Bryanston was established in the year 1969. It was named after a village and church in North Dorset in England. At the start, Bryanston was a part of Sandton but when Apartheid ended, South Africa merged Bryanston and Sandlot to be Region 3 suburbs of Johannesburg. Together with other suburbs, the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality was formed.
Only in recent years has the economic growth of Bryanston begun to improve tremendously. Large multinationals began to open up their South African offices in Bryanston. Much of the appeal for these companies was the safety, location, and people of Bryanston. Bryanston is your typical exclusive suburb, incorporating many a gated community with everything the residents would ever need or want at arm’s reach.
The Bryanston Country Club
This club was established in 1948 and has a rich heritage, great facilities, and elegant, rich environment. Obviously one would have to be a member to gain access to the club. Members can enjoy the following facilities:
- 18 hole golf course
- Tennis and squash courts
- Spa
- Swimming Pool
- Clubhouse
- Function rooms and restaurants
- Bowling greens
Guests are welcome if accompanied or endorsed by a member, thus retaining that exclusive mark most country clubs are famous for.
The BBC Bryanston Bible Church
Aside from Sunday service, families are encouraged to enroll their children in the Noah Ark class or the Next Generation class. These are basically Sunday School groups that are age appropriate for toddlers and teens respectively. The church works very closely with the community and schools. Their leaders are respected members of the community.
Freemasonry in Bryanston
Bryanston Lodge has an interesting history that was established to link Johannesburg and Pretoria. The people behind the founding of the Lodge began a tradition of meeting and then dining together after, usually at the country club.
Today, there is a more than a hint of freemasonry practices. Freemasonry is known to be the oldest fraternal group with controversial beliefs and practices. The Lodge in Bryanston though focuses mainly on charity work more than trying to create controversy over its system of morality.
Controversial Home
Recently, Bryanston was featured in local South African news because of a house that was costing the country hundreds of thousands of Rand. This house is the Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane’s official residence. Taxpayers are calling it a mansion with a private pool and garden.
Since Bryanston is considered an exclusive suburb in South Africa with Bryanston property being on the high end, this is the area Mokonyane decided to put up her house. It is estimated that the cost to the country in maintaining the house is approximately half a million Rand every year. In the latest report, the cost has shot up to over a million although the value of house increased from 11.5 million Rand in 2004 to 25 million in 2011. It must be said though that when the property was purchased Mokonyane was not yet a government official. Unfortunately, the high property prices and general crime rates in South Africa combine to make insurance quotes very high.
The Golf Estate
A new real estate development plan called the Golf Estate is now planning to challenge Bryanston as the more exclusive suburb. This project will be located in Zimbabwe but fashioned after Bryanston, South Africa. The plan is to market properties at steep prices ranging from $75,000 to $100,000, targeting the rich and famous in the area. They also hope to wrestle attention away from Bryanston so more people will invest in Zimbabwe.