Gauteng


Gauteng is the smallest province in South Africa, and at the same time the most populated and the economic hub of South Africa. It is also the youngest province, as it was formed after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27-APR-1994. The area formerly belonged to Transvaal Province. Its name is derived from a Sesotho word meaning Place of Gold. Major cities are Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Gauteng has three important aspects, which are of interest to showcaves.com. There is the gold deposit of the RegionWitwatersrand. The economic backbone of the area since a hundred years is the so called Gold Reef. To the north there are the most important kimberlite pipes of the world with the most important diamond mines. And there are numerous (small) caves, which became famous as archives of our earliest ancestors. This archaeological hotspot is called the Cradle of Humankind, which is an innuendo on the out of Africa theory which assumes the development of mankind in Africa and subsequent spreading all over the world. It covers an area of 47 km² in the north-western corner of Gauteng.