South Africa General

This installment of the History of Southern African Railways series looks at the demise of the branch line network and will be relevant to many in the heritage community. Over the last few decades many lines have been closed and the heritage assets associated with them have fallen into disrepair. We certainly hope that Transnet's strategy to revitalise the branch line network will go some way towards turning this situation around.

The original mandate conferred on South African Railways (SAR) in 1910 placed a great onus on the Railway’s administrators. It said that the railways, ports and harbours should be run on business principles. However, it went on to say that due regard was to be paid to the provision of cheap transport for agricultural and industrial development.

The railways, as of 1910, had a total route mileage of 7000 and the trunk lines were considered to have reached to their fullest extent. Thus further development (and expenditure) would be in the upgrading of the existing system and the construction of branch lines to serve the country districts. The latter will be the focus of this article.

By definition a branch line is a secondary line which branches off a trunk line, that enables rail traffic (either passenger or produce) to be carried onward from the country districts to the major centres (ports or markets).

The typical branch line in South Africa was a Cape Gauge, lightly laid single track (45lb/yard rail) and with its accompanying telegraph line was a vital link between...

Over the past few weeks Peter Ball has traced the 'History of Southern African Railways' up until 1910. In this installment of the series he looks at various aspects of building and running one of the largest state run railways in the world.

On the 31st May 1910 the Act of Union created South Africa as one country, formed by the coming together of the four colonies of the Cape, Natal, Orange River and Transvaal. It was a union of the two white races, Boer and Brit with little to no consideration of the Black people who lived in the region. Louis Botha became the first Prime Minister and Jan Smuts became the Minister of Defence (both from the Transvaal). As a back drop to the further development of the railway infrastructure it would do well to review the events that transpired between 1910 and 1924, as those years were tumultuous, with several crises for the country.

Unrest on the mines of Rand was always a threat and the white miners went on strike in 1913 and again in 1922, both were put down by military intervention. The second strike was known as the Rand Revolt and it weakened the position of the ruling South African Party under Smuts significantly, which in turn led to its defeat in the June 1924 general election by the National Party, led by Barry Hertzog; with his “South Africa First” policy, which appealed to the growing number of Afrikaners flocking from the farms to the...

In the previous installment of the History of Southern African Railways series Peter Ball looked at the role of the railways during the South African War. In this piece he looks at post war reconstruction, the completion of various lines and the contribution of the railways to political union in South Africa.

By the time of the outbreak of the Boer War the railways of South Africa had revolutionised transportation and made possible speedy links between the interior and the coastal ports. The War brought any new railway construction to a virtual standstill, as both labour and materials were commandeered for the war effort, as the British army moved north to take over the Boer Republics. In hindsight it would have been far better all round had the Middelburg Peace Talks, between Louis Botha and Lord Kitchener (28th February 1901) succeeded and concluded the War. It would have saved many lives and would have forestalled further damage to the farms on the Highveld. The opportunity of a settlement was missed and the War dragged on for another fifteen months, finally ending when the Boer delegates at Vereeniging voted in favour (54 to 6) of Kitchener’s peace, on the 31st May 1902. It was very much a case of living to fight another day, but that is another story.

The aim here is to tell of the interim period between the War’s end and the Act of Union as pertaining to the existing railways prior to the establishment of the South African Railways (SAR), which coincided...

Following hot on the heels of the 'Race to the Rand' here is the third installment of the History of Southern African Railway Series by Peter Ball. The article looks at the role of the railways during the South African War (the Second Anglo-Boer War).

At the end of the Nineteenth Century the railway network in Southern Africa was near to completion as all the major trunk lines had been laid down. Bulawayo, in Southern Rhodesia had been reached, in 1897, with plans to extend the line still further into central Africa, with the eventual hope of linking up with a line coming down, through the Great Lakes region, from Egypt and the Sudan; the fabled Cape to Cairo Railway Railway construction ceased abruptly in 1899 when it became plain that war was on its way. A war that would decide, once and for all, who would control South Africa.

The Second Anglo-Boer War, which raged for 2 years and 8 months, between the 11th October 1899 and 31st May 1902, was the outcome of the ideological differences between the British Empire, at its zenith and a small but very rich young republic, known as the Transvaal. The reasons for the War have been made plain in other texts, notably “The Boer War” by Thomas Packenham (published 1979) and suffice to say here that the War was a tragedy that should never have been allowed to happen.

It could be argued that the first shots of the War were fired four years before...

The county of Cornwall, in England’s south west, is a well known holiday destination renowned for its scenic beauty and it comes as a surprise to many a visitor that the county has an industrial past. From the mid-18th century Cornwall was as industrialised as the Midlands and North of England and it was one of the most important metalliferous mining areas in the world. In fact the metal Tin had been exploited in Cornwall by the Romans in the 3rd & 4th centuries AD, after their previous source - the Spanish tin mines, were worked out. Tin was an important commodity in the ancient world as when alloyed with copper it produced bronze, which was superior to pure copper, because of its lower melting point, improved flow and increased hardness; items made from bronze were easier to fabricate and weapons and utensils were able to hold a sharp edge for longer.

While Europe (as well as other parts of Britain) specialised in surface and underground coal mining i.e. soft-rock mining, the Cornish mining industry toiled to release metals embedded in hard rock, such as lead, copper, zinc, silver, nickel and tin and thus Cornishmen became world leaders in deep level hard rock mining, at least until the early 20th century.

It so happened that as the mines of Cornwall went into decline, circa 1865, major new ore bodies were being discovered across the globe. As the Cornish mines became spent (worked-out) and jobs were being lost there was a...

During the past few months a number of South African university campuses have seen a spate of student protests against the presence of statues honouring our colonial past. Rightly or wrongly, these have resulted in the vandalization and removal of some of these memorials.

Without entering into a debate on some of the more ludicrous, and sometimes racist arguments put forward by either side, this is a matter which has implications for our national heritage, and for the preservation of our historical environment, and is thus in need of serious consideration.

In 1811 Joseph de Maistre wrote that every people gets the government it deserves. By extension then, they also get the heritage they merit, and as building after building in our city centres continue to fall before the demolisher’s hammer, many white South Africans have been left wondering exactly what they have done to warrant the destruction of so many of their memories.

To many, 1994 marked a turning point in our history, when we had the opportunity of leaving the horrors of racism behind and embracing a bright new future, free of the guilt and remonstrations for past actions. But that is not the way of history, whose flow does not have sharp corners or U-turns, but moves inexorably through linear time. Instead of being blind to the lies and dark secrets of our colonial past, history has a habit of bringing these to the surface where, like suppurating sores, they are revealed for all to see. The...

Remembrance Day, or Poppy Day as it is sometimes known, is observed every year on 11 November, or on the nearest Sunday to that date. How many people these days know what this date signifies? Over the years, many South Africans have lost sight of the significance of the term 'remembrance' in the military sense. This short article will attempt to rectify this.

Cenotaph Johannesburg (The Heritage Portal)

In 1918, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the guns fell silent to end the First World War (1914-1918), the largest global man-made catastrophe known until that time. The 'war to end all wars' cost the lives of a total of 8 634 300 soldiers. Twenty years later, the Second World War (1939-1945) saw the loss of 24 517 000 combatants' lives. In addition to these statistics, millions of civilians died during both conflicts.

As a comparatively young country which permitted only a small segment of its population to bear arms, South Africa nevertheless made significant contributions to the Allied causes in both world wars and in the Korean War (1950-3). In the First World War, 245 419 South Africans of all races volunteered for military service; during the Second World War, 342 692 South African men and women of every race...

Headgears are the ultimate symbol of the mammoth Southern African mining industry. They tower over billions of rands worth of wealth and help to sustain vast underground cities. They are appreciated by millions around the world and we are blessed to have some of the finest examples. The article below provides an overview of the purpose and significance of headgears.

This article aims to give a brief history and the purpose of the Headgears, which tower over the vertical mine shafts which go deep underground.  The text is written in layman’s terms for the reader unfamiliar with the topic.

Introduction

The most striking surface manifestation of the intense mining activity underground are the mine dumps and slimes dams, which can be seen at a distance, however on closer approach to a mine the stark outline of the Headgear asserts itself, pure functionality ruling over beauty.

The term Headgear in its broad sense should embrace all structures and appliances connected with the handling of men, material and mineral into and out of the shaft.

History

The history of deep level mining goes back to the early days of Johannesburg, circa 1887, when the gold mining industry of the Witwatersrand had its beginnings along the outcrops of gold bearing conglomerates to the west of the present city. When the crude surface workings of the prospectors gave way to more systematic mining operations, incline shafts followed the dipping reefs to increasing depths. These early operations were makeshift at best. They lacked solid financial backing and...

Corrugated iron was developed and patented in Britain around 1830 and has travelled the world. Born during the industrial revolution it travelled to the expanding colonies of the Empire, notably to Australia, India & South Africa; it also found popularity on the frontiers of the Americas and wherever it went it transformed the landscape.

The gold rushes of the nineteenth century were a spur to the migration of thousands of people to the far corners of the globe, where there was little infrastructure. Victorian Britain was the workshop of world and saw export opportunities for corrugated iron on the goldfields of California, Australia and South Africa. The nature of corrugated iron, being light, easy to stack, and portable, made it an ideal building material to export to places such as Kalgoorlie or Pilgrim’s Rest, which were at the back of beyond.

What is corrugated iron? Corrugated comes from the Latin word “Ruga” which means to wrinkle or crease, thus to corrugate a thin metal sheet, the sheet has to pass through a set of rolls in order to fashion it into a series of sinusoidal waves which gives it greater strength and stiffness (in direction of span). Originally made from wrought iron, but since the 1890’s made from mild steel, it is often supplied with a hot-dip galvanised finish to prevent rusting. Its merit over traditional building materials, i.e. masonry or timber, is that it is cheap, durable, lightweight, strong, re-usable and easily transported; such versatility is the key to its...

Bookplates are a collecting subject in their own right and are a bibliophile's delight. A bookplate is very simply a sticky decorative label for pasting on the front inside cover or boards of a book proclaiming ownership and indicating that this particular book belongs to xxx library or person. Often the words "ex Libris" appear showing that the book is from a specific library, it could be an individual or an institution. When one acquires an old book with a bookplate it becomes part of the provenance of the previous ownership of a volume. The bookplate so becomes integral to the history of the book. If you acquire a book with an old bookplate do not prize it off or erase it or paste over the bookplate, rather understand you have a bonus feature. 

Bookplates are often beautifully designed and may show the armorial bearings or coat of arms of an ancient family, a name, a motto or some aspect of the personality and interests of the book collector who first owned the book. Often there are curious devices associated with books. You could order a few hundred or a few thousand of your personal bookplate and then paste the label into your book as you accessioned the book into your library. Bookplates are usually contemporaneous with the issue of the book. 

Bookplates have a long history. After the printing revolution of the Guttenberg era, the earliest known examples of bookplates came from Germany in the 15th century. These were often done as woodcuts. The great German artist Dürer was...