Alberton is within close reach of all the major highways and is only fifteen minutes away from the centre of Johannesburg and the International Airport. There are plans to turn the Meyersdal Kopjie, an excellent place for bird-watching, near to the town into a nature reserve. The well-known Newmarket race-course is situated in the town and the Alberton Mardi Gras Festival is now an annual event.

The East Rand town of Alberton started up around a general store that had been opened near to the Klip River 15 kms to the South of Johannesburg in the 1870s, and was named after the community of Prins Albert in the Cape Colony. By 1905 there were five families settled in the area, and the first town hall was built in 1918. Alberton has developed into a major industrial, commercial and residential centre over the last 40 years, the population doubling every 10 years. The town is now a major industrial centre that houses, amongst others, the largest brewery in Africa.