Gauteng means 'place of gold' in Sotho. Built on the gold reefs, it is heavily urban with the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria. The discovery of gold near Johannesburg in 1886 turned a small shanty town into the bustling modern city that is the centre of the world's gold-mining industry. The city is currently undergoing a fundamental transformation as planners in the post-apartheid era struggle to integrate wealthy 'white' areas to the north, a decaying inner city, and the poverty-stricken 'black' townships to the south.
Newtown is an urban renewal project with the excellent Museum Africa, several excellent restaurants, and the Market Theatre, a famous centre of alternative theatre during the apartheid era and after. Parktown was the home of the so-called 'Randlords', the 19th-century Gold Rush millionaires, whose houses are still an imposing sight. Notable landmarks are the Johannesburg Zoo, Zoo Lake and the South African National Museum of Military History. Sandton, probably the wealthiest part of Johannesburg is now the city centre; Gold Reef City, built on the site of a gold mine, with underground tours as part of the attraction, is south of the city.
Soweto, the massive black township to the south, is home to some 4.5 million of the province's poorest people, to many shebeens (informal bars) and thousands of churches representing hundreds of mainline and independent African denominations. Freedom Square was used for rallies; the Hector Peterson Memorial, dedicated to the first child to die in the uprisings; and Nelson and Winnie Mandela's former home, now a small museum.
