REFLECTING ON THE REGION

ZUID-AFRIKAANCHE REPUBLIEK

ARPL4004

MAGRIET STEYNBERG - 814295

CONSTANDINO VAINDIRLIS - 437043
VEDHANT MAHARAJ - 481323
AARON FACTOR - 376402
ANGELA VOUGIOKLIS - 0607692R
DIAGRAM 1
TITLE OF MAP - JOHANNESBURG AND ITS FARM BOUNDARIES IN RELATION TO PRETORIA
PERIOD COVERED 1880 - 1890
APPROX. POPULATION OF THE WITWATERSRAND IN 1890 - 15000
WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THAT PERIOD OF HISTORY?
Before Johannesburg was founded the first buildings in the area were the farmsteads of farmers who
lived on the Witsvatersrand. There were 21 Farms in the area in 1880. These included Klipfontein,
Waterval, Braamfontein, Cyferfontein, Bergvlei, Klipfontein, Rietfontein, Paardekraal, Middelfontein,
Langlaagte, Klipfontein, Doornfontien, Modderfontein, Diepkloof, Vierfontein, Turffontein, Klipriviersberg,
Misgund, Olifantsfontein, Rietvlei (Van der Waal, 1987). What can deducted from the farm names is that
most of the farms were situated close to water sources (springs and wetlands). It was customary for these
pioneer settlers to first lay out these in respect of the source of water, it was in fact this element which
determined the overall site plan. Packed stone walls protected the ploughlands, and later, at a distance
from the homestead, the graveyard. Labourers would be housed some distance away in a stat or
kraal. At that stage the farmers in the area would most likely travel to Pretoria or Heidelberg to trade at
the market squares and to attend "Nagmaal" (Stals, 1978). 0ther than two wagon tracks on the veld that
led to Pretoria and another that led south via Heidelberg to Harrismith and Natal the landscape could be
described as grassland rising up in a series of ridges, and full of perennial springs (Chipkin, 1993).
DIAGRAM 2
TITLE OF MAP - PLAN OF JOHANNESBURG AND ITS SUBURBS
PERIOD COVERED 1886 - 1890
APPROX. POPULATION OF THE WITWATERSRAND IN 1890 - 15000
WHAT ARE THE PHYSICAL PATTERNS MADE IN THAT PERIOD THAT WERE IMPORTANT THEN, AND NOW?
In this period in history (1886) there was an enormous influx of diggers to the Witwatersrand. This led to
the emergence of unofficial mining camps and called for urgent actionby the government. The ZuidAfrikaansche Republiek appointed two men Johann Rissik, Acting Surveyor-General and Christiaan Joubert
to find a suitable location for an official camp. They were both members of the Volkraad (Van der Waal,
1987). On 12 August 1886 the commission reported that Randjeslaagte would be the most suitable site
for such a camp. Randjeslaagte was a triangular piece of 'uitvalgrond' (unused land) wedged between the
farms Braamfontein, Doornfontein and Turffontein. It was located between the two largest camps, Natal
and Ferreira's, and, more important, on its own land the government would be better able to supervise
and control what the pastoral ZAR considered to be an alien component of the population. This would
become the position of Johannesburg.

WHO WERE THE MAIN AGENTS CONSTRUCTING THAT BUILT ENVIRONMENT?

What is important to understand is that the ZAR government regarded all mining towns as temporary
settlements. The purpose of the town from the ZARs point of view was to create as much capital as
possible out of the expected demand for stands by selling by public auction 'preferential rights' to the
stands. Such an auction demanded some sort of lay-out, which was duly prepared for that purpose. The
authorities had no control over the establishment of private suburbs such as Doornfontein, Fordsburg
and Jeppestown. This typified the future role played in the affairs of Johannesburg by the ZAR
government, which asserted its authority only in extraordinary circumstances (Van der Waal, 1987).
Therefore the main agent constructing the built environment was the ZAR but they limited its prescriptive
role to the minimum. For the most part, the ZAR left the community to its own devices, and this meant
the community themselves were part of constructing the built environment in this period of
Johannesburgs history.
WHAT METHODS/BUILDINGS/INFRASTRUCTURES DID THEY USE TO MAKE IT?
With the transience of some Eastern Transvaal mining camps still freshly etched in their memory, the
government seemed reluctant to provide community services and a municipal infrastructure in the new
mining camp. Such provisions were virtually unknown in other Transvaal towns (Van der Waal, 1987).
Because of the incomparable growth of the camp, the first step in providing for the welfare of the
community was to appoint both the 'Gezondheids Comitee (Sanitary or health committee) and a hospital
committee. The government responded to this request by promulgating health regulations which would
be applied only in Randjeslaagte, Marshallstown and while the other suburbs were left to their own
devices. Almost exclusively related to sanitary matters, these regulations were not designed to any effect
on the physical development of the mining camp. In January 1887 the government purchased a portion of
the southern extremity of the farm Braamfontein to supply sorely needed water for the mining camps but
it was once again left to private initiative to get a proper water supply system off the ground. Naturally,
the complete lack of community services prior to 1888 affected the visual aspect of the mining camp
(Meiring, 1985).
Beyond the division of the land into blocks of more or less equal size and the subdivision of those blocks
in stands of two sizes, no guidelines were laid down for the structures to be erected in the mining camp.
Giving free rein to their unconstrained independence, the diggers and first traders erected their
structures how and where they pleased (Chipkin, 1993). At that time there were no kerbstones or
sidewalks, and the only Illumination was a lamp at the entrance to each of the many bars. Unexpected
barbed wire fences and open wells on some stands made the streets even more dangerous at night.
WHAT REMAINS OF THIS PERIOD?
The the physical patterns and development of Johannesburg would many decades later still be partly
determined by the first ground-plan which the ZAR prepared for the mining camp in 1886. The
application of a grid plan for Johannesburg by the ZAR generated an old South African tradition. The grid
plan used in South Africa in the 17th and 18th centuries was related to the plans given by the European
metropolitan powers to settlements in their colonies. They were used because of the simplicity of
implementation by military engineers and it also eased administration. The most important reason was
that the grid plan served as a symbol of rational order within an unfamiliar and uncultivated environment.
In fact, it was seen as an expression of centralised power (Van der Waal, 1987). There are only a few
buildings remaining of this period as many were destroyed or altered with the growth of Johannesburg
but the grid organisation endured.

Bibliography
Chipkin, C., 1993. Johannesburg Style: Architecture and Society,1880s-1960s. Cape Town: David Philip.
Meiring, H., 1985. Early Johannesburg; Its Buildings and its People. Cape Town: Human & Rousseau.
Stals, E., 1978. Die Afrikaners in die Goudstad. Pretoria: HAUM.
Van der Waal, G., 1987. From Mining Camp to Metropolis: The Buildings of Johannesburg 1886-1940.
Johannesburg: Chris van Rensburg Publications.