Hillbrow_Tower
Hillbrow Tower
Radio tower in Johannesburg, South Africa
The Hillbrow Tower (formerly JG Strijdom Tower) is a tall tower located in the suburb of Hillbrow in Johannesburg, South Africa. At 269 m (883 ft), it was the tallest structure and tower in Africa for 50 years, until it was surpassed in 2021 by the 393.8 m (1,292 ft) Iconic Tower in Egypt's New Administrative Capital. For seven years it was also the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere until 1978, when surpassed by the 270 m Mount Isa Chimney in Queensland, Australia. It remains the tallest telecommunications tower in Africa, and the tallest structure in sub-Saharan Africa. Construction of the tower began in June 1968 and was completed three years later, in April 1971. Construction cost 2 million rand[1] (at the time, US$2.8 million). The tower was initially known as the JG Strijdom Tower, after JG (Hans) Strijdom, South African Prime Minister from 1954 to 1958. On 31 May 2005 it was renamed the Telkom Joburg Tower.[3]
The tower was constructed for South African Posts & Telecommunications, which later became Telkom,[4] South Africa's government-run and largest telecommunications company. As the general height of buildings rose in the central business district, it became necessary that the height of the new telecommunications tower stayed above the height of the buildings surrounding it.[1][2]
