Ophirton is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. This industrial suburb lies three kilometers to south-west of the Johannesburg CBD. It is located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, adjacent to Booysens.
Ophirton | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 26°13′30″S 28°01′34″E / 26.225°S 28.026°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Gauteng |
Municipality | City of Johannesburg |
Main Place | Johannesburg |
Area | |
• Total | 0.94 km2 (0.36 sq mi) |
Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 506 |
• Density | 540/km2 (1,400/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011) | |
• Black African | 67.6% |
• Coloured | 3.4% |
• Indian/Asian | 25.7% |
• White | 1.8% |
• Other | 1.6% |
First languages (2011) | |
• English | 30.4% |
• Zulu | 19.3% |
• Xhosa | 9.7% |
• Northern Sotho | 7.2% |
• Other | 33.5% |
Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Postal code (street) | 2091 |
History
editOphirton has it origin in 1888, not long after the creation of Johannesburg in 1886.[2]: 154 The suburb is situated on part of an old Witwatersrand farm called Turffontein.[3] It is named after the Paarl Ophir Gold Mining Company that owned the land.[3] It has its origins as a dusty residential suburb, that was surrounded by mine dumps, and occupied by the poorer classes.[2]: 154 Chandler's Brewery was one of the early industrial business' in the suburb.[2]: 154 Nowadays the suburb is mostly industrial but a few old residential houses remain.
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Sub Place Ophirton". Census 2011.
- ^ a b c Leyds, Gerald Anton (1964). A History of Johannesburg: The Early Years. Nasional Boekhandel. p. 318.
- ^ a b Raper, Peter E.; Moller, Lucie A.; du Plessis, Theodorus L. (2014). Dictionary of Southern African Place Names. Jonathan Ball Publishers. p. 1412. ISBN 9781868425501.