Discovery of Gold
Sandton derives its name from the suburbs of Sandown and Bryanston. Included in the suburb’s rich past is evidence of extensive ruins from an Iron Age smelting and forging site found at Lone Hill. These ruins point to the possibility that Sotho and Tswana-speaking people lived here up to 400 years ago.
Sandton had a head start on the discovery of gold a full 33 years before it was found in the Witwatersrand Basin. In 1853, Pieter Jacobus Marais sourced gold at Braamfontein Spruit. Sandton came into being from land, on which three and later a further two farms were based, namely Zandfontein, Driefontein and Rietfontein, then subsequently the farms Witkoppen and Cyferfontein.
More recently, the Rivonia Trial, which ended in 1964, which saw conspirators tried for treason, was named after the place in Sandton where Liliesleaf Farm was located. The farm was a hiding place for members of the African National Congress (ANC), amongst other groups.