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Historic Rhino on Main Street

Main Street has become an enclave of elegance, cleanliness and safety in Johannesburg's CBD. With sponsorship from the mining industry, the street has been remodelled, with curved pavements made attractive by the addition of trees, flower beds and street furniture like period lampposts, coco pans and mining headgear.
Guards patrol the street, ensuring that the pavements remain spotless and monitoring the comings and goings of passersby. Pavement restaurants offer a haven from the bustle of traffic.

The aim is to raise awareness of the history of the country's first gold explorers, says John Dewar, director of the Johannesburg Land Company.
Dewar says it took several years to work out how to produce the rhino replica. It had to be made durable, yet couldn't be constructed of metal, for fear of theft. The final product is made of fibreglass, sprayed gold.
Storyboards alongside the rhino tell its history. Dating back to pre-colonial times, Mapungubwe (meaning "place of wolves") was the first sophisticated society in South Africa in which class distinctions appeared. The king separated himself from his subjects, living with his royal entourage on an impressive oval-shaped mountain top, to which his subjects carried food and water daily.

The exquisite original golden rhino, some 12cm in length and 6cm in height and made of gold foil nailed around a wooden interior, was excavated at the site in 1933.
Dewar says he is planning more storyboards along Main Street, giving details of buildings that have been demolished along the street. The people involved in the formation of companies like Anglo American and Billiton will also be profiled.