Rivonia Tourism Information

Quick Facts: Rivonia

• Rivonia is an affluent residential suburb of Sandton situated between two rivers: Sandspruit and Braamfontein Spruit
• Perhaps its most famous landmark is Liliesleaf Farm
• Rivonia Boulevard
• The Country Club Johannesburg.

Distance to Airport: 27 km

Distance to City: 29 km

Introducing Rivonia

Rivonia is an affluent residential suburb of Sandton situated between two rivers: Sandspruit and Braamfontein Spruit.  Perhaps its most famous landmark is Liliesleaf Farm - secret headquarters of African National Congress activists until the 1964 police raid which led to the subsequent Rivonia Trial.The township of Rivonia was proclaimed on Edenburg Farm in 1903. This land was originally part of the Rietfontein Farm, which was portioned off to a number of white settlers in the early nineteenth century.

Rivonia consisted of a number of large farms, with a couple of shops - one doubling as a post office, and a small school.A bus serviced the village only three times a week. By the mid twentieth century, however, Sandton's accelerated growth began to impact the rural bliss of its neighbouring areas.  The encroachment of urban development gradually led to the degradation of rural lifestyle in Rivonia. Although many of its old farmhouses remain, rural Rivonia has been swallowed by residential and commercial developments.

Getting there

Rivonia lies north of Sandton on the Rivonia Road. To reach Rivonia from the airport, follow the R24 to Johannesburg. At Gillooly's Interchange, take the N3 northbound. Continue through the Sandton Buccleuch Interchange onto the N1 (Pretoria) and take the first exit left at Rivonia Road.