South Africa

Inside South Africa’s exclusive private club for the ultra-rich

Shaun Jacobs • 2 February 2025

The Rand Club is one of the most exclusive private clubs in South Africa and has hosted some of the most famous people in the country’s history, including its founder, Cecil John Rhodes.

Still located in Marshalltown in the heart of Johannesburg, the club has lasted through the Anglo-Boer War, the Union of South Africa, Apartheid, and into the 21st century.

Its future looked uncertain in the 2010s after the slow decline of Johannesburg’s historic CBD, which resulted in many companies moving their headquarters to Sandton and Rosebank.

This shift resulted in the closure of historic sights in the CBD and places where the country’s business elite would gather, such as the Carlton Hotel and the Johannesburg Sun.

However, the Rand Club has undergone a revival of sorts and has retained its stature, elegance, and opulence into the 2020s.

The history of the club traces that of Johannesburg, with it being founded a year after a township sprung up on the gold-rich Witwatersrand.

In February 1886, traces of gold were found on the Langlaagte farm and sent to Kimberley for assessment. Finding the results to be sound, Cecil John Rhodes asked Dr Hans Sauer to travel to the Rand to acquire land.

After completing some business dealings in Johannesburg, Rhodes and Sauer went for a walk around the city to select a site for a private gentleman’s club.

The story goes that after some time, Rhodes suddenly stopped and declared that a particular street corner would do for the club. The corner was where Commissioner Street met Loveday Street in Marshall’s Township.

Two of the four stands for the club were donated by financier Ikey Sonnenberg, with the other two being purchased for a mere £72.

The first Rand Club was built with shares of £10 purchased by each candidate wishing to become a member.

The first clubhouse was a modest brick and thatch pavilion consisting of a single floor, but it offered a welcome respite from the harsh elements in the new mining town.

A significant threat to the new club came less than a decade after its founding, with many of its members being arrested and sentenced for high treason for their part in planning the infamous Jameson Raid.

The Jameson Raid was a botched raid against the South African Republic carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson.

Jameson reportedly planned the audacious raid from the club’s main bar, with input from Rhodes.

It served its purpose until 1889, after which it was levelled, and a larger clubhouse was erected.

The second clubhouse would mark the beginning of the Rand Club’s reputation as a site of opulence and the meeting place for South Africa’s business elite.

The elaborate two-storey structure accommodated a bar, billiards room, large dining room, four small rooms, a kitchen, a scullery, and offices.

Due to Johannesburg’s rapid growth, this clubhouse was rendered inadequate within two years of its opening in 1890. At this time, offices were springing up across the Rand as the city became the country’s economic hub.

After the Anglo-Boer War ended in 1902, the club began planning a new, expanded clubhouse on the original site that could stand the test of time.

Instead of the ornate wrought iron work of the past, this building would be wrapped in concrete to symbolise its permanence and the power of its members. This would be the creation of the clubhouse as we know it today.

Finished within two years, the base structure was prefabricated in the United Kingdom before being shipped to South Africa and clad in concrete.

The new building would face its first test in 1913 when the Miners’ Strike resulted in fierce street fighting around the clubhouse. Some of the damage to its facade during this strike can still be seen.

Cutting-edge at the time, the building was fitted with a lift, which was manually operated up until June 2005, when a fire destroyed its motor.

The building remains largely unchanged despite a major refurbishment after the fire, with its staircase and glass dome remaining its centrepiece.

The club and its members have played important roles and held notable positions in South African history.

Mining magnates such as Sir Jilius Jeppe, Sir Hermann Eckstein, and Sir Lionel Phillips were instrumental in turning the Witwatersrand into the largest goldfield in the world.

They also sponsored the construction of the Johannesburg Art Gallery and donated important pieces of art to it.

Today, the six-story building houses the longest bar in Africa, at 31 metres, a billiards room, a private theatre, a double-volume staircase illuminated by a mosaic dome, two libraries, and a ballroom.

This is complemented by additional function rooms, seven en-suite member bedrooms and business facilities. These include a full business centre, video conferencing facilities and multiple offices tenanted by advocates and Jozi My Jozi, an inner-city regeneration initiative.

The club’s opulence was confirmed by its use as an official residence by members of the British Royal Family on their visits to South Africa in the 1920s and 1930s.

The revival of the Rand Club

In 2015, the Heritage Portal outlined Rand Club’s problematic situation as businesses left the historic Johannesburg CBD and the inner city steadily deteriorated.

It said the club was unlikely to survive in its current form, with funds from its 500 members struggling to maintain the building.

Despite fears of its decay, the club has bounced back strongly from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Club now has a substantial collection of historic as well as contemporary African Art. In addition to its own pieces, which include works by John Meyer and Thomas Baines, it has several works generously loaned from corporate collections, including RMB, OPH and Anglo-American.

Driven by Phil Thurston over the past five years, the club is again filled with members, visitors, and tour groups.

Thurston is currently overseeing the revival of the Cape Town Club in a historic Sir Herbert Baker building in the centre of the Mother City.

Thurston’s revival was based on opening the club up to a more diverse clientele, particularly younger members while maintaining its prestige and exclusivity.

“We don’t care where you come from, how old you are, what level of education you have, what colour and sex you are, or anything else,” Thurston told the Cape Town Central City Improvement District.

“This was my approach at the Rand Club, and it really worked.”

Thurston was the general manager of the club at the time. Chairman Brian McKechnie explained that the Club’s oversight is provided by a committee – elected by the members, not by a single person or the GM.

The turn-around, including the desire to open the Club up to more representative and younger members and to diversify our income streams, was a committee and member decision and was not a decision made by the GM.

McKechnie also made it clear that there is, however, currently no link between Rand Club and the Cape Town Club.

Prospective Rand Club members still go through an application process to determine whether an individual will share in its community of values.

The club’s website says there is no such thing as a ‘typical’ Rand Club Member.

“Rand Club Members are persons 18 years and over of good character, considerate and open-minded, embracing of diversity, critical thinkers, decision-makers, conversation shapers, thought leaders, passionate about Johannesburg’s heritage and future, with an eye for the unusual,” it says.

“As one explores the Clubhouse, one is left in little doubt that history is not merely on display. Johannesburg’s history has been made here.”