Erna’s guidebook
Food scene
Sandton MALL
106 Johan AvenueMontecasino
Montecasino BoulevardAdega Bryanston
Main RoadBest seafood restaurant.
Thunder Gun
Emisijski čvor
The Zone @ Rosebank
177 Oxford RoadFerndale On Republic
Republic RoadPicola Pizza and Pasta #1 Pizza in Joburg
Best pizza and pasta.
Not Bread Alone
286 Malibongwe DrBootlegger Coffee Company
Sightseeing
Kolevka čovječanstva
Johannesburg Zoo
Jellicoe AvenuePark lavova i safarija
R512 Pelindaba RdGold Reef City tematski park
Silverstar Casino
R28Gold Reef City tematski park
Botanički vrt Johannesburg
Olifants RoadNacionalni botanički vrt Walter Sisulu
Malcolm RoadNacionalni park Pilanesberg
Sports club
Excellent golf club and venue to relax with breath taking views
20 preporuka/e lokalaca
Golf klub Randpark
Setperk RoadExcellent golf club and venue to relax with breath taking views
Parkview Golf Club
Emmarentia AvenueBazen Linden
11th StreetVirgin Active Randburg
Hans Schoeman StreetVirgin Active Cresta
Pendoring RoadTheatres
Joburg kazalište
163 Civic BlvdBallet, live performances, shows
Teatro
1 Montecasino BlvdPieter Toerien Theatre
1 Montecasino BlvdLinder Auditorium (back entrance)
Jubilee RoadRoodepoort Theatre
100 Christiaan de Wet RdHospitals
Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital
Johannesburg Eye Hospital
218 Beyers Naude DrNetcare Olivedale Hospital
Windsor WayNetcare Milpark Hospital
9 Guild RdNetcare Garden City Hospital
35 Bartlett RdMediclinic Sandton
1 Bram Fischer DrMediclinic Sandton
1 Bram Fischer DrMedicross Randburg
Neighborhoods
Randburg’s rich history:
https://randburgsun.co.za/randburg-60-years/
As it is with most towns and cities in South Africa, the establishment of Randburg can be traced back to a rich farming heritage so engrained in both our present day and past history. The Randburg area had for many years been occupied by farm owners who can trace their roots back to the Great…
As it is with most towns and cities in South Africa, the establishment of Randburg can be traced back to a rich farming heritage so engrained in both our present day and past history.
The Randburg area had for many years been occupied by farm owners who can trace their roots back to the Great Trek of 1835.
In the 1850s, four farms were settled by Boer pioneers. These were called Klipfontein, Driefontein, Olievenhoutspoort and Boskop.
One such farm owner was J L Pretorius who owned Driefontein, which extended over a vast area from present day Bryanston to Braamfontein.
In 1886, when Pretorius died, the farm was subdivided among his nine sons, who mostly sold their farms to outsiders.
In 1906, farmer Daniel Brink started farming on a portion of the Driefontein farm, which was much later to be subdivided into the suburbs of Brian Brink, Vandia Grove, Kensington B and Beverley Gardens.
Charles Rocher also bought a portion of Driefontein and renamed his estate Bordeaux after the French city from where his family had originated.
In the same area, Scotsman William Gray Rattray purchased a portion of the adjacent Klipfontein farm in 1891. He renamed his portion Craighall after his birthplace in Scotland. Another portion of Klipfontein was bought by wealthy businessman Sir Abe Bailey who renamed his portion Ferndale.
As it is with most towns and cities in South Africa, the establishment of Randburg can be traced back to a rich farming heritage so engrained in both our present day and past history.
The Randburg area had for many years been occupied by farm owners who can trace their roots back to the Great Trek of 1835.
In the 1850s, four farms were settled by Boer pioneers. These were called Klipfontein, Driefontein, Olievenhoutspoort and Boskop.
One such farm owner was J L Pretorius who owned Driefontein, which extended over a vast area from present day Bryanston to Braamfontein.
In 1886, when Pretorius died, the farm was subdivided among his nine sons, who mostly sold their farms to outsiders.
In 1906, farmer Daniel Brink started farming on a portion of the Driefontein farm, which was much later to be subdivided into the suburbs of Brian Brink, Vandia Grove, Kensington B and Beverley Gardens.
Charles Rocher also bought a portion of Driefontein and renamed his estate Bordeaux after the French city from where his family had originated.
In the same area, Scotsman William Gray Rattray purchased a portion of the adjacent Klipfontein farm in 1891. He renamed his portion Craighall after his birthplace in Scotland. Another portion of Klipfontein was bought by wealthy businessman Sir Abe Bailey who renamed his portion Ferndale.
Street names like Carlton Road, Church Street and Pritchard Street sprang up in the veld.
A portion of the Boskop farm was bought by the famous Rand entrepreneur, John Dale Lace, who converted a farmhouse into a country residence. In 1929 Tom Kelly restored the home and named it 'Hy-Many'.
During that time, the area now known as Randburg was not a part of Johannesburg's boundaries and only started real development in the 1920s. By 1928, pieces of land were being sold in the Randburg area for just R50 each.
During the Great Depression, Johannesburg and its surrounding areas experienced a large influx of people.
At the same time, the country was experiencing a four-year drought, which drove even more people from the rural areas into the cities.
Randburg did not even have electricity until 1955. The introduction of electricity in that year caused commerce and trade to flourish in the area. During the 1950s there were less than
9 000 inhabitants in its nine suburbs.
It is uncertain what the motivation was for buying land in Johannesburg North, as it was far from where the gold digging area was. It was rumoured that it was fashionable to own land in the north. Perhaps it was rumours of gold that caused the purchases, or the great areas for hunting that existed. But what we do know is that Randburg is still as fashionable to live in today as it was in years gone by.
Randpark Ridge’s 159-year-old home
Randburg, home to a diverse group of people, has the luxury of also being home to what is believed to be the oldest brick structure in Johannesburg. Found nestling in all its grandeur on Frangipani Crescent, Randpark Ridge, is Hy Many House which is considered to have been built in 1860, thus making it a…
Randburg, home to a diverse group of people, has the luxury of also being home to what is believed to be the oldest brick structure in Johannesburg.
Found nestling in all its grandeur on Frangipani Crescent, Randpark Ridge, is Hy Many House which is considered to have been built in 1860, thus making it a 159 years old. The clue to its age comes from the single remaining thick outer wall on the south side of the house, suggesting the original Boer farmhouse, usually just several simple rooms in a rectangular shape.
The house is all that is left of the original farm, and only half of the house remains. The interior of the house has been modernised, and the only remaining element of its former grandness is the attractive double-gabled, whitewashed façade. John Dale Lace, a Randlord and owner of another of Johannesburg’s famous mansions, Northwards in Parktown, extended the house in 1903, building two A-framed gables on either side of a veranda in the front, and building a pleasant courtyard around which he placed bedrooms, kitchen, and pantry. He had it as his country estate. In all it had some 25 rooms. He also built a dam, still there, now called Hy Many Dam.
However, Dale Lace lost his fortune and in 1911 he and his wife, Josephine, went to live at Boschkop for a short time. The house was taken over by Standard Bank and in 1927 businessman Tom Kelly bought the house, and extended and restored it, giving it Cape Dutch gables and changing its name to Hy Many, which refers to the home of the Kellys, originally from Ireland. The farm consisted of some 1 300 acres, with 25 acres of vegetable gardens. Kelly developed the farm considerably.
According to Kelly’s daughter Elizabeth Gemmill, her father was a keen horseman, and established an abundant stable of polo ponies on the farm. He used to ride from his farm to Langlaagte, just west of the CBD, to play polo. He also established game on the farm – wildebeest, zebra, blesbok, duiker and jackals.
The house was surrounded by veld, with a spruit flowing out of the dam, and a long tree-lined avenue running from the present day Beyers Naudé Drive to the house. Gemmill remembers a tennis court, croquet lawn, and beautiful pool that her father built. Water used to spill out of the dam into terraced gardens above the pool. She said that there was a small cemetery near to the present day Hy Many Dam, probably belonging to farmer Labuschagne but now long gone. She recalls taking tea in the gazebo, at the bottom of the garden – just the foundations of the gazebo remain.
In 1951 the house and part of its land was taken over by Gemmill, and she built a swimming pool and pool room close to the house. In 1982 she sold the property to a trust who had the land rezoned for residential development. It is said that the trust asked her to take all the windows, doors, floorboards and fireplace mantelpieces, as they were to demolish the house. She stayed in the house for another two years, and slowly dismantled and removed the fittings. After growing up in the house, and raising her children in the house, was she sad to leave? Yes, but it is said she thought perhaps it was a good thing.
A Randpark Ridge resident bought land close to Hy Many House in 1984. He became a vehement campaigner to save the house, which was threatened with demolition on a number of occasions. The trust was the first party in favour of demolition – their development plans didn’t include Hy Many House.
The resident wrote the first of several letters to the then National Monuments Council, asking them to intervene by declaring the house a national monument. He got a range of people – botanists and architects – to submit letters to validate his claims for restoration.
Various alternatives to demolition were put forward for the house – a sports club, an office park, an old age home – but all involved funding which was not forthcoming. The Randburg Council was one of those bodies which was keen to save the house but didn’t have funding for its restoration.
In the meantime, the house became run down, and by the early 1990s was occupied by squatters. Then the back section of the house was damaged in a fire. This proved to be the solution to the impasse.
In the meantime, the house became run down, and by the early 1990s was occupied by squatters. Then the back section of the house was damaged in a fire. This proved to be the solution to the impasse.
The house was bought by developers in 1994 with the intention of developing a townhouse complex. They were also keen to demolish the house. After a fire occurred at the house bulldozers were brought in to demolish the damaged section, an illegal move because the house was now on the Register of Immovable Conservation-Worthy Property. What remained of the house is just under half of its original design. In 1996, 15 townhouses were built in the area immediately surrounding Hy Many House.
The inside of the house has been modernised and its steel ceilings and wooden floors have gone, as have its original fireplaces, now surrounded by modern tiles. The façade, with its matching gables and beautiful front veranda with an indented stairway and oval-shaped windows on either side, remains. It retains its iron roof, and five of its seven original jacaranda trees, probably 80 or 90 years old.
By rights it should be a national monument – the 1994 listing was the first step to becoming a national monument, but because the developers deviated from the approved site development plan, it lost its historical significance and was removed from the Register in 1998. The house is protected because it is over 60 years old, which means that approval has to be sought for any alterations made to the house. It would be preferable if the house were a declared national monument.
(Information on Hy Many House was found on the City of Johannesburg Website)
Josephine’s exuberant life
In a time when people would ride on carts drawn by horses, hers had to be drawn by four zebras. She was the type of woman who ensured her skin was soft to the touch thanks to milk baths in marble tubs. This was the same kind of woman who had servants blow a bugle…
In a time when people would ride on carts drawn by horses, hers had to be drawn by four zebras. She was the type of woman who ensured her skin was soft to the touch thanks to milk baths in marble tubs.
This was the same kind of woman who had servants blow a bugle when she left her home to go shopping, the sort of woman who was a mistress to a king. Who was this flamboyant woman? Her name was Josephine Dale Lace and she made sure nothing about her was typical.
Born 1869, Josephine was a socialite whose beauty must have been unmatched as she had men, and especially one John Dale Lace, absolutely besotted by her. Born Josephine Cornelia Brink of the Karoo; she was nicknamed José. It is believed that she was proposed to by Sir Cecil John Rhodes, Prime Minister of the Cape at the time, and was mistress to King Edward VII of England. It is known that she was mistress to another man – Ernest Beckett, the Baron Grimthorpe, with whom she had a son, although she claimed it was King Edward's son.
Described as a bright, vivacious woman who was schooled in England, she used her talents, personality and beauty to attach herself to the politically and socially well connected. It is also said that she became the pet of Lady Robinson, wife of Sir Hercules Robinson, Governor of the Cape Colony. There was nothing ordinary about José – she married her husband, Colonel John Dale Lace, whom she met in London while pursuing an acting career, twice. The first time she refused to consummate the marriage because she wanted to finish the play she was acting in. There was also the fact that she still loved Ernest, so John, at her request, divorced her. The second time, on the rebound after Ernest refused to marry her, she and John married in Cape Town and he adopted her son. They, however, never had children of their own.
The Dale Laces were owners of one of Johannesburg's most prominent historic landmarks, the Parktown mansion 'Northwards', designed by British architect, Sir Herbert Baker in 1904. The 40-roomed mansion is now a national monument. It combined decorative Dutch and Flemish gables with Baker's beloved arts and crafts style. It is an imposing presence on the cliff, with its façade constructed of quartzite rock taken from the site. After John lost his fortune he and Josephine moved to Boschkop, which is now known as Bush Hill.
After living a life many would consider less than ordinary, Josephine died in 1937 when she was 68 years old.
(The Information in this article was taken from City of Johannesburg Website)
Time to tell the time
What’s the time? Well, if you visit the Randburg CBD and you don’t have a watch, the time could be 2.25pm, 2.15pm, or an unknown number. Time has stood still in the CBD since the four-faced clock tower stopped working sometime in the 1990s, and has yet to be repaired. Back in the day, every…
What’s the time? Well, if you visit the Randburg CBD and you don’t have a watch, the time could be 2.25pm, 2.15pm, or an unknown number.
Time has stood still in the CBD since the four-faced clock tower stopped working sometime in the 1990s, and has yet to be repaired.
Back in the day, every major town centre needed a clock in a public space, especially around areas of transport and trade, allowing people to plan their day, as not everyone has a watch or a phone to check their time on as it is in modern times.
The clock tower overlooks both the colloquially called ‘oriental plaza’ building and the rear entrance of the Randburg Taxi Rank on Bram Fischer Drive.
Very little is known about the iconic clock tower, but local clock and watchmaker Adrian Blignault of
What’s the time? Well, if you visit the Randburg CBD and you don’t have a watch, the time could be 2.25pm, 2.15pm, or an unknown number.
Time has stood still in the CBD since the four-faced clock tower stopped working sometime in the 1990s, and has yet to be repaired.
Back in the day, every major town centre needed a clock in a public space, especially around areas of transport and trade, allowing people to plan their day, as not everyone has a watch or a phone to check their time on as it is in modern times.
The clock tower overlooks both the colloquially called ‘oriental plaza’ building and the rear entrance of the Randburg Taxi Rank on Bram Fischer Drive.
Very little is known about the iconic clock tower, but local clock and watchmaker Adrian Blignault of
The Clock Doctor, who has inspected the movement of the clock, estimates that the clock was built during the construction of the pedestrian mall.
He said, “Judging from the style of the architecture of the housing of the clock, the style represents iconic ‘brutalist architecture’ of the age, as well as the styles of many fashionable watches of the time, including Omega, Certina and Bulova.
“The clock runs on an electric quartz movement on mains 220v. Each face has its own movement that is supported by a central master movement.
Repairing the clock is an expensive task due to the rarity of the movement inside, but not impossible with the proper funding.”
The clock tower could also have been built during the construction of the old Randburg Municipality council chambers that lay adjacent to it, which is now occupied by a KFC.
Ward 102 councillor David Potter added that he has urged the City of Johannesburg to consider the clock tower’s refurbishment.
Details: www.theclockdoctor.co.za
Randburg
Randburg’s rich history:
https://randburgsun.co.za/randburg-60-years/
As it is with most towns and cities in South Africa, the establishment of Randburg can be traced back to a rich farming heritage so engrained in both our present day and past history. The Randburg area had for many years been occupied by farm owners who can trace their roots back to the Great…
As it is with most towns and cities in South Africa, the establishment of Randburg can be traced back to a rich farming heritage so engrained in both our present day and past history.
The Randburg area had for many years been occupied by farm owners who can trace their roots back to the Great Trek of 1835.
In the 1850s, four farms were settled by Boer pioneers. These were called Klipfontein, Driefontein, Olievenhoutspoort and Boskop.
One such farm owner was J L Pretorius who owned Driefontein, which extended over a vast area from present day Bryanston to Braamfontein.
In 1886, when Pretorius died, the farm was subdivided among his nine sons, who mostly sold their farms to outsiders.
In 1906, farmer Daniel Brink started farming on a portion of the Driefontein farm, which was much later to be subdivided into the suburbs of Brian Brink, Vandia Grove, Kensington B and Beverley Gardens.
Charles Rocher also bought a portion of Driefontein and renamed his estate Bordeaux after the French city from where his family had originated.
In the same area, Scotsman William Gray Rattray purchased a portion of the adjacent Klipfontein farm in 1891. He renamed his portion Craighall after his birthplace in Scotland. Another portion of Klipfontein was bought by wealthy businessman Sir Abe Bailey who renamed his portion Ferndale.
As it is with most towns and cities in South Africa, the establishment of Randburg can be traced back to a rich farming heritage so engrained in both our present day and past history.
The Randburg area had for many years been occupied by farm owners who can trace their roots back to the Great Trek of 1835.
In the 1850s, four farms were settled by Boer pioneers. These were called Klipfontein, Driefontein, Olievenhoutspoort and Boskop.
One such farm owner was J L Pretorius who owned Driefontein, which extended over a vast area from present day Bryanston to Braamfontein.
In 1886, when Pretorius died, the farm was subdivided among his nine sons, who mostly sold their farms to outsiders.
In 1906, farmer Daniel Brink started farming on a portion of the Driefontein farm, which was much later to be subdivided into the suburbs of Brian Brink, Vandia Grove, Kensington B and Beverley Gardens.
Charles Rocher also bought a portion of Driefontein and renamed his estate Bordeaux after the French city from where his family had originated.
In the same area, Scotsman William Gray Rattray purchased a portion of the adjacent Klipfontein farm in 1891. He renamed his portion Craighall after his birthplace in Scotland. Another portion of Klipfontein was bought by wealthy businessman Sir Abe Bailey who renamed his portion Ferndale.
Street names like Carlton Road, Church Street and Pritchard Street sprang up in the veld.
A portion of the Boskop farm was bought by the famous Rand entrepreneur, John Dale Lace, who converted a farmhouse into a country residence. In 1929 Tom Kelly restored the home and named it 'Hy-Many'.
During that time, the area now known as Randburg was not a part of Johannesburg's boundaries and only started real development in the 1920s. By 1928, pieces of land were being sold in the Randburg area for just R50 each.
During the Great Depression, Johannesburg and its surrounding areas experienced a large influx of people.
At the same time, the country was experiencing a four-year drought, which drove even more people from the rural areas into the cities.
Randburg did not even have electricity until 1955. The introduction of electricity in that year caused commerce and trade to flourish in the area. During the 1950s there were less than
9 000 inhabitants in its nine suburbs.
It is uncertain what the motivation was for buying land in Johannesburg North, as it was far from where the gold digging area was. It was rumoured that it was fashionable to own land in the north. Perhaps it was rumours of gold that caused the purchases, or the great areas for hunting that existed. But what we do know is that Randburg is still as fashionable to live in today as it was in years gone by.
Randpark Ridge’s 159-year-old home
Randburg, home to a diverse group of people, has the luxury of also being home to what is believed to be the oldest brick structure in Johannesburg. Found nestling in all its grandeur on Frangipani Crescent, Randpark Ridge, is Hy Many House which is considered to have been built in 1860, thus making it a…
Randburg, home to a diverse group of people, has the luxury of also being home to what is believed to be the oldest brick structure in Johannesburg.
Found nestling in all its grandeur on Frangipani Crescent, Randpark Ridge, is Hy Many House which is considered to have been built in 1860, thus making it a 159 years old. The clue to its age comes from the single remaining thick outer wall on the south side of the house, suggesting the original Boer farmhouse, usually just several simple rooms in a rectangular shape.
The house is all that is left of the original farm, and only half of the house remains. The interior of the house has been modernised, and the only remaining element of its former grandness is the attractive double-gabled, whitewashed façade. John Dale Lace, a Randlord and owner of another of Johannesburg’s famous mansions, Northwards in Parktown, extended the house in 1903, building two A-framed gables on either side of a veranda in the front, and building a pleasant courtyard around which he placed bedrooms, kitchen, and pantry. He had it as his country estate. In all it had some 25 rooms. He also built a dam, still there, now called Hy Many Dam.
However, Dale Lace lost his fortune and in 1911 he and his wife, Josephine, went to live at Boschkop for a short time. The house was taken over by Standard Bank and in 1927 businessman Tom Kelly bought the house, and extended and restored it, giving it Cape Dutch gables and changing its name to Hy Many, which refers to the home of the Kellys, originally from Ireland. The farm consisted of some 1 300 acres, with 25 acres of vegetable gardens. Kelly developed the farm considerably.
According to Kelly’s daughter Elizabeth Gemmill, her father was a keen horseman, and established an abundant stable of polo ponies on the farm. He used to ride from his farm to Langlaagte, just west of the CBD, to play polo. He also established game on the farm – wildebeest, zebra, blesbok, duiker and jackals.
The house was surrounded by veld, with a spruit flowing out of the dam, and a long tree-lined avenue running from the present day Beyers Naudé Drive to the house. Gemmill remembers a tennis court, croquet lawn, and beautiful pool that her father built. Water used to spill out of the dam into terraced gardens above the pool. She said that there was a small cemetery near to the present day Hy Many Dam, probably belonging to farmer Labuschagne but now long gone. She recalls taking tea in the gazebo, at the bottom of the garden – just the foundations of the gazebo remain.
In 1951 the house and part of its land was taken over by Gemmill, and she built a swimming pool and pool room close to the house. In 1982 she sold the property to a trust who had the land rezoned for residential development. It is said that the trust asked her to take all the windows, doors, floorboards and fireplace mantelpieces, as they were to demolish the house. She stayed in the house for another two years, and slowly dismantled and removed the fittings. After growing up in the house, and raising her children in the house, was she sad to leave? Yes, but it is said she thought perhaps it was a good thing.
A Randpark Ridge resident bought land close to Hy Many House in 1984. He became a vehement campaigner to save the house, which was threatened with demolition on a number of occasions. The trust was the first party in favour of demolition – their development plans didn’t include Hy Many House.
The resident wrote the first of several letters to the then National Monuments Council, asking them to intervene by declaring the house a national monument. He got a range of people – botanists and architects – to submit letters to validate his claims for restoration.
Various alternatives to demolition were put forward for the house – a sports club, an office park, an old age home – but all involved funding which was not forthcoming. The Randburg Council was one of those bodies which was keen to save the house but didn’t have funding for its restoration.
In the meantime, the house became run down, and by the early 1990s was occupied by squatters. Then the back section of the house was damaged in a fire. This proved to be the solution to the impasse.
In the meantime, the house became run down, and by the early 1990s was occupied by squatters. Then the back section of the house was damaged in a fire. This proved to be the solution to the impasse.
The house was bought by developers in 1994 with the intention of developing a townhouse complex. They were also keen to demolish the house. After a fire occurred at the house bulldozers were brought in to demolish the damaged section, an illegal move because the house was now on the Register of Immovable Conservation-Worthy Property. What remained of the house is just under half of its original design. In 1996, 15 townhouses were built in the area immediately surrounding Hy Many House.
The inside of the house has been modernised and its steel ceilings and wooden floors have gone, as have its original fireplaces, now surrounded by modern tiles. The façade, with its matching gables and beautiful front veranda with an indented stairway and oval-shaped windows on either side, remains. It retains its iron roof, and five of its seven original jacaranda trees, probably 80 or 90 years old.
By rights it should be a national monument – the 1994 listing was the first step to becoming a national monument, but because the developers deviated from the approved site development plan, it lost its historical significance and was removed from the Register in 1998. The house is protected because it is over 60 years old, which means that approval has to be sought for any alterations made to the house. It would be preferable if the house were a declared national monument.
(Information on Hy Many House was found on the City of Johannesburg Website)
Josephine’s exuberant life
In a time when people would ride on carts drawn by horses, hers had to be drawn by four zebras. She was the type of woman who ensured her skin was soft to the touch thanks to milk baths in marble tubs. This was the same kind of woman who had servants blow a bugle…
In a time when people would ride on carts drawn by horses, hers had to be drawn by four zebras. She was the type of woman who ensured her skin was soft to the touch thanks to milk baths in marble tubs.
This was the same kind of woman who had servants blow a bugle when she left her home to go shopping, the sort of woman who was a mistress to a king. Who was this flamboyant woman? Her name was Josephine Dale Lace and she made sure nothing about her was typical.
Born 1869, Josephine was a socialite whose beauty must have been unmatched as she had men, and especially one John Dale Lace, absolutely besotted by her. Born Josephine Cornelia Brink of the Karoo; she was nicknamed José. It is believed that she was proposed to by Sir Cecil John Rhodes, Prime Minister of the Cape at the time, and was mistress to King Edward VII of England. It is known that she was mistress to another man – Ernest Beckett, the Baron Grimthorpe, with whom she had a son, although she claimed it was King Edward's son.
Described as a bright, vivacious woman who was schooled in England, she used her talents, personality and beauty to attach herself to the politically and socially well connected. It is also said that she became the pet of Lady Robinson, wife of Sir Hercules Robinson, Governor of the Cape Colony. There was nothing ordinary about José – she married her husband, Colonel John Dale Lace, whom she met in London while pursuing an acting career, twice. The first time she refused to consummate the marriage because she wanted to finish the play she was acting in. There was also the fact that she still loved Ernest, so John, at her request, divorced her. The second time, on the rebound after Ernest refused to marry her, she and John married in Cape Town and he adopted her son. They, however, never had children of their own.
The Dale Laces were owners of one of Johannesburg's most prominent historic landmarks, the Parktown mansion 'Northwards', designed by British architect, Sir Herbert Baker in 1904. The 40-roomed mansion is now a national monument. It combined decorative Dutch and Flemish gables with Baker's beloved arts and crafts style. It is an imposing presence on the cliff, with its façade constructed of quartzite rock taken from the site. After John lost his fortune he and Josephine moved to Boschkop, which is now known as Bush Hill.
After living a life many would consider less than ordinary, Josephine died in 1937 when she was 68 years old.
(The Information in this article was taken from City of Johannesburg Website)
Time to tell the time
What’s the time? Well, if you visit the Randburg CBD and you don’t have a watch, the time could be 2.25pm, 2.15pm, or an unknown number. Time has stood still in the CBD since the four-faced clock tower stopped working sometime in the 1990s, and has yet to be repaired. Back in the day, every…
What’s the time? Well, if you visit the Randburg CBD and you don’t have a watch, the time could be 2.25pm, 2.15pm, or an unknown number.
Time has stood still in the CBD since the four-faced clock tower stopped working sometime in the 1990s, and has yet to be repaired.
Back in the day, every major town centre needed a clock in a public space, especially around areas of transport and trade, allowing people to plan their day, as not everyone has a watch or a phone to check their time on as it is in modern times.
The clock tower overlooks both the colloquially called ‘oriental plaza’ building and the rear entrance of the Randburg Taxi Rank on Bram Fischer Drive.
Very little is known about the iconic clock tower, but local clock and watchmaker Adrian Blignault of
What’s the time? Well, if you visit the Randburg CBD and you don’t have a watch, the time could be 2.25pm, 2.15pm, or an unknown number.
Time has stood still in the CBD since the four-faced clock tower stopped working sometime in the 1990s, and has yet to be repaired.
Back in the day, every major town centre needed a clock in a public space, especially around areas of transport and trade, allowing people to plan their day, as not everyone has a watch or a phone to check their time on as it is in modern times.
The clock tower overlooks both the colloquially called ‘oriental plaza’ building and the rear entrance of the Randburg Taxi Rank on Bram Fischer Drive.
Very little is known about the iconic clock tower, but local clock and watchmaker Adrian Blignault of
The Clock Doctor, who has inspected the movement of the clock, estimates that the clock was built during the construction of the pedestrian mall.
He said, “Judging from the style of the architecture of the housing of the clock, the style represents iconic ‘brutalist architecture’ of the age, as well as the styles of many fashionable watches of the time, including Omega, Certina and Bulova.
“The clock runs on an electric quartz movement on mains 220v. Each face has its own movement that is supported by a central master movement.
Repairing the clock is an expensive task due to the rarity of the movement inside, but not impossible with the proper funding.”
The clock tower could also have been built during the construction of the old Randburg Municipality council chambers that lay adjacent to it, which is now occupied by a KFC.
Ward 102 councillor David Potter added that he has urged the City of Johannesburg to consider the clock tower’s refurbishment.
Details: www.theclockdoctor.co.za
Univercity
University Of Johannesburg
University RoadSveučilište Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
1 Jan Smuts AveUnisa Florida Campus
28 Pioneer Ave