east rand

East Rand is the name of the urban eastern part of the Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation. This area became settled by Europeans after a gold-bearing reef discovered in 1886 and sparked the gold rush that gave rise to the establishment of Johannesburg. The East Rand extends from Germiston in the west to Springs in the east, and south down to Nigel, and includes the towns of Boksburg, Benoni, Brakpan, Kempton Park, Edenvale, and Bedfordview. The area was merged into a single city in 1999, named Ekurhuleni, meaning "place of peace." The large former black townships of the East Rand were the scene of heavy clashes between the African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party before the end of Apartheid. Despite being a separate municipal area, like the West Rand, the East Rand is included in the Greater Johannesburg metropolitan area. To this end, the East Rand shares the same dialling code as Johannesburg (011 locally). It is not uncommon for residents of the East Rand to work in Johannesburg proper and vice versa.

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