Rivonia, Gauteng
Encyclopedia
Rivonia is a suburb of Johannesburg
, South Africa
in the Sandton area. It is located in Region 3
. Rivonia is one of the most affluent residential and business suburbs of Johannesburg, and regarded as the hub of upstart I.T. companies. The main retail thoroughfare in the area, Rivonia Boulevard, is the location of the Rivonia Square
and Rivonia Village shopping complexes as well as many other shops and restaurants.
The area known as Rivonia includes the original township of Edenburg
, Edenburg Extension 1, and 19 smaller extensions designated 'Rivonia Extension ...', numbered from 0 to 25. There is no designated township (in the legal sense) called Rivonia.
(26°2′36"S 28° 3′15"E), where in 1963 many of the accused in the Rivonia Treason Trial
were arrested. The earliest public transport into Johannesburg was by donkey cart, later by bus.
A Carmelite Convent sat in the centre of the village until displaced by commercial pressures. In a nice, commemorative move, the large shopping centre first built on the site was named The Cloisters. The earlier village lay on the direct path of access along Rivonia Road to the south to the new 'concrete' highway, with a nasty dogleg in the road at 12th Avenue. When it was decided to redesign and improve Rivonia Road through to the highway, the bowling greens and tennis courts of the Rivonia Recreation Club were in the way, and the Club relocated to a handsome new site in Achter Road in Paulshof, leaving only the Rivonia Hall and Library on the original site. Rivonia Produce, a landmark and long established family business, supplying inter alia hay to the many local horse owners, was also forced to move from the dogleg on 12th Avenue to a new building on 11th Avenue. It has since been swallowed into a national hardware chain and disappeared.
Before Rivonia was incorporated into the new town of Sandton, along with Bryanston, Sandown and Morningside, it was administered by the Per-Urban Areas Health Board.
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...
, 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...
in the Sandton area. It is located in Region 3
Region 3 (Johannesburg)
Region 3 was an administrative district in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, from 2000 to 2006, and was also known as the Sandton region, as it included the formerly independent municipality of Sandton, and many of the northern suburbs of the former Johannesburg municipality...
. Rivonia is one of the most affluent residential and business suburbs of Johannesburg, and regarded as the hub of upstart I.T. companies. The main retail thoroughfare in the area, Rivonia Boulevard, is the location of the Rivonia Square
Rivonia Square
Rivonia Square is a shopping centre, including shops, the post office, a fitness centre and restaurants, along a thoroughfare called Rivonia Boulevard in Rivonia, Johannesburg. Rivonia Square includes the area occupied previously by the Cloisters Shopping Centre...
and Rivonia Village shopping complexes as well as many other shops and restaurants.
The area known as Rivonia includes the original township of Edenburg
Edenburg, Gauteng
Edenburg is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region 3. The name is a source of confusion, as the whole area is known not as Edenburg but as Rivonia. The road from Johannesburg to the south is named Rivonia Road. Edenburg has one large extension, and there are up to 25 small...
, Edenburg Extension 1, and 19 smaller extensions designated 'Rivonia Extension ...', numbered from 0 to 25. There is no designated township (in the legal sense) called Rivonia.
History
Rivonia lies between the Braamfontein Spruit and the Sandspruit, and was the location of Liliesleaf FarmLiliesleaf Farm
Liliesleaf Farm in northern Johannesburg, South Africa was the farm used secretly by African National Congress activists in the 1960s and was the location where many prominent African National Congress leaders were arrested, leading to the Rivonia Trial....
(26°2′36"S 28° 3′15"E), where in 1963 many of the accused in the Rivonia Treason Trial
Rivonia Trial
The Rivonia Trial was a trial that took place in South Africa between 1963 and 1964, in which ten leaders of the African National Congress were tried for 221 acts of sabotage designed to overthrow the apartheid system.-Origins:...
were arrested. The earliest public transport into Johannesburg was by donkey cart, later by bus.
A Carmelite Convent sat in the centre of the village until displaced by commercial pressures. In a nice, commemorative move, the large shopping centre first built on the site was named The Cloisters. The earlier village lay on the direct path of access along Rivonia Road to the south to the new 'concrete' highway, with a nasty dogleg in the road at 12th Avenue. When it was decided to redesign and improve Rivonia Road through to the highway, the bowling greens and tennis courts of the Rivonia Recreation Club were in the way, and the Club relocated to a handsome new site in Achter Road in Paulshof, leaving only the Rivonia Hall and Library on the original site. Rivonia Produce, a landmark and long established family business, supplying inter alia hay to the many local horse owners, was also forced to move from the dogleg on 12th Avenue to a new building on 11th Avenue. It has since been swallowed into a national hardware chain and disappeared.
Economy
Hewlett Packard's main Southern Africa and South Africa office is in Rivonia.Before Rivonia was incorporated into the new town of Sandton, along with Bryanston, Sandown and Morningside, it was administered by the Per-Urban Areas Health Board.