Bez Valley War Memorial

A stunning new mosaic with a message of Ubuntu has brought hope and dignity to a landmark site which has in recent times been mired in squalor and decay. Highly visible to passing traffic, the small park occupies a busy corner opposite Darras Centre in  Kensington.

After suffering repeated vandalism, the war memorial that occupied the space was successfully restored and relocated to Bezuidenhout Park earlier this year. Now settled at its new site, the war memorial has been given a new lease of life in spacious and tranquil surroundings.

The vandalised Bezuidenhout Valley War Memorial in 2018

Dignity restored:  the Bezuidenhout War Memorial at its new home in Bezuidenhout Park (Mayat-Hart Architects)

Back at the mini-park, the newly-created mosaic wall marks the site where the old memorial stood, which continues as a place of memory and reflection.  A side panel carries an outline image of monument, with the words:

First erected on this site in the 1920s, the Bezuidenhout Valley War Memorial remembers men of this suburb who died in World...

On 26 July 2018 concerned stakeholders including representatives from the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation (Kathy Munro), the Kensington Residents Association (Isabella Pingle) and the  Johannesburg East Joint Plans committee (Andre Marais) met with Eric Itzkin, Zoleka Ntobeni, Councillor Carlos Da Rocha and Cebo Mhlongo of the City. We paid a site visit to the Bez Valley War Memorial. This is the First World War War memorial commemorating the 64 men of Bezuidenhout Valley who lost their lives while fighting or serving on battlefields and theatres of war in France, South West Africa, East Africa, North Africa and the Middle East. They were soldier volunteers for the British Empire and Allied cause in the war against Germany and the Central powers between 1914 and 1918. The first name on the central panel of names on the granite plinth was Sir George Farrar of Bedford Court who died following a tragic railway accident in the South West African campaign.

Painting of Bedford Court

The men commemorated on the memorial were all white and many of immigrant descent or first generation South Africans. Those were the racial, cultural and social restrictions of that era. Black members of the SA Native Labour Corp who were also volunteers and service men are now remembered and commemorated at various memorials across the city and all who served are remembered at the Cenotaph on Beyers Naude Square. The...

On Saturday morning 16th June 2018, I attended a Johannesburg East Plans committee meeting. Our work is about heritage preservation while considering appropriate changes and new developments. Isabella Pingle, the representative of the Kensington Ratepayers and Residents Association, placed a photo before us showing the damage recently done to the Bez Valley World War I Memorial. The Memorial has effectively been destroyed despite the recent efforts of the local councillor Carlos Da Rocha and the community to clean the small park. In late 2014 an effort was made by City Parks, the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation and others to revamp the memorial. It is one of those Johannesburg heritage spots that has been hanging on by its finger nails. The challenges of preservation have overwhelmed the City of Johannesburg.

What is left of the Bez Valley War Memorial (Isabella Pingle)

This small local memorial is located opposite Darras Centre on the boundary edge of the suburbs of Bezuidenhout Valley and Kensington. The address is the corner triangle where 5th Street, 9th Avenue and Kitchener Avenue intersect. The  memorial is a block away from the main thoroughfare - Albertina Sisulu Road. It is a triangular patch of park land that falls within the orbit of the City Parks of Johannesburg.

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