African Unification Front
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See: Moving PAP out of Addis Ababa is a Blow to Pan Africanism
August 2004
MIDRAND: THE NEW CAPITAL OF THE AFRICAN UNION
Midrand, the interim seat of the Pan African Parliament, is a new municipality located in the Gauteng Province of the African Union state of South Africa. The name Gauteng is the Sotho word for "Place of Gold". Gauteng Province is Africa's most important economic region, the financial hub of the southern region of the African Union, containing several cities, including Soweto, Johannesburg, and Pretoria. The African Parliament is housed in the Gallagher Estate complex located in the Midrand Business District.
Midrand is also the headquarters of the NEPAD Secretariat, located at the Development Bank of Southern Africa. The Secretariat provides the liaison, coordination, and administrative and logistical function for the NEPAD, the economic program of the African Union. The NEPAD Secretariat is also responsible for outsourcing of work on technical detail to lead agencies and/or continental experts.
Gauteng is also where the Trans-Kalahari Transport Corridor and the Maputo Development Corridor meet. These corridors provide a continuous and direct transport conduit linking Walvis Bay on the Atlantic Ocean to Maputo on the Indian Ocean. Pretoria, near Midland, serves as an inland port for customs clearance and the processing of shipping containers, so that traders don't have to travel to the coast in order to export or import commodities.
With nearly 10 million people, Gauteng is South Africa's most densely populated province. Gauteng Province alone accounts for 4% of the African Union's GDP (40% of South Africa's GDP), and has an economic growth rate of nearly 5% per year. Although Gauteng has a large concentration of urban and industrial centres, it also is famous for nature reserves and parks, and has many dams, lakes, rivers, hiking trails and popular recreational areas for watersports and fishing. Only a 15 minute drive north from Midrand is Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, an imposing beautiful city with a lot of green spaces (it has over 100 parks).
Midrand Business District
 Midrand sits halfway between Pretoria, and Johannesburg. It is about 50km north of Johannesburg. Although Midrand is growing quickly it retains a refreshingly tranquil highveld atmosphere. It has a population of 209,000. It is an important center for the pharmaceutical, hotel, textile, military-weapons, and motor vehicle industries. The city is home to Midrand University, and is also famous for the Kayalami Motor Racing Circuit; the Sibaya Zulu Boma, a cultural village; and the Transvaal Snake Park.
Midrand evolved from a town called Halfway House. Halfway House was a halfway station between Pretoria and Johannesburg, where tired horses could be exchanged for fresh horses on the journey between the two cities. It used to be agricultural land with big farms that lined the road between the two cities. From horse stables, a post office and hotel, to the village of Halfway House, it developed into the city of Midrand.
Over 300,000 people use the Johannesburg-Midrand-Pretoria (the N1) highway every day. The N1 runs right through the Midrand Business District. A project is underway to construct a new rail line linking Pretoria, Midrand, Sandton, Johannesburg and Johannesburg International Airport, in order to ease traffic congestion. Traffic volume has been growing at seven percent a year for more than a decade.
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