*School of Architecture and Planning (ETDs)
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Item A Symphony of Sakina: Using mosque design to facilitate community development in Mooiplaas(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-02) Jaffer, Raeesah; Janse van Rensburg, ArianeThis research report studies Mooiplaas Informal Settlement in Pretoria, South Africa. The research first discusses the developmental challenges of this marginalised community and then investigates ways in which informal settlements can be developed. It explores the design and application of a Mosque complex, focusing on its potential to facilitate community development. Mooiplaas has a growing Muslim population, and a Mosque is a fundamental requirement to facilitate prayer. The Mosque is further investigated to understand its significance and functionality in community settings throughout history. Previous developmental initiatives undertaken have not reached full potential to holistically address the needs of the Muslim and non-Muslim communities in Mooiplaas. Thus, this research investigates ways the Mooiplaas community can enhance resilience and sustainability by applying the Mosque complex as a fundamental instrument for future development initiatives. The proposed Mosque can facilitate social and economic upliftment within the settlement by providing spiritual development and education and promoting social cohesion.Item Architecture as mnemonic experiencing past, present, and future narratives in a Johannesburg cultural complex(2024) Segal, YehudaMemory is transient, it comes and it goes. It is a passing remembrance of a past time, person or place. Memory is the experience we store in our minds to recall at a future time and date. It is the friends we make on the first day of school, our childhood holidays, or beach sand between our toes. Memory is also stored in books, visuals, art, and the internet. It is the long-gone monarch in a painting, the photographs and videos of historical events that record a past time and people. And so, memory is architecture- or, simply, space. Spatial recall- the ability to remember a space or place, directions from point A to point B, is the reason we find our way when lost. The architecture of memory is related to that of structures, buildings and spaces that serve to record or preserve a past event or person, yet also the landmark that guides us. It is a museum, memorial, triumphal arch and even a religious or cultural space. It is also the old as opposed, or in harmony with, the new. Architecture as mnemonic is relatable to other aspects and devices with mnemonic value. Memory is therefore an important aspect of archi - tecture and the built world. Not only do we remember through spatial interactions, we also experience spaces which lead to us creating new memories.Item A bathhouse in Cyrildene - a phenomenological approach to the design of a bathhouse in Johannesburg(2021) Kow, AlanIn Johannesburg, there is a lack of global bathhouse typologies. They either don’t exist or are in a form which caters to a niche subculture. Bathhouse culture has been around for hundreds of years and many people around the world take advantage of it as a form of communal bonding, relaxation and general hygiene. In addition to this, when done correctly, it has the effect of stripping away of social class and distinction as well as providing a safe and entertaining environment for those within its walls. This study aims to bring my personal experience of an East-Asian bathhouse into Cyrildene, a predominantly Chinese neighbourhood, that is slowly losing its cultural identity. Building on existing data on historic bathhouses from around the world, it asks: How can the concept of phenomenology be used to guide the design of an Asian style bathhouse in order to enhance the Asian/Chinese cultural experience and help in the revitalisation of Derrick street as a distinct cultural hub In Johannesburg? The main methodologies that will be used in this report will be from literature reviews on historical analysis of bathhouses around the world but more specifically in Eastern Asia. One on one interviews with the residents and shop owners living in Cyrildene as well as the owner/s of a spa. Observations based on mapping and photography will also be employed. The last will be the use of auto-ethnographic data from my own experiences. The main hypothesis of the report will be seeing if the bathhouse typology through the use of a variety of different programs that range from bathing to eating to sleeping in addition to the application of architectural phenomenological theories helps make it suitable for Cyrildene and thereby revitalise and strengthen the areas existing cultural identity.Item Bridging the Past: Redeveloping parts of Fordsburg to create secure and empowering environments for women(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-03) Dar, Sarah; Szentesi, AnitaThe safety of women in public spaces has become an increasingly unsettling issue in South Africa. One of the most severe violations of human rights that still occurs in communities worldwide is gender-based violence, a phenomenon that has a foundation in gender inequity. Gender-based violence affects both men and women, but women and girls comprise most of victims. Public spaces have favored the safety of men, whereas women struggle for their wellbeing in the same space. There is a need for a re-imagined women only space concept, in which women can evolve in, in hopes of creating safer spaces. (UN-Habitat, 2015). The proposal for this thesis is a Skills and Development Centre for women. The Centre will aim to create women run businesses in male dominated spaces with the research focusing on women empowerment through education, and further investigating past architectural theories on women-only design.Item Change the GOAL: Promoting sports & community engagement through the integration of FNB Stadium(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-02) Ramsarup, Shreya; Kirkman, DeborahSouth Africa has invested many billions of rands to build and renovate stadiums. This investment has some advantages, such as fostering national pride and boosting political and economic agendas. However, the benefit to the ordinary citizen is exaggerated. This is evident at the FNB Stadium, while used for elite sport, majority of the Soweto community do not come to the stadium. To the local community it a symbol of something beyond their lived worlds. Against this context my project explored how the FNB stadium can become a sport and cultural led space that locates local people at the center of its use identity. I explored the design of the stadium precinct as a mixed-use space with a focus on sport and football development, allowing opportunities for more people to better connect and understand what the stadium has to offer. This re-imagining of FNB as a stadium fostering broader community aims helps to break the pattern of the stadium as an alienated icon within this historically disadvantaged community.Item Critically exploring the link between privatization and institutional capacity at the local government level in South Africa(2024) Ralane, Hluma LuvoThis study aims to critically explore the link between privatization and institutional capacity at the local government level in South Africa. The study is presented in a user-friendly manner for a wider readership. The central themes explored by the study are local municipalities and privatization. A discussion of the central themes of this paper evolves in the following way. Firstly, the paper outlines the nature of local government in South Africa dating back from the apartheid epoch to the inception of democracy in 1994. It reflects on the local government sphere which is a collective of local municipalities, analysing the nature and structure of this sphere. In its expedition, it particularly focuses on a Category B municipality from Queenstown Eastern Cape. Surveying the outplay in the link between privatization and the institutional capacity in this municipality through the contracting-out of services, particularly water privatization in that municipality. The reflection on local government is succeeded by the scrutiny of the privatization theoretical framework. The study assesses the root nature of privatization. It investigates its emergence from a global frame of thought, how it has evolved through neoliberalism, and ended up superseding other macro-economic frameworks and being a central policy of governance linked to the institution's capacity. The study further looks at the different frameworks provided by the government to enhance institutional capacity at the local government level, together with the methods and theories that characterize privatization, and the outcomes that underpin it. The scrutiny of the above central themes leads to a broad analysis of case studies from a global realm, regional arena, and local arena. The study utilized both qualitative and quantitative research methods to gather data for the study to complement the former methods the study used an exploratory research design as it was broadly exploring the link between privatization and institutional capacity. It further used semi-structured interviews to substantiate the theoretical findings. Throughout the paper, explicit examples are provided to substantiate all arguments raised.Item Cross-border pollination: incubation hub for urban farming in Yeoville(2024) Kubanza, Nzoli GloriaYeoville holds the reputation as an Afro-migrantcentric suburb in Johannesburg (ABED, 2019), with each dispossessed body desiring to keep their cultures alive. This has created social boundaries between South Africans and other African nationalities in the urban landscape. The burning of Yeoville Market is the physical manifestation of growing tension in the community. Gambela (BÉNIT-GBAFFOU, 2019) (known by the neighbourhood) provides migrant women from the diaspora the opportunity to respond to the economic crisis they face in their home country. The enclosed market sphere encourages cultural exchange and interaction by eating, processing, and selling food from home. For migrants living in Yeoville, food is not only a source of nutrients but a tool to transmit culture. Thus, the burning of the market signifies the resistance of the community to integrate. The thesis will follow the Congolese women in the Yeoville market who frequently encounter borders, traveling with various products including cassava. The traders use cassava to transgress the misconceptions of a patriarchal stereotype of an African housewife, simultaneously ensuring household survival. Cassava holds a cultural significance to the West African women as the method of processing cassava requires the knowledge of the native women that have passed down from one generation to another, perfected through time and across borders (Christina Emery, 2021). The importance of the plant not only lies in its mobility but its functional characteristics of promoting harmony, encouraging collaboration, and a medium in which information is transferred (Christina Emery, 2021). In asking the question “how can cassava be used to mend the fragmented community of Yeoville” this thesis will be using cassava as a framework to explore themes of, mobility, boundary, and identity. Re-introducing the market to the community as an agricultural hub. The architectural intervention will re-interpret the market as a space that transmits and preserves culture. The project aims to mediate the fragmented communities of Yeoville using food to educate, generate social spaces, and food works to encourage community involvement.Item Desire Lines: Addressing the Pedestrian and their Access to the Jukskei River Through Public Interest Design(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-02) Smuts, Robyn; Felix, SandraIn this thesis, the propinquity of pockets defined between urban schemes of Dainfern and Diepsloot is explored. As well as the overlap zones of various networks of urban goers. The possibility of developing the prospective benefits of these pockets will be outlined through the principles of public interest design (PIB), placemaking, and adventure playgrounds. This reinforces the ideals of ‘rights to the city’ and creates a feeling of citizenship by focusing on the commonalities of the urban goers. To create a community between otherwise divided groups. The research methodology is site and context-centred, revealing where conflicts may lie, and opportunities sourced. Doing this through the exploration of the materiality and features of the Jukskei River site, and the desire line paths that weave through it. The proposed design develops a productive, shared space that instigates common curiosity and skill development through addressing the propinquity of various urban goers and utilizing the rubble and waste that has accumulated on the site.Item Foraging for Earth: resurrecting the heritage of ochre through land reparation of an iron ore mine(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) O'Maker, Simone; Felix, SandraThis thesis aims to extract concepts, ideologies and theories viable to the rights of land. To rewrite a set of spatial relations that deeply grapple with the remnants of the Ngwenya mountain, in an iron-ore mine within the Kingdom of Eswatini, as an archaeological, cultural, ecological and geographical site. Foraging for Earth aims to mend its wounds that gives back the earth its dignity. It questions what architecture arises from seeing the land as a living being and to what extent it can form a relationship with a post-mined landscape. The concept of the design is derived from the site’s scar, a palimpsest of narratives rooted to memory, decay, healing and regeneration, and thereby interprets reparative strategies into a living archive that aims to reclaim what the landscape used to be. The program includes an earth reparation facility, a knowledge-sharing centre, an ochre sanctuary, craft studio and a sculpture garden. Constant visual and physical engagement encourages one to be aware of the land’s rich narrative.Item Inheriting Resonance: Regenerating Indigenous African Musical Pedagogy Through an Education and Culture Centre in Newtown(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-09) Bopela, Bonnie; Gwebu, Nomonde; Felix, SandraIndigenous African Music requires spatial interventions to counter its erasure in a South African education system that has historically prioritised Western Art Music. This research analyses the relationship between African musical pedagogy and architecture. It aims to address the erasure of musical knowledge through an architectural design that evokes regeneration in an urban setting. Using Pallasmaa’s theory of phenomenology as a guiding focus, this research contextualises African music and how it manifests architecturally. The haptic and embodied architectural experiences defined by phenomenology are inherent within African music. By focusing on the musical bow instruments at the centre of many tribes across Southern Africa, the intrinsic qualities of these instruments are translated and abstracted to form an embodied architectural design intervention embued with an African musical identity. This research argues that phenomenological architectural design methodologies can regenerate, preserve and sustain indigenous musical knowledge(s) for future generations.Item Manufacturing imaginaries: a catalyst for reimagining Marshalltown(2024) O’Donovan, Gabriel StormThe inner city of Johannesburg oscillates between images of a vibrant city full of possibilities, and a dystopian city that has fallen into disrepair - illustrating the profound complexities of the city and its resilience, where spaces of dystopian desolation lie adjacent to dynamic spaces of ambition and hope. Since Johannesburg’s establishment various regimes of representation have sought to create a city in their image (Matsipa, 2014) – from visions of Johannesburg as a temporary mining camp with the sole purpose of extracting wealth, to the modernist images of a “New York in Africa” (Chipkin, 2008). This project explores how visions from a past epoch can be re-imagined and questions the role of the architect in facilitating new urban transformations. This research report investigates the accumulated archive of abandoned buildings in the inner city and presents an architectural intervention that acts as a piece of urban infrastructure – facilitating the reinterpretation of these neglected structures. It draws inspiration from current examples of ad hoc spatial interventions that challenge the notions of permanent and purpose-made architecture. The site forms part of an abandoned city block in Marshalltown, Johannesburg. This city block serves as symbol of urban decay and neglect, portraying feelings of desolation and abandonment (Bruwer, 2002) – making it the ideal site for the proposed architectural intervention as well as a source of inspiration.Item Melville strip[ped]: Creating a School of Arts to rejuvenate 7th Street(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-02) Görner, Sebastian; Daskalakos, ChristosThis research report is focused on the suburb of Melville, Johannesburg. The issue of failing social and economic systems is defined and a new intervention is proposed. This intervention is a mixed-use development containing a School of Arts, Retail Spaces and Apartment Units. The report covers precedents and case studies for the proposed interventions as well as similar design principles and areas within South Africa and international examples. As the site on 7th Street in Melville is the center point of this report, an in-depth analysis has been done to determine all aspects that influenced the design of the intervention. The design process is directly linked to the research findings, precedents and site analysis. After this the design development is documented. The final outcome of the research report is a completed building set within Melville's 7th Street as a method to turn the failing economy around and to bring the community back together.Item Mwana Wevhu (Child of the soil): Enhancing subsistence cotton farming through education with production creating employment opportunities in Marondera, Zimbabwe(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Mafemba, Simbarashe A.; Kirkman, DeborahCotton plant production in Zimbabwe has witnessed a concerning decline. This cash crop, crucial for the country’s economy, has unfortunately become a harbinger of poverty among diligent farmers. Nonetheless, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon with the adoption of sustainable farming practices, including the use of organic seeds, which can reduce pesticide usage and water requirements, potentially revitalizing cotton production. Marondera, an agricultural hub, predominantly relies on subsistence farming methods to cultivate this labor and capital-intensive cash crop. Regrettably, these methods have proven inefficient for achieving profitability, ultimately pushing farmers further into poverty. The objective of my research is to delve into the realm of cotton farming, seeking avenues to enhance its viability and sustainability, thereby empowering farmers and fostering employment opportunities within associated industries. Cotton cultivation presents a multitude of job prospects, particularly during the processing phase. As part of my architectural intervention, I aspire to design a community Research Centre in Marondera. This center will serve as a knowledge hub, equipping cotton farmers with the expertise and techniques needed to cultivate the crop efficiently and sustainably. A pivotal aspect of the design will be the incorporation of vernacular architecture and locally available materials, ensuring that the architecture aligns with the practical needs of the local population it serves.Item Navigating the Existential: A Sacred Anchor for the Liminal Identities of Johannesburg South’s Diasporic Youth(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-02) Moodley, Priyan; Bahman, DirkThe story of Johannesburg South is one that begun with the city itself, a by-product of the scar of the mining belt. Through an influx of diasporic communities, it grew and morphed into a place of diverse cultural editing. One that created a youth which was born into landscapes of sacred and cultural juxtapositions and multiplicities. The result is a diasporic melting pot of existential redefinitions and liminal identities, all in flux in this ever-changing landscape, requiring anchorage and rootedness in all the shifting. Through understandings of transliminality, diasporic theory, sacredness and phenomenological existentialism, this thesis aims to give form, materiality and atmosphere to spaces in which temporal meanings of ritual and event can be held and the layering of sacred and secular multiplicities can be evoked. To answer the question of how anchorage can be created for the sacred redefinitions and temporal meanings of the liminal diaspora of Johannesburg South.Item Ponte; Realness. Symbiotic parasitism in drag(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-09) Georgiev, Victor Geoergiev; Bahman, DirkThe intended investigation explores queer identity and the extent to which it can symbiotically co-inhabit an outdated structure to create social cohesion and integration resulting in a regeneration. Consisting of interventions exploring identity representation and familial programmes to create a sense of community. Research focuses on vulnerable communities present within Ponte (a structure containing aspects of familiarity to Ballroom spaces) and their synergy with the Ballroom community in Johannesburg. Through architectural processes engaging with space making and programming, aims value the creation of space. Encouraging educational models through social engagement which facilitate acceptance, sex, and gender expressions through a mutual occupation. Theories identified in queer spaces and Hertzburgers writings provide solutions through familiarity and atmospheres that allow for a symbiosis of community. Research outcomes indicate an adaptive re-use of Ponte through a reprogramming relating to investigations that highlight the buildings previous intentions as a vertical city.Item Reusing the urban fabric: adaptive re-use of an abandoned heritage building to explore community empowerment within the Johannesburg CBD's textile industry(2024) Soobramoney, KyleThe city of Johannesburg has undergone massive transformations since its conception and the discovery of gold that set the city on an exponentially rising trajectory. In the aftermaths of apartheid, many post-industrial buildings are scattered through the city landscape, forgotten, and decaying with accompanying detrimental effects to their surrounding context. This investigation aims to reuse a delipidated heritage building to grow economy through local industry. In the case of this investigation, the relevant industry is the ever-growing textile and secondhand clothing market. This industry is contextually relevant, and the basic design principles of Architectural theory demand a building be responsive to the context to be successful. The hypothesis is that if an industrial function can be retrofitted to dilapidated buildings, then these buildings can be saved and enhance the environment in which it dwells. The textile industry in this case offers a multitude of job opportunities as well as applications in architecture and construction. Traits that could possibly help working class, and female entrepreneurs have a stronger foothold in the city, as industrial labor, and basic job access can become more available to women that may be unemployed and unskilled. Design methodologies such as adaptive re-use and symbiotic architecture are aimed to be implemented to endorse an architecture that is feasible for abandoned heritage buildings, concurrently these methodologies are intended to be explored through the textile industry. Architecture that is intended to be easy and cheap to assemble; architecture that can move, grow and change based on the needs of the user while preserving the identity of the building and at the same time creating a new one for a new generation. The end goal is to create a mixed use closed loop self-sustaining building that programmatically focuses on the education and economic components of the context as well as enhances community development in the city. The investigation aims to understand (through experimentation) if an architecture can be applied to the delipidating heritage typology as an effort to reuse space and the preserve character, memory, and diversity in a way that the generation of today will be excited to be in an old building. The city has become a hub for informal traders and entrepreneurs, a social and economic melting pot. There is an opportunity for existing industries to revitalize fragmented infrastructure to add to the mixture.Item Revitalizing the vintage: Supporting novel ways of living for older adults in Galicia, Spain(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-02) Vila, Sabela Rey; Gantner, GarretThe abandonment of rural areas has been an issue of concern for several decades in Galicia. Past endeavours to revive abandoned villages have primarily concentrated on strategies such as reforestation, museumification, tourism, and resettlement. However, as far as the research shows, none of these approaches have tackled root causes or focused on assisting the remaining populations, who are primarily elderly individuals. To fill this gap, this thesis draws on a range of different themes including the spatial organization of villages, the abandonment of Galician villages and its causal factors, various approaches to revitalizing abandoned villages, the needs of elderly people, as well as the architecture, landscape and imaginaries of Galician culture. For the design of typologically varied buildings, the study of heritage and conservation theories, and theories on elderly care were explored. Specific design requisites for the elderly were considered, and an examination of the winemaking process also contributed to the research. Moreover, substantial research was dedicated to locating an appropriate site conforming to the requirements of the proposed new masterplan for an abandoned village. These efforts culminated in using an existing abandoned village to devise a comprehensive new masterplan. This plan encompasses all essential elements required to restore it sustainably, while concurrently offering support to the elderly population. Additionally, it entails further detailed development of facilities such as an elderly day-care centre, residential units, and the establishment of a winery facility.Item Sound Incubator: South African Music Library; Improv and Live Performance at the gateway to Alexandra, Johannesburg(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-02) Gimpel, Ariella; Hart, BrendanSound is not just an abstract concept; it is an instrument of expression in South Africa. It serves as a means to praise or protest, to unite or disperse, to energize or to mourn. Sound is not confined to a vacuum; rather, it exists within the realm of physical space and unfolds over time. In this regard, sound and architecture share an intrinsic connection as they both occupy and shape the spaces they inhabit. This thesis embarks on a journey to unravel the intricate interplay between sound and architecture within the dynamic context of Johannesburg, South Africa. The focal point of this exploration is the ‘Sound Incubator,’ a speculative architectural intervention designed to facilitate live performances. Its purpose is to foster artistic talent by deliberately intersecting diverse artists, thereby igniting creativity and safeguarding cultural heritage. My investigation commences with South African music and live performance, recognizing their immense cultural, social, and economic potential while acknowledging the scarcity of suitable venues for these experiences. I then delve into the essential architectural considerations, encompassing acoustics, psycho-acoustics, psychogeography, the symbiotic relationship between music and architecture, and the role of improvisation as a means of creation and learning. Amidst the intricate tapestry of Alexandra township in Johannesburg, a community shaped by ongoing political struggles and rapid urbanisation, we find a resourceful, rhythmical, and diverse population deeply committed to the arts. The current and historic soundscape of Alexandra, which exists in an improvised state of survival – provides the ideal context for the Sound Incubator.Item Stories of the Forgone Forlorn Forgotten Space: Interrogating Mdantsane’s Liminal Space in which Ritual Operates(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-09) Xhegwana, Buhle; Maape, SechabaThe proposed site is located on Golden Highway in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, and is a vacant plot of land adjacent to Mdantsane Correctional Services. The site situates itself in close proximity to multiple educational institutions and commerce, centrally within the township. The proposed research aims to analyse how Amasiko (cultural practices and their memory) within a non-transcribed culture can be translated into a built form that would be representative of its people. The built form would be envisioned as a container for memory where the ethnographic layering of information becomes a tool to access the ritual and its memory as a “Grand Mnemonic Device” to relay import ant aspects of the culture and its history (Trieb, 2013). The space envisaged must promote the acts of remembering and collecting as a tool in the process of creating a “house of memory” (Bahloul, 1992). This assembles what was not transcribed into a physical, experiential manifestation by creating a stronger link between architecture and society, looking beyond the merely functional state of architecture represented in the context. The program enacted in the space will mirror the act of the ritual by providing spaces that relate to the processes of the ritual in their various stages of the procession. The three main ritual processes focused on include Umgidi (Initiation ceremony), Umshado (wedding) and Umngcwabo (Funeral). The spaces proposed function as a tool to access the memory and ritual through its organisation while its program reaches out to the community. The program includes a community hall centred around the acts of song, dance and sermon; a kitchen to be used during gatherings and as a link to food security outreach; urban farm facilities to service the kitchen and community; discussion rooms for skill sharing, dialogue, non-transcribed learning and storytelling; video exhibition spaces to immerse oneself in the memory; a foyer with a primary focus on cleansing or washing hands before crossing the threshold into the space; storage and offices for facilitators of the space.Item The application of process mineralogy to improve gold extraction from Wits tailings(2024) Makamu, SaziniThe extraction of gold from secondary resources such as historical Witwatersrand (Wits) tailings has been vital in extending the life of the South African gold industry. For a long time, Wits gold tailings have been a liability to mining operations due to the cost of the management of tailings dams. If tailings are not adequately managed, they can have long-term negative effects on the environment and human health and safety, with pollutants from effluent and dust emissions possibly being hazardous to humans, animals, and plants. However, due to a decrease in ore grades, the growing drive for zero waste, and improvements in technology, tailings retreatment is now a sustainable form of revenue for gold operations in South Africa. While the Wits gold tailings are characterised by low gold content, there is however, an expectation that this residual gold can be efficiently and economically extracted since gold extraction technologies have improved. However, low gold extraction efficiencies have typically been observed with typical plant operations operating at 40-50% recoveries. Poor liberation is a common postulation on the causes of low gold extraction and slow leaching kinetics. As a result local Wits tailings toll treatment plants apply ultra-fine grinding (P80 -20 µm) to partially liberate the gold and achieve economical gold extraction. However, an alternative hydrometallurgy approach that does not come with the capital and process implication of fine grinding can prove to be more economical. The study aimed to establish the cause of reduced gold extraction in a Wits tailings concentrate followed by the establishment of a hydrometallurgy process route that improves the gold extraction. The aim of the research was achieved through a process mineralogy study of a typical Wits pyrite concentrate sourced from the DRDGold’s Ergo flotation plant. Data from the process mineralogy study was then interpreted to develop a test work program that aimed to improve the gold extraction from Wits pyrite concentrate. The results from the study showed that gold in Wits tailings appears predominantly by way of native gold which can easily leach with cyanide, with a negligible amount of electrum. The locking and reactive gangue minerals in the form of iron sulphides pyrite and pyrrhotite were noted to restrict cyanide access to the gold particle. Furthermore these minerals tend to partially dissolve during cyanidation in an alkaline medium. Three options identified to improve gold extraction included the passivation of iron sulphide mineral facades using an arrangement of pre-oxidation, lead nitrate addition to improve leaching kinetics and reduce cyanide consumption, and leaching at elevated dissolved O₂ concentrations with excess cyanide addition. The application of pre-oxidation (lime + air) with increased dissolved oxygen (DO) and cyanide (CN- ), increased gold extraction to 77% at a decreased retention time of 18 hours, which is 17% higher than gold extraction achieved during cyanidation of the same resource at DRDGold ERGO plant. The addition of lead nitrate did not improve gold extraction but was beneficial in reducing cyanide consumption by 0.13 kg/t.