City of Johannesburg Online –
“Jews first settled in Johannesburg 120 years ago, a year after the town was proclaimed…
Over its history, Johannesburg has had 94 mayors; 22 of them were Jewish. The city’s first Jewish mayor was Harry Graumann, in office from 1909 to 1910…That [Jewish] community numbers 50,000 these days; the total number of Jews in the country is 80,000. Over the past 30 years there has been steady emigration, as with other groups – 30 years ago there were 120,000 Jews in South Africa.
“Johannesburg soon established itself as the largest Jewish centre in southern Africa,” says Kahn [the national director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBOD)].
…by 1890 there were three main congregations in the town: the Witwaterstand Old Hebrew Congregation, the Johannesburg Hebrew Congregation, and the Orthodox Hebrew Congregation. A large segment of the first Jewish immigrants were traders, craftmen and small time entrepreneurs…
Jews were instrumental in establishing the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. And they have played a role in several top corporations: Premier Milling, Tiger Oats, OK Bazaars, Liberty Life and South African Breweries…Jew have also been prominent in the anti–apartheid movement – Helen Suzman is the most well known.
Building synagogues
Before 1889, Jewish services were held in the Rand Club, the town’s largest venue at the time, big enough to accommodate the 500 worshippers…
The Great Park Synagogue was opened in Oaklands in 2000, with the seats, chandeliers, carved wooden notice boards, and bimah (pulpit) from the Great Synagogue. It is a small scale replica of the original.”
The Official website of the City of Johannesburg, http://www.joburg.org.za/content/view/1902/203/ (accessed June 7, 2009)