About Sandton

Sandton is an affluent area in the City of Johannesburg in the Gauteng Province. The name comes from the combination of two suburbs, Bryanston and Sandown, both of which were named after places in the United Kingdom. In 1969, Sandton was promulgated as a municipality in its own right but lost its status as an independent town after the reorganisation of South African local governments following the collapse of apartheid.

The municipality was established as an extension of the city in 1969, after Johannesburg began to develop northwards. Its initially was very much a residential area consisting mostly of small holdings. This rural lifestyle of Sandton gave it the notion of being a smart address.

After the demise of apartheid and the manifestation of the new political dispensation, Sandton became part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality following new demarcations put forward by the government, and it no longer has a separate municipal government.

It has become the new commercial centre of South Africa and Johannesburg's leading business centre. Much of the financial focus of Johannesburg has shifted from the Central Business District to Sandton, especially in the last 15 years.

A considerable amount of the city's A-grade office space is to be found in Sandton. The JSE Securities Exchange, Johannesburg's stock exchange, relocated its offices to Sandton from the Central Business District in the late 1990s. Sandton's gain was the central business district's loss, it resulted from urban blight of the downtown Johannesburg area.

Sandton is home to the Sandton Convention Centre, one of the largest convention centres on the continent.