On a stroll of Johannesburg’s streets, the jacaranda trees blooming purple in spring, you will hear English and likely the cadences of Nguni, Sotho, Afrikaans and Tshivenda. Multicultural and sprawling, Johannesburg — “Joburg” to locals — flowers as the financial and cultural center of South Africa as well as the African continent.

Banking, mining, manufacturing and retail industries thrive in the city’s energetic climate. Part of Gauteng Province, Johannesburg alone accounts for 1 percent of South Africa’s gross domestic product. Gauteng has the highest per capita income in South Africa and produces 40 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

No longer just the get-in-and-get-out stop en route to safaris in South Africa’s Kruger Park or in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, Johannesburg entices business leaders as well as tourists to linger. More than 74 percent of South Africa’s multinational companies maintain headquarters in the city, and visitors discover a revitalized city. In 2010, more than 8 million tourists visited Johannesburg, a 15 percent increase over 2009.

Johannesburg’s infrastructure and communications are better than ever. To ready the city for its role as host of the 2010 soccer World Cup, South Africa invested $1.8 billion in road improvements and airport upgrades as well as $40 million in telecommunications.

Another legacy of the soccer spotlight is the debut of the Gautrain, high-speed rail connecting the airport to Sandton, an affluent northern suburb that, along with Parktown and Rosebank, forms Johannesburg’s primary business district. As a result of crime in the inner city, the Johannesburg Securities Exchange, rated as the 16th largest in the world, relocated to Sandton years ago, as have many corporations. However, the downtown Central Business District, like much of the inner city, shows signs of revitalization. Barclays, Trust Bank and Peoples Bank have opened branches in the CBD.

From its beginnings as a mining center, Johannesburg has always drawn moneymakers. After the 1886 discovery of gold by George Harrison, an Australian prospector, the hopeful descended upon the veld, dotting the grasslands with tent cities. To create order, the Transvaal’s Boer government established Johannesburg. Cecil Rhodes and other business magnates dug fortunes out of the earth. By 1895, Johannesburg’s population ballooned to 100,000.

Along with mining, the manufacturing boom of the 1930s and 1940s drew more workers to the city, many of them black. In the 1950s, the National Party implemented apartheid, relocating blacks to “homelands” or townships south of Johannesburg. In the successive decades, a combination of protests, violence and international sanctions destroyed apartheid. As a result of South Africa’s first democratic election held in 1994, Nelson Mandela became president.

The legacy of Johannesburg’s promise persists. The “Rainbow Nation,” described by Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela, exists ethnically in Johannesburg. Among the city’s 3.8 million inhabitants (not counting the neighboring townships), 73 percent identify themselves as African, 16 percent as white, 6 percent mixed and 4 percent Asian. Such diverse roots nurture a vibrant culture. Food, art, dance and music mix tribal rhythms, designs and taste with European, Indian, Asian and other immigrant elements. You can dine on cheese samosas, lamb curries, springbok shanks, ostrich stew or fish grilled with mustard seeds. Listen to hip-hop, jazz, Mozambican ska and kwaito, a type of house music popular in township clubs.

The large influx of immigrants seeking jobs adds to the city’s relatively high unemployment. And like many urban areas, there’s crime in Johannesburg. The government continues to nurture business with tax incentives and public/private partnerships to spur growth.

Since 2001, for example, more than $60 million has been invested in Newtown, one of several inner-city areas undergoing transformation. Redefined as a cultural center, Newtown, on the periphery of Johannesburg’s downtown business center, features the Market Theatre; the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, a hands-on museum for kids; the Museum of Africa; artists’ studios and jazz bars; and the renovated Mary Fitzgerald Square, a site for festivals. The Nelson Mandela Bridge, opened July 2003, serves as a gateway to Newtown from the north.

Gradually, the townships are being revitalized as well. The Soweto Theatre in Jabulani is slated to debut in 2012. Vanloads of visitors come into Soweto to see the site of the infamous 1976 shooting by police of peacefully demonstrating school children, a protest that spawned a cultural and political revolution that eventually led to apartheid’s eradication.

To attract meetings, the city has constructed four convention centers, each with a capacity for 5,000 delegates. Besides the World Cup, past meetings and events include the World Sports Destination Expo as well as the 26th International Pediatric Association Congress of Pediatrics. Future meetings include the 2012 International Small Business Congress and the Fourth World Conference on Doping in Sport in 2013.

The city aims to become a leader in information and communications technology. Launched in May 2005, the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering, for example, partners the city with the University of Witwatersrand and leading financial and ICT companies. The goal: encouraging software engineering start-ups, especially among black entrepreneurs.

Johannesburg is often dubbed the “New York City of Africa.” Like New York, Joburg beats as the cultural and financial heart; the place of deal-making and dining; of museums, theaters, music and energy. And like New York, Johannesburg is a must-see city — and once you arrive, you realize you must stay longer to know it.

Diversions

Before entering the Apartheid Museum (Northern Parkway and Gold Leaf Road, tel 27 11 309 4700), you receive an identity card, given at random, that labels you white or non-white, thereby establishing your fate in segregated South Africa. The museum relates the not-so-distant history of apartheid, detailing the struggles and political leaders who eventually brought down that inhumane system.

On a guided tour of Soweto, you get another view of apartheid. Most tours take in the Mandela Museum; Diepkloof, an upmarket area of the township; and Vilakazi Street, the only street in the world that housed two Nobel Prize winners — Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. The older guides who grew up under apartheid add especially interesting personal anecdotes to the drive-through history.

At the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site, the Maropeng Visitor Centre (R400, Magaliesberg 1426, tel 27 14 577 9000) details some of the tools, fossils and other archaeological artifacts found in caves that have made the vast site a rich find for anthropologists studying hominids — early humans.

Not too far away is Lion Park (corner of Malibongwe and R114 Lanseria, tel 27 11 691 9905), a good introduction for those headed out on safari. Here you can pet baby lions who, like cats everywhere, will tug at your pants leg. You can also feed the giraffe who unfurls his nearly foot-long purple tongue to grab the food pellets, or take a mini-game drive to see rare white rhino.

Info To Go

Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) is approximately 13 miles from the Johannesburg Central Business District and 20 miles from Sandton. Taxis to each destination cost about $40–55 and take 30–40 minutes. Several shuttle buses are available from the airport. Gautrain, the city’s high-speed rail, links the airport to Sandton, with a one-way fare of $15.

Starting in July, the Gautrain is expected to connect Johannesburg and Pretoria. Visit www.joburgtourism.co.za.

Just The Facts

Time Zone: GMT +2
Phone Code: 27 South Africa, 11 Johannesburg
Currency: South African rand
Entry/Exit Requirements: U.S. citizens must have a valid passport with at least one blank, unstamped page plus a return ticket for stays under 90 days.
Official languages: South Afric
a has 11 official languages. Johannesburg’s spoken languages are English, Nguni (including Ndebele, Swazi, Xhosa, Zulu), Sotho, Afrikaans and Tshivenda.
Key Industries: Finance, mining, steel, cement and tourism.

Lodging

Radisson Blu Hotel Sandton

This trendy contender in Sandton has conference facilities, a pool, a spa, free Internet plus stylish rooms. Rivonia Road and Daisy Street, tel 27 11 245 8000 $$$

Saxon Boutique Hotel, Villas and Spa

A top-rated boutique hotel, the all-suite Saxon offers complimentary laptops, a 30-seat auditorium plus an excellent spa. 36 Saxon Road, Sandhurst, tel 27 11 292 6000 $$$$

The Westcliff

An Orient-Express property, The Westcliff, situated on a hillside in a northern suburb, offers gardens, swimming pools and upscale accommodations. 67 Jan Smutts Ave., Westcliff, tel 27 11 481 6000 $$$$

Dining

Auberge Michel

Celebrities and foodies frequent this top-rated, modern French restaurant. Sample the interesting combinations by ordering the tasting menu. 122 Pretoria Ave., Sandton, tel 27 11 883 7013 $$$$

La Cucina di Ciro

The seafood linguine and the chicken breast with figs are standouts at this noted but low-key Italian restaurant. 43 7th Ave., Parktown North, tel 27 11 442 5187 $$–$$$

Moyo

The South African fare includes curries, ostrich fillet and lamb tagine. At night, Moyo presents musical performances by African artists. 1 Prince of Wales Drive, Parkview, tel 27 11 646 0058; and High Street, Melrose Arch, tel 27 11 684 1477 $$

Checking In With Jennifer Cheong

Marketing Officer, Trade and Investment, Embassy of the Republic of South Africa, Washington, D.C.

What Are Johannesburg’s Major Industries?

The banking and financial sector is very strong, as is manufacturing. There are also many cosmetics, pharmaceutical, telecommunications and computer companies. Tourism is also a growth industry, with international visitors as well as tourists from other African nations. An increase in tourism also boosts the hospitality industry and increases revenues for hotels, restaurants, game reserves and other related businesses.

What Forces Are Driving Johannesburg’s Economic Growth?

Johannesburg is one of the main entry points into South Africa and generates inward and outward traffic. Its status as a primary business city is due to its dynamic center of production, innovation, trade, finance and services. Johannesburg also has diversification across industrial sectors, including globally fast-growing sectors in technology. The city is undergoing socio-economic development and has an economic climate that is conducive to foreign direct investment.

What’s New In Downtown Johannesburg?

Downtown Johannesburg is gradually undergoing gentrification. When many businesses relocated from downtown to the northern suburbs of Sandton, Rosebank and Parktown, squatters moved in to the empty buildings downtown. The city is trying to bring back downtown’s Central Business District. It’s a work in progress. Newtown, on the periphery of downtown near the theater district, is also a revitalized area.

How Is The Government Tackling The Problems Of Crime And Unemployment

South Africa will inject billions of rands into fighting crime over the next year, with the funds being used to recruit more police officers, magistrates and judges; increase the number of courts; and upgrade correctional services facilities. The increased budget will go toward the government’s security cluster, comprising the departments of Police, Justice and Constitutional Development, and Correctional Services, as well as the Independent Complaints Directorate.

The government has made crime reduction one of its top priorities. Staff increases in the police service will support more visible policing and detective and crime intelligence services. Additional funds have been allocated to strengthen about 20 trained tactical response teams and to establish an effective personnel vetting structure for criminal intelligence services.

Funds will also be channeled toward bringing down crime levels, clearing court case backlogs and integrating the criminal justice system.