In Johannesburg when you speak about ‘going to the races’ you’re usually referring to spending a day watching horses race at the Turffontein race track, one of the oldest horse racing venues in South Africa, built in 1887.
A wide variety of cuisine is available at the track from fast food to more formal restaurants. The track is child-friendly and has a play area.
Set in the Southern Suburbs of Johannesburg, Turffontein is easy to get to from the M2 highway, has plenty of parking and some good food to boot, so a day at the races is generally a thoroughly enjoyable affair!
The lay down on the racetrack: Turffontein has a 1200m straight course that joins the round course at about the 800m mark. It’s regarded as one of the stiffest tracks in the country due to a steady climb from about the 1200m to the final turn, which means that horses racing from well off the pace, actually hold every chance.
Turffontein is also a night racing venue, after Newmarket Racecourse in Johannesburg was sold to local businessmen in early 2007. Since then Turffontein has undergone a major refurbishment, including the installation of floodlights, renewing the existing track side facilities and opening a sports bar.
Horse racing has a huge following in South Africa and the history of racing can be traced back to as early as 1797, whilst the first race club meeting ever recorded took place in 1802.
Turffontein hosts The Summer Cup, one of the three biggest racing events in the country.

The Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve lies just next to Yellowwood Park in Durban, an extension of The Durban Metropolitan Open Space System green lung in the south western parts of Yellowwood Park.
Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve is held by locals as not only a wonderful space in which to do walks along trails that give you up to four hours' worth of walking, but also great for birding and picnics. The 253 hectare Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve is regarded as one of the finest coastal / river forests and bush clump / grassland mosaic areas remaining in the greater Durban area.
The land was a bequest from a man named Kenneth Stainbank, hence the name, and aside from the wonderful plant life, you also get to see zebra, bushbuck, reedbuck, impala, blue, red and grey duiker, vervet monkeys, mongoose, bushbabies and dassies or rock hyrax. There are even night drives that one can arrange. Over and above the 13 kilometres of nature walks there is also a 10 kilometre mountain bike trail, regarded as moderately challenging – in other words, a good weekend ride that won't see you exhausted, and Durban's mountain bikers enjoy the reserve as a refuge.
A handicapped trail leads into the forest from the car park, and although the variety of birds along this trail might not be as good as deeper in the reserve, you can still hope to spot the grey cuckoo shrike, tambourine dove and the white-eared barbet.
The dam area is where you'll find more water birds, including the red-chested fluff tail, whilst a climb into the forest area, where it is quieter and you need a little more patience, will give you access to the: olive woodpecker, lemon dove and yellow-bellied greenbul.
The reserve is managed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and there is no accommodation within the reserve, but see Yellowwood Park accommodation for the closest options. Daily from 06h00 to 18h00.

The town lies 193 km due west of Johannesburg on the road to Lichtenburg, which is 29 km away. Originally named 'Treurfontein' (well of sadness), the name was changed to honour Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, a staunch French Huguenot who was killed in the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew’s Day (24 August 1572) in Paris.

At first sight, Coligny gives the impression of being just another dusty, windswept Village – forgotten in the mists of time and bypassed by modern life. In a way it has retained its “old world” character, but it hides a wealth of History and fascinating character. With the last sitting of the parliament of the old Transvaal Republic, before the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, General Koos de la Rey, representing Lichtenburg, managed to get his proposal accepted for the railway line to be extended from Welverdiend in the East through Coligny, to Lichtenburg and South to Delareyville.

A Year later, the plumes of the first locomotive blew over the area, signalling the birth of a Town. Even though it was built on the Farm Rietvlei, it was named: 'Treurfontein'. This was to distinguish it from the Rietvlei station near Heidelberg, in Gauteng. The station is still the heartbeat of the Town, with lines spreading to all four points of the compass. In 1910, all that could be seen among the waving maize crops, was a lonely building, housing a school with two teachers and 37 students. Soon after the establishing of the station, a shop built from corrugated iron was put up by the brothers; 'Mangelsdorf'. Sixteen years later, the NG Church was completed. It was later extended as the congregation grew. Originally it was named: 'the Welgemoed-Congregation'. The editor of the newspaper “The Western”, H. J. Malan, however urged them to change the name to 'Coligny', after the famous Huguenot leader, Gaspard de Coligne. He was murdered on August 24, 1572 during the Bartholomew Night, or Bloody Night, when 10 000 protestants were murdered by the Roman Catholic monarch. Many Huguenots, later fled to South Africa. After this name change, authorities were urged to also change the name or the station to Coligne.

In 1922 it was declared a Township. A Town council was constituted in 1929. The Cemetery lies just off the road to Lichtenburg, about two kilometers out of Town. A Monument to the Town’s eponym, stands in the hall of the local School. Unfortunately all the blockhouses have been demolished and the graves desecrated and unkempt, with cattle grazing freely! (The British war Memorial has grazing among it as well).

Even though blood also flowed in this Town during the 1914 Rebellion, there seems to be little evidence of it. The Silo in the middle of Town and next to the Station is the first vertical Silo to be built in the North West Province and is seen as a symbol of one of the richest maize growing regions in South Africa.

Clairwood Hospital, a public hospital operated by the KwaZulu Natal Health Department, is situated in Durban South, KwaZulu Natal. Hospital services include a Staff Wellness Clinic, Ante Natal Clinic and School Health Services. Clairwood Hospital was opened on 01 May 1956. It was originally an army barracks and later converted into a hospital. The hospital is situated in Mobeni, a southern suburb of Durban. The community served by the hospital are from the following areas: Lamontville; Mobeni; Merebank; Woodlands; Montclair; Woodhaven; Yellowwood Park and Clairwood. Clairwood hospital is a provincial hospital, therefore services are free to pregnant and breastfeeding women as well as children under the age of six years old. Other citizens are charged according to a sliding scale depending on their income. Clairwood is a specialized rehabilitation and convalescent hospital. They strive towards providing optimal health care for all persons, enable them to increase, control and improve their status. This is insured by being cost effective, efficient, convalescent and rehabilitative service in consultation with all stakeholders, dedicated to health promotion based on the primary health care approach through the district health system.
Visiting Hours
Monday to Friday; 14h00pm - 15h00 and 18h00 - 19h00
Weekend And Public holiday; 13h00pm - 15h00 and 18h00 - 19h00