- published: 16 May 2014
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Germiston is a city in the East Rand of Gauteng in South Africa. Germiston is now the seat of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality which includes much of the East Rand, and is also considered part of Greater Johannesburg.
It was established in the early days of the gold rush when two prospectors, John Jack from the farm of Germiston near Glasgow and August Simmer from Vacha in Germany, struck paydirt on the farm of Elandsfontein. Both men made fortunes and the town sprang up next to the mine. In 1921 the world's largest gold refinery, the Rand Refinery, was established at Germiston. Seventy percent of the Western World's gold passes through this refinery.[citation needed]
The WesBank Raceway motorsports facility was located in the city, but it was sold to industrial estate developers in November 2007. Germiston Stadium (formerly the Herman Immelman Stadium), home stadium of Moroka Swallows FC is also located in the city.
The city has a number of historic buildings. Among these are the St Andrew's Presbyterian Church which was built in 1905, and St Boniface's Church designed by Sir Herbert Baker, which was built in 1910 (this is the second church on the site, as the Anglican Parish was founded in 1897). The church also houses the historic 1910 English Romantic Norman and Beard Organ.
When there isn't light
We gather all right here
I am a nightly owl
I close my gleaming eyes
I never will forget
Then pain you made me feel
The seeds of great madness
Are growing slowly
There is a blue pressure
When sky is coming down
There is a white relief
When all we are away
Leave me standing here
I want to be alone
I want to take my place