page_title: Germiston
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Germiston / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The third church building of the Gereformeered Kerk, Germiston.
context_page_description: Germiston is a small city in the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa, administratively forming part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since the latter's establishment in 2000. It functions as the municipal seat of Ekurhuleni, hosting the municipal council and administration.
context_section_description: It was established in the early days of the gold rush when two prospectors, John Jack from the farm of Germiston near Glasgow and August Simmer from Vacha in Germany, struck paydirt on the farm of Elandsfontein. In August 1887, the pair were on their way to the Eastern Transvaal when they outspanned (rest the pack animals) on the farm Elandsfontein and decided to stay and buy the land. Both men made fortunes and the town sprang up 2 km from the Simmer and Jack mine named after Jack's fathers farm. In 1921 the world's largest gold refinery, the Rand Refinery, was established at Germiston. Seventy percent of the western world's gold passes through this refinery. Although gold mining gradually wound down in Germiston, to the point that by the end of the 20th century it was no longer a mining centre, the Rand Refinery remains as busy as ever.
  Family names in Germiston from 1934-Du Rant
  Hernandez,
  Rudolph,
  Botha,
  Morris,
  Van As,
  Smith,
  Du Toid,
  Van der Merwe,
  Els,
  Dorrin
caption: The third and current church housing the Gereformeerde Kerk Germiston
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