Telkom Joburg Tower, Johannesburg

Telkom Joburg Tower, Johannesburg

The Telkom Jo’burg Tower is a telecommunications tower, situated in the affluent northern suburb of Hillbrow, close to Constitution Hill. It is known locally as the Hillbrow Tower, but was for many years named after JG Strijdom, a former South African Prime Minister. The current name refers to Telkom, South Africa’s largest telecoms company, and Jo’burg, a popular informal name for the city. The tower is the tallest structure in the entire continent of Africa, at 883 feet. Completed in 1971, it was also the tallest in the Southern Hemisphere for seven years, before being overtaken by the Mount Isa chimney in the Australian outback.

Like similar towers in many other world cities, the Telkom Jo’burg Tower was required to be significantly taller than all other buildings at the time. At one time, it was one of the city’s biggest tourist attractions, and housed a revolving restaurant at its summit. Sadly, the tower has been closed to the public since 1981 for security reasons. It is still one of Johannesburg’s most recognisable landmarks. In 2010, when the FIFA World Cup was staged in South Africa – with the final played in Johannesburg – a giant soccer ball was fitted to the middle of the tower.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Johannesburg. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

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Telkom Joburg Tower on Map

Sight Name: Telkom Joburg Tower
Sight Location: Johannesburg, South Africa (See walking tours in Johannesburg)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark

Walking Tours in Johannesburg, South Africa

Create Your Own Walk in Johannesburg

Create Your Own Walk in Johannesburg

Creating your own self-guided walk in Johannesburg is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Johannesburg Introduction Walking Tour

Johannesburg Introduction Walking Tour

Johannesburg, or Joburg, or "City of Gold", as it is often informally called, is South Africa's largest city. The area's original inhabitants included hunter-gatherers from the San tribes and the Ndebele, a tribe associated with the Zulu. A gold rush in 1884 lead to Johannesburg's founding in 1886. Within a decade, the population had grown to 100,000 inhabitants.

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Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.9 Km or 1.8 Miles
Historical Buildings Walking Tour

Historical Buildings Walking Tour

Since founded in 1886, following the discovery of gold on what used to be farmland, Johannesburg has evolved into an economic powerhouse of Africa. While most of the city's early buildings adopted architectural styles from its colonial parent, the British Empire, some of them also emulated the prowess of New York City. Let's take a closer look at some of these construction marvels.

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Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 0.7 Km or 0.4 Miles

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