspired, popular cult movie Crazy Monkey: Straight Outta Benoni, released internationally in 2005.

The town is currently run by the African National Congress (ANC), with the liberal- democratic Democratic Alliance being the official local opposition. For political parties with similar names in other countries, see Northern Rhodesian African National Congress and Zambian African National Congress. ... There are a number of political parties called the Democratic Alliance or Alliance for Democracy. ...

Suburbs of Benoni

Benoni contains numerous attractive and tree-lined suburbs, and has a strong suburban character, quite unlike many other East Rand towns, which tend to be more industrialised. The main suburbs are:

• Airfield
• Alphen Park
• Brentwood Park
• Crystal Park
• Cloverdene
• Fairleads
• Farrarmere
• Lakefield
• Lakeside
• Morehill
• Norton Estates
• Northmead
• Northvilla
• Rynfield
• The Stewards
• Wattville
• Westdene
• Western Extension
• Mackenzie park

People from Benoni

• Oliver Reginald Tambo, African National Congress former president and SA struggle stalwart, after whom the former Jan Smuts International airport is named
• Charlize Theron, actress
• Bryan Habana, current Springboks rugby union player
• Brian Liebenberg, current France international rugby union player
• Koos Ras, Singer, comedian, writer and businessman
• Brian Mitchell, boxing champion,
• Pollen Ndanya, soccer player
• Glen Elder, geographer
• Mark Killian, Musician and Academy award nominee for a movie soundtrack
• Gavin Williams, co-creator of Crazy Monkey
• Warren Lovell, one armed war veteran locally famous for his CDs 'Tiekie In Die Draai Bos Lei Waar' and 'Doef Doef en Dinge In Die Dros' and is now the general manager of General Mayhem INC.
• Jabu Mahlangu, soccer player
• Clement Mazibuko, soccer player
• Manqoba Ngwenya, soccer player
• Thabiso Malatsi, soccer player
• Junior Khanye, soccer player
• Arash Keshavarz-Rahbar artist
• Charlene Wittstock, swimmer and current girlfriend of Albert II, Prince of Monaco
• Stellio Coutsides, Cane and coke drinker and twenty first runner in the Benoni Sweepstakes Horserace, where weekly he gallops through the speakers of various venues to the untimely beats of other runners, thus creating an out-of-synch mix in the dj box.

Oliver Reginald Tambo (27 October 1917 - 24 April 1993) was a South African anti-apartheid politician and a central figure in the African National Congress (ANC). ... Charlize Theron (born August 7, 1975) is a South African-American actress and former fashion model. ... For other uses, see Actor (disambiguation). ... Bryan Gary Habana (born June 12, 1983)[2] in Benoni, Gauteng) is a South African rugby player who plays as a winger for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup, the Bulls in Super 14, and the Springboks, who claimed the Rugby World Cup with a 15-6 defeat of... First international South Africa 4 - 0 British Isles (30 July 1891) Largest win South Africa  134 - 3  Uruguay (11 June 2005) Worst defeat  England 53 - 3 South Africa  (23rd November, 2002) World Cup Appearances 4 (First in 1995) Best result Champions, 1995 and 2007 Springboks redirects here. ... For other uses, see Rugby (disambiguation). ... Brian Liebenberg (born 19 September 1979 in Benoni) is a South Africa-born French rugby union footballer. ... For other uses, see Rugby (disambiguation). ... Koos Ras (Jacobus Adriaan Gerhardus) was born on August 4, 1928, on a farm named Paardekop in Northern Natal Province in South Africa. ... Brian Mitchell, (born on August 30, 1961 in Johannesburg, South Africa), was a professional boxer. ... Gavin John Williams (born 20 July 1980 in Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan) is a Welsh professional footballer who currently plays for Ipswich Town as a midfielder. ... Jabu Mahlangu (formerly Jabu Pule) (born July 11, 1980 in Daveyton, Benoni) is a South African football (soccer) player. ... Clement Sibusiso Mazibuko (born September 16, 1977 in Benoni, Gauteng) is a South African football (soccer) midfielder for Premier Soccer League club Mamelodi Sundowns and South Africa. ... Manqoba Ngwenya (born March 23, 1981 in Soweto, Gauteng) is a South African football (soccer) attacking midfielder and left-winger for Premier Soccer League club Mamelodi Sundowns and South Africa. ... Junior Thabo Khanye (born in Daveyton, Gauteng) is a South African football player who played for Kaizer Chiefs. ... Charlene Lynette Wittstock (born January 25, 1978) is a South African Olympic swimmer and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, who rose to fame because she was accompanying Albert II, Prince of Monaco at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics. ... Albert II, Prince of Monaco (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi; born 14 March 1958), styled His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince of Monaco, is the head of the House of Grimaldi and the current ruler of the Principality of Monaco. ...

External links

• AllRefer Encyclopedia - Benoni, South Africa
• An estate agency's description of Benoni's early history
• Google Map