Gerhardus Cornelis Oosthuizen buys a section of land, which is later declared part of the Witwatersrand gold reef

On 6 April 1874, Gerhardus Cornelis Oosthuizen bought a section of the farm Langlaagte for £100. This farm would later be declared a part of the Witwatersrand gold reef, when gold was discovered on the property. When the main gold reef was discovered in the Roodepoort area of Johannesburg in 1886, Langlaagte was incorporated into a group of nine farms which were declared "public gold diggings". Almost immediately people arrived at the goldfields and digger's camps were set up. These digger's camps led to the formation of Johannesburg, which is also known as "Egoli" or "Place of Gold". The Witwatersrand area was to become a source of great mineral wealth for South Africa, and allowed South Africa to settle a large sum of state debt. The discovery of gold also helped to establish South Africa as the largest provider of minerals in the world, a position it held for over a century