BENONI

town, Gauteng province, South Africa, east of Johannesburg. It is situated at 5,419 feet (1,652 m) above sea level and covers two sides of a valley that borders four lakes. Benoni was established as a mining camp after the local discovery of gold in 1887. The local mining chairman, Sir George Farrar, landscaped the valley in the early 1900s, and Benoni was officially declared a town in 1907. It is now part of the industrial complex of the Witwatersrand and is particularly noted for its iron and steel works and brass foundry. Johannesburg International Airport is immediately northwest. Pop. (1991) 113,501.