| Springs, Gauteng |
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The original 7 km² farm on which the city of Springs was later to be built, ''The Springs'', was surveyed in 1883 . Coal was discovered in the area in 1887 and three years later the Transvaal Republic 's first Railway was built to carry coal from the East Rand coalfields to the gold mines of the Witwatersrand . Gradually, especially after coal was discovered further east in South Africa in Witbank , the Springs collieries were closed. In the meanwhile, however, Gold had also been discovered in the area. A village was laid out in 1904 and in 1908 the first gold mining began. Springs was granted Municipal status in 1912 . By the late 1930s , there were eight gold mines near Springs, making it the largest single gold-producing area in the world. Currently, Springs is one of the industrial centers of the Witwatersrand . Mining has been replaced by the manufacturing and engineering industries in economic importance; products of the region include processed metals, chemicals, paper and foodstuffs. Springs is currently part of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality {Link without Title} , that includes much of the East Rand. Springs had been divided during the Apartheid-era into the middle and upper income white suburbs around the city centre, the Indian area of Bakerton east of the CBD, while blacks were relocated to Kwa-thema, south-west of the CBD. This divide has faded since democracy, with mixed races in all areas. The influx of poor black families has given rise to informal settlements near all the industrial areas, which has been blamed for higher crime rates and falling property prices. Springs was the birthplace of Dhiren Ganasen , the South African lawyer and jurist of Indian descent and his youth spent in the mining town deeply affected his later views and his writings "On Sexual Conduct, the Law and the Kama Sutra". EXTERNAL LINKS |
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