South Africa Guide
Gauteng
Johannesburg
Frenetic, electrifying JOHANNESBURG has had a reputation for striving, greed and violence ever since its first plot auction in December 1886. Despite its status as the largest and wealthiest city in the country, it has never been the seat of government or national political power, allowing it to concentrate fully on what it has always done best: make money and get ahead.
The bewildering size of Jo'burg can be daunting for all but the most determined traveller. Some visitors fall into the trap of being too intimidated by the city's reputation to explore, venturing out only to the bland, safe, covered shopping malls and restaurants of the northern suburbs while making hasty plans to move on. However, once you've found a convenient way of getting around, either by car or in the company of a tour guide, the history, diversity and crackling energy of the city can quickly become compelling. Johannesburg offers fascinating museums, most notably the Apartheid Museum in Gold Reef City and the Museum Africa in Newtown, as well as excellent art galleries. Several suburbs have a thriving café culture, which by the evening transforms into a lively restaurant scene.
Shopping is Jo'burg's biggest addiction, and the city offers an abundance of superb contemporary African art, fashion and design. And then there are the townships, most easily explored on a tour but, in some cases, possible to get to under your own steam.
Jo'burg is also a great place to watch sport, with soccer, rugby and cricket teams commanding feverish support. Attending a soccer match between any of the three giants – Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs and Pretoria's Mamelodi Sundowns – is an exhilarating experience. And of course, the 2010 Soccer World Cup will be headquartered in Johannesburg and the final held at the spectacularly refurbished Soccer City stadium, near Soweto, which will seat almost 95,000 fans.
Spectator sports
Sport is huge anywhere you go in South Africa, but in Johannesburg it's an obsession. Here you'll find the biggest stadiums and the biggest teams, and the usually fantastic weather makes going to a match a deeply agreeable experience. The major cricket games, including five-day test matches, are played at the Wanderers Stadium, off Corlett Drive, Illovo ( 
011 788 1008), though if you look carefully at the touring programme for any visiting international teams you may find fixtures scheduled to be played in Soweto or Alexandra.
The towering Ellis Park in downtown Jo'burg ( 011 402 8644) is a South African rugby shrine, particularly since the triumph there of the Springboks in the 1995 World Cup. As well as hosting international fixtures it's also home ground to the provincial Gauteng Lions team. The best way to get there is to make use of the park-and-ride system which operates for big games, with buses shuttling in from car parks outside the centre.
The biggest sport in town is soccer, and there's a passionate rivalry between Jo'burg's two biggest teams, fuelled by scandal, intrigue and mutual loathing, which keeps armies of sports reporters in work. In Jo'burg (and, more particularly, Soweto), you're either a fan of Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates, and for decades local derbies have pulled mammoth crowds of 70,000 to FNB Stadium, on the NASREC road on the outskirts of Soweto. However, the stadium is currently being expanded and revamped ahead of the 2010 World Cup; in the interim matches are being played at smaller grounds such as Ellis Park, the scene of a tragic crush at a Chiefs-Pirates game in 2001 in which over fifty fans died. You should try to go to a home game of either team, especially one against Pretoria giants Mamelodi Sundowns. Tickets are cheap, the football can be exciting – if a little chaotic – and the atmosphere is often exhilarating. Crowd violence is very rare, and there is secure parking. Tickets for big games can be bought from Computicket ( 011 445 8000 or 083 915 8000, 
www.computicket.com ).
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