Report of the Medical Officer of Health on the public health and sanitary circumstances of Johannesburg.

  • Johannesburg
Date:
[1962]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Medical Officer of Health on the public health and sanitary circumstances of Johannesburg. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    - 2 - Natives1 Resettlement Board is also used for housing Bantu working in Johannesburg. The total area of the Bantu townships is therefore 25,97 square miles. Other land owned by the Council outside its own boundaries and controlled in terms of Section 7 of the Local Government Ordinance (Transvaal) includes the sewage purification farms to the south3 and the northern sewage purification works, Zuurbekom, Kelvin Power Station, Woodlands, Lombardy, Gillooly]s Farm, Rietvlei East, Rietvlei West and several other farms with a total area of 51.49 square mi les. The climate of Johannesburg is essentially temperate, although the city is within 3 degrees of the Tropic of Capricorn. Generally the days are bright and warm and the nights cool. The humidity is low in winter and there is a marked diurnal variation in temperature. The average daily period of bright sunshine is 8,47 hours. The rainfall has averaged 872.99 mms (34.37 inches) per annum over a period of 50 years and occurs mainly in the summer months (October to March) often in the form of short thunderstorms. The total fall at Joubert Park in 1962 was 626,7 mms (24.67 inches) and rain fell on 82 days. The hottest months are usually from December to March with an average maximum temperature over 15 years of 31 C and the highest recorded temperature of 34,2°C, The coldest months are usually in June and July with an average minimum temperature of 2.05 C over 15 years and the lowest recorded temperature of -6,2 C on the 23rd July 1926, Johannesburg is not a windy place; the only time when the wind calls for special comment is when cold winds blow from the south during August or September. The wind frequencies are shown diagrammatically in Annexure 2. The monthly averages of rainfall, etc. are reflected in Annexure 3.