Johannesburg is also known as the "city of gold" as it owes its birth and existence to the discovery of gold in the then Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek in 1886. Johannesburg is built on a part of the richest gold deposit in the world, the Witwatersrand Gold Reef. Gold Reef City is a theme park, located on the grounds of a worked-out gold mine on the southern outskirts of central Johannesburg. It's a “museum” town of Johannesburg in its glory years - during, and shortly after, the gold rush.

The main features of Gold Reef City are its worked out (underground) gold mine and its village of Victorian style houses, and other buildings, which reflects the architecture and life in early Johannesburg in the late 1800's to early 1900's. A new addition to Gold Reef City is the excellent Apartheid Museum. The Theme Park also includes a fun park with various rides.