It’s difficult to judge just when a tradition becomes an institution but, when representatives of the homes, creches, charities and grass-roots child groups who benefit to the tune of more than 100 000 toys each year say bluntly: “Don’t stop!” and even the Air Force is keen to get involved, we can safely say that point has been passed.

That institution is, of course, the annual Toy Run, held on the last Sunday of November each year (this year it falls on the 27th), an event that has moved beyond the motorcycling community in the past three decades to become part of South Africa’s vibrant rainbow culture.

In this, the 29th year of the event, more than 20 Toy Runs will be held all over South Africa, in big cities and small communities, from as few as 20 motorcycles to as many as 20 000, all with a common cause – toys for kids.

The Johannesburg Toy Run has become so big that the organisers have shifted the emphasis from the mass rides (there were five in 2010, converging on the same destination, and the logistics were a nightmare) to a new end venue at the Benoni Northerns Sports Club in Brodigan Avenue, Northmead.

Toy Runners are advised to avoid the N12 at all costs due to construction; take the R21 to the Atlas off-ramp, after the Airfreight turn off, and follow the banners.

The Toy Run will be open from 8 am to 3pm; the entry fee will be a toy, toiletry item, educational toy or stationary item to be donated to the less fortunate children in our communities.

There will be entertainment all day at the club with three live bands, plenty to eat and drink at biker-friendly prices, and Toy Run memorabilia, riding gear and jewellery on sale.

However, for those diehards who reckon it isn’t a Toy Run without a mass ride, there will be groups meeting at Edenvale/Meadowdale Checkers Hyper in the East Rand and WestGate Shopping Centre in the West, to ride together to the end venue.

Any licensed rider on any licensed motorcycle or scooter is welcome; the Toy Run is held on public roads with the co-operation of the Traffic department but they won’t co-operate with any unlicensed bikes or unroadworthy behaviour.

More information from chairman Shaun Fine (072 129 7511) or convenor Pete Beart (083 229 6621).

Enjoy Life on the East Rand!

THE East Rand Charity Festival promises to be a fun filled, action packed event.

Come and join the action Saturday at Hoërskool Birchleigh at the corner of Maroela Street and Olienhout Avenue.

The event has been organised by Mr South Africa 2012 semi-finalist, Ewald Viljoen.

Activities include a Mr and Miss East Rand, a bikers fun ride, live entertainment and shows, a 7s rugby tournament, card box car relay, colouring in competitions and many more.

The entrance fee is R10 a person and R10 a vehicle.

Come and support the South African Blood Services with their charity blood drive.

All funds raised will go towards the Chrysalis Foundation which offers courses to girls from 14 to 18 years who have been physically and mentally traumatised.

For more information, call Ewald on 073-654-8900.

Enjoy Life on the East Rand!

Founded as Van Ryn Golf Club in 1906 the Benoni Country Club came into existence due to the discovery of gold because it was originally a facility established for the employees of the Van Ryn mine.

With a strong golf  course, tennis, bowls and a  squash section, all in spacious grounds where birds and wildlife thrive, this is indeed a country club although situated in the heart of suburbia.

Each section has an active and enthusiastic membership and provides interested people with regular and complete updates of their activities.

It is not known who actually laid out the original golf course but whoever it was certainly knew what they were doing and although various changes have been made over the years the basic character of the course still remains ‘old-school parkland’ – rather flat and well wooded, but set up for championship play.

Some years back the club introduced wildlife to the golf course and there is something very special about seeing springbok and blesbok strolling about the greens.

But it’s not all about sport!  With more than enough room for entertaining in separate areas of the large clubhouse, reasonable prices and excellent cuisine it is little wonder that a large percentage of this club’s revenue comes from private functions.

All in all, the Benoni Country Club is a wonderful venue for friends, colleagues and families!

Enjoy Life on the East Rand!

Hiking and backpacking is a way of getting back to the great outdoors – free of the restrictions of modern life.

As an activity it can be many things;  if it is solitude you are looking for, the veld, hills and mountains will provide it for you in abundance.  It is also a wonderful way to socialise and spend time with friends and family, particularly children.  Spending the day amongst beautiful scenery and then socialising with family and friends at night can be a very uplifting experience.

Another important part of backpacking is that it allows you time in which you can consider your life and its challenges and discover who you really are and what you want.   As you do this you can relate to nature and enjoy the tranquility that seems to be everywhere outdoors, away from the concrete jungle.

Hiking is an activity that can be done on a shoe-string or expensively.  Either way you will come to savour the times you have spent hiking and enjoying the company of fellow hikers.  You will come home rejuvenated and ready to face your working world!

Join a club and meet people like yourself!

The East Rand Hiking Club

Administrator Gretta Jones 011 849 9805  072 244 9387

Johannesburg Hiking Club

Administrator Marion Hufner  087 940 1903 or  010 590 1903

Boksburg Hiking Club

Deon Van Rensburg – Chairperson 083 286 9934

Enjoy Life on the East Rand!

East Rand Gliding Club:  Springs airfield (FASI) is a registered airfield which is leased from the local municipality and the East Rand Gliding Centre shares the facility with a number of operations including a micro-lite club, an ultra-lite club,autogyro club, EEA, flying schools and private operators.

It lies at 5340 ft MSL and has a runway 1100m long which is tarred. The orientation is 03/21. A grass cross runway exists on a 14/32 orientation.

Parallel to the main runway is an addition grass runway which is used for microlite and autogyro operations and is designated 04/22.

Joining procedures are for microlites (Weight shifting type) – 6300 ft MSL over airfield and for all other aircraft 6800 ft MSL.

All circuits are to the West or North of the airfield for noise abatement purposes.

Runways 03, 04 and 14 are to be flow Left Hand circuits. Runways 21, 22 and 32 Right Hand circuits. Circuit height is 6000 ft MSL.

Springs airfield is uncontrolled and traffic in the vicinity uses the radio frequency 122,4 MHz for TIBA and circuit calls.

Facilities at Springs include a fuel bay for AVGAS. The club shares a number of hangars and refreshments are available from local facilities.

The club makes extensive use of Scheibe Falke motor gliders for both ab-initio and solo flying. These aircraft have proven themselves over the years as being cheap to operate, docile in handling and robust enough to cope with the riggers of student pilots.

In addition access is available to high performance Whisper motor gliders for advanced and cross country training and a single seater RF4D for solo advanced flying.

info@ergc.co.za
Phone : John Olsson, Chairman ERGC (083 600 9852)

Join us for a wonderful recreational activity!

Enjoy Life on the East Rand!

Wattville is a township south of  Benoni .  It was established in 1941 and by 1955 about 2,000 new houses had been erected.

TheANC president Oliver Tambo used to live here in the 1950s.  He is also buried here. He lived in this township together with his wife Adelaide Tambo who continued to serve the community and the local Anglican congregation. Amongst her services within the community was to donate a food parcel every year to the local senior citizens until she died in 2008. She was buried next to her late husband.  An area was erected in this township in honour of the couple and it’s called Tamboville with more 500 families still growing due influx to the township.

Wattville has a good weekend and night-life with pubs on almost every corner of the location. Others, namely “Moja Pub”, “S3″ and “Emabonweni” have been hosts to the best deejays to walk the streets of our country. “Uhuru” lounge has been the crowd favourite since the closure of “Scrapyard” due to renovations. Mafias like Karabo “Gazebo” Gosebo, Bongani “Raj-Bansii” Mahanjana, Bongani Radebe and Tshepo Lebita are among the many icons to have been born in Wattville.

Enjoy Life on the East Rand!

Nigel is a small gold mining town in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The town is on the edge of the area known as the East Rand, the industrial engine room of  Johannesburg.

A prospector, reading Sir Walter Scott’s The Fortunes of Nigel at the time discovered gold on the farm Varkensfontein in 1886 and immediately formed the Nigel gold Mining Company.  The town which grew around the mine still bears names derived from Scott’s book.

Today the town is focused primarily on mining and various services – a quiet, family town that doesn’t have any heavy industries and is far away enough for peace and quiet.

Enjoy Life on the East Rand!

Originally, Boksburg was laid out in 1887 to serve the surrounding gold mines, and named after the State Secretary of the South African Republic, Eduard Bok.

The Main Reef Road linked Boksburg to all the other major mining towns on the Witwatersrand and the Angelo Hotel was used as a production post.

Boksburg is now part of the Ekhuruleni Metropolitan Municipality, which includes much of the East Rand.

Interestingly, the Mining Commissioner Montague White built a large dam which remained empty for years. It was nicknamed White’s Folly until a flashflood in 1889 silenced all critics. It became what is now known as the Boksburg Lake. This spectacular lake is over 150,000 square metres and is surrounded by lawns, trees, and terraces. This is a popular boating, fishing, watersport and hiking destination for many. The scenery here is lovely and many families enjoy blissful and entertaining days here.

Boksburg is also any shoppers delight. It boasts the East Rand Mall which is one of the most popular and biggest malls in Johannesburg. The East Rand Shopping Mall offers all the chain shops, restaurants and movies typical of such complexes. Yet, it also boasts a pleasure park known as Wild Waters with plenty of water fun such as water slides and 8 other such activities. The Fun Factory offers roller skating and 10-pin bowling. This fabulous mall offers over 170 different shops as well as extensive entertainment facilities, which include a Games Arcade, Restaurants, Coffee shops, a nine theatre Cinema Centre and an exciting Food and Entertainment Mall. You can never be bored here!

For fun family outings why not take a visit to the Bokkie Park. This beautiful area offers children fun farm experiences, such as milking cows and feeding the different fun loving animals. In addition, one can visit the Le Grange Bird Park which affords one the opportunity to explore the diverse range of vibrant birds in this area.

For the history lovers, there are numerous historical buildings one can explore. These include the Old Post Office built in 1898, the Law Court since 1890, St Michaels and All Angels Anglican Church designed by the Sir Herbert Baker as well as a few gold mines.

Enjoy Life on the East Rand!

The South African East Rand has a long history of gold mining and many of the towns in this area developed as a direct result of these activities.

Today, the East Rand extends from Germiston in the west to Springs  in the east and southwards down to Nigel.  It include the towns of  Boksburg, Benoni, Edenvale, Kempton Park, Brakpan and Bedfordview and the Townships of Wattville, Vosloorus, Daveyton and Katlehong to name but a few.

Despite having a separate municipal government – the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan, the East Rand is included in the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area.

There are many places of interest on the East Rand.  Boksburg boasts numerous beautiful old heritage sites – the old law courts, the post office, St Michael and All Angels Anglican church, designed by Sir Herbert Baker.

Benoni, known as the ‘city of lakes’ encourages picnics at no fewer than five lake sides, whilst the Rondebult Bird Sanctuary – a rare wetland area with amazing bird hides and access to antelope, ostrich and zebra – both make wonderful day trips.

There is the famous Bunny Park in Benoni where children can meet small animals and feed them.  Wild Waters at Bokkie Park in Boksburg also has a farmyard area in which children can practice milking cows; whilst the Le Grange Bird Park and Boksburg Lake are wonderful places for Sunday picnics.

Residents of Daveyton, Katlehong, Tembisa and other townships in Ekurhuleni encourage visitors to walk their streets, and join them for a beer at a shebeen.

Visit the East Rand and Enjoy!

Enjoy Life on the East Rand!