Bedfordview is an affluent town on the East Rand in which is situated in Gauteng

Gauteng

Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. Bedfordview has been part of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since 2000. The Eastgate shopping centre

Eastgate shopping centre, Johannesburg

Eastgate was Johannesburgs first 'super-regional' shopping centre. When it opened in 1979, it was the largest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere...

 is located here.

History

Although the area around Bedfordview had been inhabited by black natives for thousands of years, the written history of the area commenced with the arrival of white settlers in the 19th Century.

The site of Bedfordview was largely taken up by the farm Elandsfontein, and was administered as part of the District of Potchefstroom in the South African Republic

South African Republic

The South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...

. The coat-of-arms of Bedfordview features an Eland holding a fountain as a tribute to the early rural history of the town.

The Witwatersrand

Witwatersrand

The Witwatersrand is a low, sedimentary range of hills, at an elevation of 1700–1800 metres above sea-level, which runs in an east-west direction through Gauteng in South Africa. The word in Afrikaans means "the ridge of white waters". Geologically it is complex, but the principal formations...

 Gold Reef had a huge impact on the area. Elandsfontein was purchased for the mineral rights, and was later divided into smaller farms and small-holdings, many of which were settled by retired miners. The entire area became known as Geldenhuis Estates Smallholdings.

One of these farms was owned by Sir George Herbert Farrar

George Herbert Farrar

Sir George Herbert Farrar, 1st Baronet, DSO Sir George Herbert Farrar, 1st Baronet, DSO Sir George Herbert Farrar, 1st Baronet, DSO (17 June 1859 Chatteris, Cambridgeshire – 20 May 1915 Kuibis, South West Africa, was a South African mining magnate, politician and soldier - Colonel and assistant...

, a randlord

Randlord

Randlord is a term used to denote the entrepreneurs who controlled the diamond and gold mining industries in South Africa in its pioneer phase from the 1870s up to World War I....

 who played a prominent role in planning the infamous Jameson Raid

Jameson Raid

The Jameson Raid was a botched raid on Paul Kruger's Transvaal Republic carried out by a British colonial statesman Leander Starr Jameson and his Rhodesian and Bechuanaland policemen over the New Year weekend of 1895–96...

, one of the main causes of the Second Anglo-Boer War. His farm, Bedford, was located in the present-day suburb of St Andrews, and parts of the original farm can still be seen in St Andrews' School. The farm itself was named after Sir Farrar's home-town of Bedford

Bedford

Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...

 in England. Apparently the raid itself was planned in a small house close to the farm. Sir George is buried in Milner Ave, close to the school, the only official grave in the town.

During the war, British cavalry was based in Bedfordview and apparently planted the oak trees along Van Buuren Ave. There is also a legend that an Indian Rajah based with the unit died and was buried somewhere in Bedfordview in full regalia, including his jewel-encrusted sword.

The name "Bedfordview" came about as the result of a competition in 1926. A girl who won the competition thought there was a nice view from Bedford Farm. "Bedford View" (two words) was then registered. Over the years the name has contracted to one word.

By 1932 the small-holding had developed into a small village. The 1st Bedfordview Scout Troop opened its doors on 26 July 1928, there was a government school and a post-office. However, there were major health concerns. Bill Stuart, headmaster at the school recalled that sewage would run down Van Buuren Road from Malvern East and that the piggeries and other farms caused swarms of flies. There was talk that the area should become part of a municipality in order to deal with the matter, and residents were asked whether they would prefer to join Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

 or Germiston. Joining a municipality would mean rates and taxes though, so the residents elected instead to set up a health committee to sort out the problem. This later developed into the Bedfordview Village Council and then the Bedfordview Town Council.

Bedfordview was forced to join with Germiston

Germiston, Gauteng

Germiston is a city in the East Rand of Gauteng in South Africa. Germiston is now the seat of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality which includes much of the East Rand, and is also considered part of Greater Johannesburg.-History:...

 and Palm Ridge to form the Transitional Council of Greater Germiston after democracy. This was in turn merged with other East-Rand towns to form the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Council, which incorporated the old municipalities of Alberton

Alberton, Gauteng

Alberton is a town situated on the East Rand of the Gauteng Province in South Africa which celebrated its centenary year in 2005. it had a population of 202,202 inhabitants. It is known as a typical bedroom community, a community primarily residential in character, with most of its workers...

, Bedfordview, Benoni

Benoni, Gauteng

Benoni is a city with 654,509 inhabitants on the East Rand in the South African province of Gauteng. Since 2000, it has been part of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality.- History :...

, Boksburg

Boksburg, Gauteng

Boksburg is a city with 471,121 inhabitants on the East Rand of Gauteng province of South Africa. Gold was discovered in Boksburg in 1887. It was named after the State Secretary of the South African Republic, W. Eduard Bok...

, Brakpan

Brakpan, Gauteng

Brakpan is a gold and uranium mining town with 346,735 inhabitants in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The name Brakpan was first used by the British in the 1880s because of a non-perennial lake that would annually dry to become a "brackish pan"....

, Edenvale

Edenvale, Gauteng

Edenvale is a town on the East Rand in Gauteng, South Africa. It started out in 1903, after the Anglo Boer War as a small settlement named Rietfontein which sprung up around the Rietfontein Gold Mine. It was made a municipality in 1942. It was initially populated by Cornish mineworkers. Modern...

, Germiston, Kempton Park

Kempton Park, Gauteng

Kempton Park is a city on the East Rand in the Gauteng province, South Africa. Formerly an independent municipality in the Transvaal, Kempton Park no longer has its own municipal government, and has been part of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since 2000...

, Nigel

Nigel, Gauteng

Nigel is a small gold mining town in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The town is on the edge of the area known as the East Rand, the industrial engine room of Johannesburg....

, and Springs

Springs, Gauteng

Springs is a city on the East Rand in the Gauteng province of South Africa.It lies 50 km east of Johannesburg. The name of the city derives from the large number of springs in the area; it has a population of more than 200,000, and is situated at 5,340 ft a.s.l...

.

Listings

The site Bedfordview.co.za is a dedicated listing for business, malls, shops, jobs and property in the Bedfordview area.

Economy

Airports Company South Africa

Airports Company South Africa

Airports Company of South Africa Limited operates ten of South Africa’s airports. Its head office is in The Maples Office Park in Bedfordview, Ekurhuleni.-History:...

 has its head office in Bedfordview.

TAAG Angola Airlines has an office in Bedfordview.

Suburbs

The following suburbs form part of Bedfordview:

• Bedford Gardens
• Bedford Park
• Essexwold
• Morninghill
• Oriel
• Senderwood
• St Andrews