The Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the establishment of Johannesburg, South Africa are closely connected.There had always been rumors of a modern-day "El Dorado" in the folklore of the native tribes that roamed the plains of the South African high veldt, and the gold miners that had come from all over the world to seek out their fortunes on the alluvial mines of Barberton and Pilgrim's Rest, in what is now known as the province of Mpumalanga, but it is not until 1886 that the massive wealth of the Witwatersrand is uncovered.

Scientific studies have pointed to the fact that the "Golden Arc" which stretches from Johannesburg to Welkom was once a massive inland lake, and that silt and gold deposits from alluvial gold settled in the area to form the gold-rich deposits for which South Africa is famous.