South Africa General

We found the following article by B.I. Spaanderman in the 1991 edition of the old Johannesburg Historical Foundation's journal Between the Chains. It looks at a number of South African mills with a particular focus on Millbank, the closest to Johannesburg.

For a mere fifty cents you can ask the watchman at Bradshaw’s Mill in Bathurst to set its wheel in motion. It costs a few cents more in Graaff-Reinet. The beautifully restored Josephine Mill in Rondebosch is a delight, and an informative booklet has been produced by the Historical Society of Cape Town describing its history and restoration.

The water-mills of South Africa are mainly located in the Cape Province by virtue of the settler population. These were built from the late 1600s to the late 1800s. Mills in Natal, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal were built from the middle to the late 1800s. The most definitive study to date is Water-mills, windmills and horse-mills of South Africa by James Walton, published in 1974. Owing largely to his interest, a number of the mills have been restored, such as the Josephine Mill, but more sadly, many have been left to decay, or have been destroyed by fire and other natural disasters.

Bradshaw’s Mill was built by the 1820-settler Samuel Bradshaw and his brother. He was assisted by the young Jeremiah Goldswain, who worked for “Measerss Bradshaws and Wiggall for servel months, at this time cash was so scarce that it was almost imposable for andy one to...

An ongoing task for heritage enthusiasts, history teachers, parents and others is to get young people excited about history and heritage. While browsing through the 1982 edition of Restorica, the old journal of the Simon van der Stel Foundation (today the Heritage Association of South Africa), we found a wonderful piece by Dr Ruth E Gordon on this matter. Her advice is still as relevant today as it was then. These days we have a spectrum of technological innovations to help us in this endeavour. We loved the letter from Claire Thompson by the way. It would be interesting to see what impact Dr Gordon has had on Claire's life. As always thank you to the University of Pretoria (Restorica copyright holders) for giving us permission to publish.

At the last Annual General Meeting of the Foundation held in Pietermaritzburg on May 1st 1982, there was some discussion about how the young people of the country might be attracted to an active interest in the aims of conservation and the restoration of our old buildings and historical sites. lt was deplored that young people are so keenly searching for the future that the past fails to hold them until they themselves reach middle or old age. Various ideas were mooted and Dr Eily Gledhill of Grahamstown described the tours in that area which familiarised school children with the historic importance of their environment. As the meeting was pressed for time I refrained from making my own small contribution to the discussion but do...

[Originally published in mid 2015] Following a spate of attacks on colonial monuments around the country, paint was splattered on a post-apartheid statue on Gandhi Square in downtown Johannesburg. Eric Itzkin takes up the case of Gandhi and his bronze effigy.

For many people in South Africa and internationally, M.K. Gandhi represents a figure of great moral authority, an icon of peace. Introduced in 2003, the statue on Gandhi Square offers a tribute to Gandhi’s civil rights work in South Africa, and a means of recognizing and celebrating Johannesburg’s multi-cultural diversity.

Nelson Mandela has been among those who have paid homage to the Indian freedom fighter who began his struggles in South Africa. In an article dating from 1999, Mandela wrote:

Gandhi threatened the South African government during the first and second decades of our century as no other man did. He established the first anti-colonial political organization in the country, if not the world, founding the Natal Indian Congress in 1894. The African Peoples’ Organisation (APO) was established in 1902, and the ANC in 1912, so that both were witnesses to and highly influenced by Gandhi’s militant Satyagraha which began in 1907 and reached its climax in 1913 with the epic march of 5 000 workers indentured on the coal mines in Natal. That march evoked a massive response from the Indian women who in turn, provoked the Indian workers to come out on strike. That was the beginning of the marches to freedom and mass stay-away-from-work which came so characteristic of...

[Published in 2013] Heritage SA, the oldest and largest heritage organisation in the country, recently held its annual symposium. One of the highlights was the gala dinner and awards ceremony where individuals from around the country were honoured for their contribution to heritage. The Heritage SA Gold Medal, the most prestigious award recognising achievement on a national level, was bestowed on Dr Roger Fisher. Below is the citation that accompanied the Medal.

Roger Charles Fisher was born in Rondebosch in the Cape Province where he commenced his education. He moved with his family to Pretoria in 1964 where he completed his schooling. After a varied early career he registered at the Department of Architecture where in 1982 he obtained his degree of Bachelor of Architecture. After a brief spell in private practice, he joined the academic staff at the University of Pretoria in 1986. There he read for his doctorate. On his retirement he was made an Emeritus Professor.

In 1997–1998 Dr Fisher was tasked with the major challenge of developing an integrated curriculum for the Professional Courses in Architectural Design and the Departments of Landscape and of Interior Design. This had to be aligned with the requirements and validation of National and International Bodies.

His interest in architecture “as a phenomenon of culture within the ecosystem, and in the innovative and resourceful use of materials and technologies so that the needs of the broad community are aesthetically satisfied,” incorporates his love of heritage and history within the built and cultural...

This is a recollection of my personal journey and association with Karel, through which I would like to pay tribute to a giant who championed the cause of heritage conservation far beyond the borders of the country where he lived, worked and passed away.

It was in 2001 when I met with Karel for the first time face-to-face, thanks to another formidable heritage practitioner, Gerhard-Mark van der Waal, or ‘GM’, as he was often known. He was preparing to immigrate to his country of birth and wished to restructure Cultmatrix CC, a heritage consultancy that he had helped to establish in 1997. The new ‘triumvirate’ of partners was an interesting one and worked well, possibly partly of our common Dutch origins. It was the beginning of a journey with Karel.

Although I had never met and worked with Karel up to that point, I knew about him from a newspaper photo published in the December 1975 Pretoriana (the bulletin of the Old Pretoria Society) edition. This showed him and a fellow student (Recht Hiemstra) brandishing placards to voice their opposition against the demolition of some of the historic buildings on the western side of Pretoria’s Church Square [see main picture]. They had joined a mass protest on the square, which took place the 26 July 1975, against the destruction of what Karel later often referred to as ‘shared built heritage’ and, as in the case of the most effective demonstrators, they were apparently threatened with arrest by the police. From...

A poor education, broken family structures and little hope of the life they wished for themselves and their families are what colonization and apartheid bestowed upon South Africa's black population in the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century.

Nonetheless, there were pockets of excellence which offered black students the kind of education comparable to that which white students received – the education offered by missionary schools. It was this polished and quality education which offered black students the opportunity to explore and acquire knowledge, and it was this education which empowered them in their struggle against racial injustice in South Africa.

Men and women educated at mission education schools were logically in the forefront of the struggle for freedom in South Africa. They were first to pioneer the call for an equal franchise and racial equality for all of South Africa's citizens at the turn of the twentieth century. They were the first to realize the abuse of the colonial system, and to take a stand to reverse the infringements on the human rights of black South Africans.

This is evident in the early religious leadership of Rev John Tengu Jabavu, Rev Tiyo Soga and Rev Charles Palma, and it is embodied in the  early education of the political leadership of Nelson Mandela, Robert Sobukwe, Oliver Tambo, Govan Mbeki, Ruth Mompati, Charllotte Maxeke, ZK Matthews, Dr AB Xuma and many of their compatriots.

It can also be traced to the next generation of struggle heroes and heroines including amongst others...

The fateful year of 1896 is one of the most momentous years in the history of South Africa, the reason being the coming together of events which provided the “Perfect Storm”.

The year started badly with the Jameson Raid, a blunder of epic proportions which polarised the attitudes of both Boer and Briton. However there was worse to come in the form of drought and pestilence, which would have an effect on all the people living in South Africa.

Boers during the Jameson Raid

South Africa at the time was not defined by its present borders, but was a region which stretched from Cape Town to the Zambesi which was considered to be in the British sphere of influence, as defined by the Berlin Conference of 1884.  The British Empire was still in an expansionist phase and wished to consolidate its control over the region. This was all well and good but for the fact that the region was already settled by others, namely the African tribes and Boers (white farmers of Dutch descent).

Cecil John Rhodes came to prominence in the political affairs of the Cape Colony, when he became its Prime Minister in 1890, a position he would hold until early 1896, when he was forced to resign over his involvement in the Jameson...

In 2013 a member of the heritage community asked if there were any viable lines that could be used to run a heritage railway. Railway enthusiast Richard Eades posted a wonderful reply which has been reproduced below. 

Rovos Rail and some other companies run longer overnight tours aimed at overseas visitors and railway enthusiasts. Unfortunately the co-operation they receive from Transnet leaves a lot to be desired. In May this year an international tour by Geoff’s Trains Ltd, a specialist heritage steam train tour operator, was forced to change their schedule at short notice. They had confirmed the route and paid but were told on arrival that the section of line (between Creighton and Pietermaritzburg) was not available. The reason given was that the track was in unsafe condition due to lack of maintenance! Geoff Cooke, who described it as “devastating for South African tourism” said that if the situation is not sorted out he “will not come back to South Africa”.

There are a number of other private steam preservation groups. Most run day trips and can arrange corporate events, photo shoots etc. Reef Steamers and Friends of the Rail are based in Gauteng. Both own locomotives and carriages, and run day trips to destinations like Magaliesberg and Cullinan, where passengers can explore the town and visit coffee shops etc. In Cape Town, Atlantic Rail runs trips to Simonstown. Two railways operate in Natal, Umgeni Steam Railway (in the Inchanga area) and Paton’s Country Narrow Gauge Railway from Ixopo to...

The competition between Structural Steelwork and Reinforced Concrete in the realm of building construction can be likened to the rivalry between the Springboks and the All Blacks, in the sense that each continually attempts to better the other. The rivalries both on the construction site and on the rugby field have been going for nigh on 100 years and both have their die-hard fans. Fortunately the competition has largely been a healthy one bringing out the best in both.

Structural steelwork had a head start as it took over the design methods, connection and fabrication techniques, previously used for wrought iron, i.e. when steel was made readily available in the 1870s it was used as a one for one substitute for wrought iron. Steelwork is a dry method of construction as it is fabricated in the workshop (off-site) and transported to site, where it is erected. On the other hand reinforced concrete is a wet method of construction, as concrete is poured insitu into temporary shutters, in which steel reinforcement bars have been fixed.

At the beginning of the 20th Century reinforced concrete represented a new technology (patented in France) and was empirically based and lacked an adequate theory for the design of building frames. Plain concrete (cement, sand, stone aggregate and water) was known to the Egyptians and the Romans used it for the dome of the Pantheon in Rome (c. 123 AD), which had a span of 43.4m and still stands to this day.

Frank Lloyd Wright, the...

A critique by Dr Frescura on the state of heritage conservation in South Africa appeared on The Heritage Portal on the 1st December, 2015. Ms Smuts and Mr Gribble, responded to the criticism, writing on behalf of SAHRA, in which they mount a defense of the national heritage resources authority (SAHRA). [Click here to view both pieces]

Both the critique and the rebuttal by Smuts and Gribble call for comment because an analysis of the rebuttal suggests that, notwithstanding its rather superficial and unconvincing nature, it is nevertheless officially sanctioned by the heritage authority in terms of Section 14 (1) (a) and (b).  This section states:

“The affairs of SAHRA are under the control, management and direction of a Council consisting of—

(a) at least nine but not more than 15 members appointed by the Minister in the prescribed manner, of which nine members must respectively represent each of the provinces of South Africa; and

(b) the chief executive officer of SAHRA.”

The rebuttal is far from reassuring because it reveals that:

• SAHRA appears to pick and choose what sections of the NHRA to obey and those parts of the legislation that do not suit its convenience, purpose or policy are ignored.  This leads to a situation where the system of heritage management as envisaged in the NHRA fails; and
• Smuts and Gribble, in their interpretation of the Act, are not always accurate.

Therefore when it is alleged, inter alia, that from a legislative and practical point of view the system of heritage conservation...