Johannesburg

== Etymology ==
Controversy surrounds the origin of the name. There were quite a number of people with the name "Johannes" who were involved in the early history of the city. Among them is the principal clerk attached to the office of the surveyor-general Hendrik Dercksen, [[Christiaan Johannes Joubert]], who was a member of the [[Volksraad of the South African Republic|Volksraad]] and was the Republic's chief of mining. Another was Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (better known as [[Paul Kruger]]), president of the [[South African Republic]] (ZAR) from 1883 to 1900. [[Jan Meyer|Johannes Meyer]], the first government official in the area is another possibility.<ref name="Jo01">{{cite web |title=How was Johannesburg named? |url=https://www.joburg.org.za/play_/Pages/Play%20in%20Joburg/Culture%20and%20Heritage/Links/How-was-Johannesburg-named.aspx |website=www.joburg.org.za |language=en-ZA |access-date=30 April 2020 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308184520/https://www.joburg.org.za/play_/Pages/Play%20in%20Joburg/Culture%20and%20Heritage/Links/How-was-Johannesburg-named.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

Precise records for the choice of name were lost. Johannes Rissik and Johannes Joubert were members of a delegation sent to [[England]] to obtain mining rights for the area. Joubert had a park in the city named after him, and Rissik has his name for one of the main streets in the city where the historically important albeit dilapidated [[Rissik Street Post Office]] is located.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rissik Street Post Office Johannesburg – The Heritage Portal |url=http://www.theheritageportal.co.za/thread/rissik-street-post-office-johannesburg |website=www.theheritageportal.co.za |access-date=31 May 2017 |archive-date=18 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018195115/http://www.theheritageportal.co.za/thread/rissik-street-post-office-johannesburg |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=295:rissik-street-post-office&catid=38:heritage&Itemid=51 |title=City of Johannesburg – Rissik Street Post Office |access-date=16 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111105718/http://joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=295:rissik-street-post-office&catid=38:heritage&Itemid=51 |archive-date=11 November 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Johannesburg City Hall|City Hall]] is also located on Rissik Street.