The first discovery of gold in the region was made in 1852 on the Pardekraal farm, Krugersdorp, in the South African Republic (ZAR) by John Henry Davis, a Welsh mineralogist.

[1][2]: 11  Davis presented his gold find to President Andries Pretorius who feared what would happen to the new republic if the discovery became widely known.

Davis was told to sell the gold, worth £600, to the Transvaal Treasury and was subsequently ordered to leave the country and escorted to the border, where he returned to the Cape Colony.

[2]: 11 [3]: 49 Another find by Pieter Jacob Marais, who had dug gold in California, was recorded in 1853 on the Jukskei River but was subject to similar secrecy.

[2]: 12–13 On December 1, Marais sought approval from the Volksraad to look for gold, which was accepted with the provision that the Commission of the existing districts of the Republic would be notified if it was discovered.

[5]: 17  He was also warned that if he told any foreign power about any potential finds that caused a disturbance to the republic's existence, he would be punished by death.

[2]: 14 [5]: 18 In 1856, Lieutenant Lys travelled to Pretoria from Pietermaritzburg and became stuck crossing a marsh on the farm Driefontein, today's Germiston, which would become the Knights Mine.

[2]: 19 Though there were smaller mining operations in the region, it was not until 1884 and the subsequent 1886 discovery at Langlaagte that the Witwatersrand gold rush got underway in earnest.

Rhodes and his partner Robinson, with a team of companions, were curious and rode over 400 km to Bantjes' camp at Vogelstruisfontein, where they stayed with him for two nights near what would later become Roodepoort.

Initially, the ZAR did not believe that the gold would last for long and mapped out a small triangular piece of land to cram as many plots onto as possible.

[19] The Witwatersrand Gold Rush had a significant role in both the failed Jameson Raid in 1895-1896 and the outbreak of the Second Boer War in 1899.