The gold rush history of Germiston (Wadeville) and how it created a culture of industry

Many locations around the world have been built on the foundation of gold and wealth. Gold in South Africa was discovered around 1886 and in only a decade it was producing 23% of the world’s gold. For better or worse this gold rush created much of the interest that helped develop South Africa into one of Africa’s powerhouses for both industry and commerce.

Other countries that experienced similar paradigms include New Zealand, North America, South America and Australia. Many of these exploits created an urgency for wealth and have inspired literature and storytelling the world over. Not just in books, folklore but big-budget movies as well. The earliest most mentionable being Charlie Chaplin’s 1925 silent film aptly titled The Gold Rush.

In South Africa, all of the interest in Gold happened around the Highveld region of the country except for the short-lived possibility of gold in other areas such as the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. Germiston which is also the location of the modern industrialized area of Wadeville was one such area that a huge role to play in the Gold Rush of the 1800’s.

As history reads two farmers by the name of John Jack and August Simmer struck gold around 1887 on a farm then known as Eladsfontein. This inspired both farmers to stay at the location and in turn, this made them both extremely rich men. Years passed and the area was firmly established as a location for gold and riches and by 1921 the planet’s most extensive gold refinery was established entitled Rand Refinery.

This tradition has carried on right through to present day Johannesburg. When this location was founded it was nothing more than a tiny tented town set up largely to service the need of those looking for gold. Today it’s a sprawling urban expanse and one of the most modern cities not just on the African continent but the entire world.

This, in turn, has enabled the city to have a long history in terms of industry and commerce and today locations such as Wadville in Germiston are popular most notably for the pivotal role it plays in developing and sustaining the industrial industry.

Leading industrial company API Property Group have seen how important locations such as Germiston and Wadeville are for the industrial longevity of the country. This is why they have such a vested interest in the location.  There are currently 87 listed industrial properties available for rental in the area, this makes it one of the most extensive and dense industrial nodes throughout the entire Gauteng region. With such a sheer volume of property available it’s no wonder, API Property Group is inundated in around these hugely significant areas of industry and commerce. In modern-day Johannesburg, there are so many different industries that have made the area home, a lot of this interest has stemmed from the locations roots within the gold rush of the 1800’s. This, in turn, has established the region as the industrial powerhouse not just of South Africa but the entire continent as well. This is why investment is high and industrial property is plentiful. It would seem these sentiments are still alive in modern-day Johannesburg as according to Eyewitness News a truck that spilled gold on the M4 highway recently inspired a modern-day gold rush where pedestrians where picking up gold off the hot tarmac.

So it would seem these early gold inspired sentiments have inspired a long tradition of industry in the city of gold. Why not get a little piece of the action. API Property Group are here to make sure your transition to a newer more suited location for industrial purposes will be easy and pain-free. Get in contact with one of their highly skilled brokers today and make sure your next operation is out of this fantastic area for industry.