ROODEPOORT

city, Gauteng province, South Africa. It lies immediately west of Johannesburg in the Witwatersrand. The first discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand in 1884, which soon thereafter proved unprofitable, occurred within the present city boundaries. Two years later, the Roodepoort gold-mining camp was established after significant finds were made all along the central Witwatersrand. Roodepoort was proclaimed a town in 1904 and a city in 1977. It expanded through the annexation of nearby mining settlements, including Maraisburg. Its eastern section (nearest Johannesburg) is largely an industrial district, while the west is a modern residential area. In addition to the still-profitable goldfields along the southern perimeter, the city has diversified manufacturing. A small memorial west of Roodepoort marks the site of British colonial statesman Leander Starr Jameson's surrender to the Boers in 1896. Pop. (1985) 141,764.