Johannesburg Johannesburg were destroyed and their people driven away during the wars emanating from Zululand during the late 18th and early 19th centuries (the mfecane or difaqane wars), and as a result, an offshoot of the Zulu kingdom, the Ndebele (often referred to as the Matabele, the name given them by the local Sotho–Tswana), set up a kingdom to the northwest of Johannesburg around modern-day Rustenburg. The main Witwatersrand gold reef was discovered in June 1884 on the farm Vogelstruisfontein by Jan Gerritse Bantjes that triggered the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the founding of Johannesburg in 1886. The discovery of gold
Jan S. Marais Jan S. Marais Jan S. Marais (April 23, 1919 - 2009) was a South African banker and politician. He was the founder and chairman of the Trust Bank of Africa, one of South Africa's largest banks. He was a National member of the Parliament of South Africa, and a critic of apartheid. Jan S. Marais was born was Johannes Stephanus Marais on April 23, 1919 in Fraserburg, Northern Cape. He graduated from Stellenbosch University. Marais was the general manager of Federale Volksbeleggings, an Afrikaner investment company. Marais founded the Trust Bank of Africa in 1954, and he served as its