Alberton is a town situated on the southern part of the East Rand of the Gauteng Province in South Africa and is situated very close to the major urban centre of Johannesburg. Alberton is described as a typical suburban community, one which is primarily residential in character, with most of its workers commuting to work in nearby suburbs or cities such as Johannesburg and Germiston. History In the early 1840s, the Voortrekkers Johan Georg (Org) Meyer and Hester Catharina Elizabeth (née Mulder) arrived in the Transvaal after moving from their home in Prince Albert, in what was then the Cape Colony. Org sourced land and selected three farms, namely Klipriviersberg, Elandsfontein and Swartkoppies. In 1856, Johannes Petrus Meyer (better known as Jan Meyer) acquired of his father's Elandsfontein farm and built a house next to the Natalspruit, close to where the civic centre stands today. In 1890, he built a new farmhouse mansion on the opposite end of the farm that was miraculously left unharmed during the Anglo Boer War of 1899–1902. The homestead can still be seen today from the bypassing N12 freeway. Jan's brother, also Johan Georg (Org) Meyer, took over the farm after Jan's death. General Hendrik Abraham Alberts, a veteran of the Anglo Boer War, purchased a part of the farm from Org in 1904 and named it Alberton. The Afrikaans medium primary school Jan Meyer was named for the original owner of the farm, and the affluent suburb Meyersdal also refers to the family whose original farmhouse mansion still stands on the land behind the Meyersdal koppie. The primary school Generaal Alberts, and Hennie Alberts Avenue in the suburb of Brackenhurst, are named after the town founder. The first official post office was opened in 1926, and in 1938 building work started on a town hall. In the same year, street names in the Alberton North suburb were renamed after Voortrekker leaders to coincide with the 100 year commemoration of the Great Trek. A well-known landmark of the city, ABC STORE, was established in 1943 on Pieter Uys Avenue, Alberton North, and is still trading today as a general store specializing in school uniforms. Alberton was incorporated into the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality governing the East Rand in the year 2000 and celebrated its centenary year in 2005. Demographics According to the 2011 census conducted by Statistics South Africa, Alberton had a population of