The city is a cosmopolitan melting pot with all the conveniences the foreign visitor could want coupled with the unique charms of Africa. It is where the money is and the action. Its the most powerful commercial centre on the African continent. It is a city that works, literally, the phones dial, the lights switch on, you can drink the water, there are multi lane freeways, skyscrapers, conference centres and golf courses.
There are no mountains to block growth therefore the city is a shapeless sprawl. Johannesburg is 115 years old. It started life as a gold rush shanty town. It was barely in its teens when it sparked an Anglo Boer war that changed southern African history, over a dispute about who controlled Johannesburg.
In less than 30 years the city had outpaced every rival to become southern Africas major commercial centre. For a foreign visitor, it is cheap. In fact an international survey of 22 leading cities found that Johannesburg was the cheapest to live in less than half the price of London and a quarter the price of Tokyo.
Highlights to be seen include some of the following.
Cradle of Humankind is set of caves west of Johannesburg where many experts believe mankinds hominid ancestors first appeared.
Established in 1912, Alexandra is one of the earliest urban black settlements. It is the site of a multi million presidential development initiative.
Botanic Gardens are one of the finest succulent collections, in addition to wide open green spaces, sparkling dams, roses, herbs, birds and trees galore.
Monte Casino Bird Gardens is a new attraction with some 200 species of birds and over 1500 species of small animals. A feature being is the walk in aviary containing 100 species of birds.
The township whose name became synonymous with anti apartheid resistance. On one street, the Tutus once lived.
The jail that held leading activists from Nelson Mandela to Mahatma Gandhi is reborn as the constitutional court and as a museum graves.
A visit to Johannesburgs new Apartheid Museum is a moving experience, you almost feel you were there among the demonstrators facing down the police.
A bus tour takes visitors to sites of intriguing murders in the city.
Take a trip down an old gold mine which even boasts the worlds deepest pub
Tired of the usual movies, nightclubs, and restaurants then Johannesburg has lots of different activities to do in the evenings, which will give you another, unusual take on the city.
On The African Continent
Heading to the African continent is easy these days; you simply need to jump on the web and visit a news portal that directly involves you with the news and happenings in Africa. Having developed a strong relationship with Web 2.0, the African continent is connected with the international community and allows worldwide visitors to utilize key buzzwords to travel intimately into the news of the continent.
Domestically, with Web 2.0, the African continent is connected through social bookmarking networks, such as AfricaNe.ws, which develop and strengthen the relationships between all of the countries and people in the continent. By encouraging individuals to choose the most relevant and important news stories, the information is organic, unfiltered, and comes straight from the people. Thus, the news that is derived from this process is real and important, without any filters created by news organizations in other countries. The current events and news, as told by the first-hand witnesses on the African continent, is broadcasted all over the world.
Fundamentally, with a social bookmarking network, the fundamentals of discrimination and filtering are eliminated. The grassroots news and information about the African continent can flow across international boundaries, without any type of filtration or suppression. When an user engages with Web 2.0, they take the news into their own hands by having the ability to connect with the African continent, collaborate with others, and share information with the world. Web 2.0 and social bookmarking networks allow people, both domestically and internationally, to make a real connection with the countries in the African continent.
The divisions amid social media have recently gathered frequently to discuss censorship, regulations, and even blogging in the realm of news portals. There have been heavy discussions whether other media producers might join in the revolutionary social media. There are many issues that centre around the relevancy of blogging and the news, and whether or not news bloggers should be added to the mainstream news media.
Despite the news media debates, the importance and relevancy of Web 2.0 and social bookmarking networks is making a deep impact for African news, both domestically and internationally. By bringing people and countries together, social bookmarking networks have allowed people to link together on the net and experience cultural growth. It has been an important step in distributing real, relevant, and organic African news to others around the world.
With the advent of Web 2.0 and social bookmarking networks such as AfricaNe.ws, people are connecting with the African countries, both domestically and internationally. Breaking down international boundaries, social bookmarking networks bring people closer together. Through the process of creating, producing, and sharing web content, Web 2.0 news portals continue to empower individuals to share with the world relevant, real news and events. This process in itself provides the news media with unfiltered news stories that come straight from the people of the African continent.
Web 2.0 and African social bookmarking networks will make a tremendous impact on the domestic and international communities, with the important, real news stories connecting people and the news media around the world.
Both Douglas Scott & Osei Kofi are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
