Heritage History

1
CITY OF JOHANNESBURG
HERITAGE ASSESSMENT
FORDSBURG
NEWTOWN WEST
MAYFAIR
PART 2
AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW &

HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS
ELSABE BRINK
HISTORY AND HERITAGE RESEARCH
70 Hampton Avenue
Auckland Park
Johannesburg 2092
Tel: 083 348 8080
Email: eabrink@telkomsa.net
PART 2 Fordsburg a history

E BRINK, FORDSBURG HERITAGE SURVEY, APRIL 2008
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
FORDSBURG AND MAYFAIR
The very poor of Johannesburg were concentrated on the inner west of the
city, around the area known as Brickfields. Although the Boer authorities had
made a formalistic stab at imposing racial segregation here, designating a
Coolie Location for Indians and a Kaffir locations for Africans around
Brickfields, which was itself seen as an areas for poor whites, these racial
boundaries were scarcely policed and very porous. In Brickfields especially,
there was considerable racial mixing. For all the racism of early Johannesburg,
it is important not to read the highly formalized segregation of mid-twentieth
century South Africa back in time. Johannesburg was born without clear racial
boundaries. It took racist politicians decades of effort to segregate it and even
then their success was never complete. The effective beginning of segregation
lay not in the Boer republic, but in the activities of the post-war British
administration. In 1903 a commission recommended that the slums of westcentral Johannesburg be demolished. Brickfields was subsequently levelled.1
Source: Beavon K, Johannesburg: The Making and Shaping of the City, University of South Africa
Press, Pretoria, 2004.
Hyslop J, The Notorious Syndicalist: JT Bain: A Scottish Rebel in Colonial South Africa, Jacana
Media (Pty) Ltd, Johannesburg, 2004, pp.159-160
3
ESTABLISHMENT OF FORDSBURG AND MAYFAIR
Fordsburg - 1888
Fordsburg and Mayfair was established on land, which from the mid-1800s formed
part of the farm Langlaagte. The original farm was registered in March 1859 in the
name of Matthijs Johannes Smit and subsequently divided into smaller portions and
owned by numerous members of the Oosthuizen family who, in a complex series of
subdivisions, owned various portions of the farm. The portion on which George
Harrison discovered the Main Reef was owned by JJP Oosthuizen and after his death
in September 1883 by his widow Petronella Francina Oosthuizen. 2
Fordsburg was one of the earliest townships to be laid out by private developers in
Johannesburg. They were Lewis P Ford and Julius Jeppe Senior and his sons Carl
Jeppe and Julius Jeppe Junior (later Sir Julius Jeppe) who formed the Ford and Jeppe
Estate Co. They acquired land immediately to the east and west of the new mining
camp laid out on the portion of uitvalsgrond, Randjeslaagte. Ford and Jeppe then laid
out two townships and named it after themselves. Fordsburg was laid out in 1888 and
Jeppestown in 1889, an act of faith on their part since at that stage there was not
certainty that these goldfields would actually be sustainable.
Lewis Peter Ford (1846-1925) was the Attorney-General of the Transvaal during the
adminsitaration of Sir Theophilus Shepstone after the annexation of the ZuidAfrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) from 1877-1881. Ford was born in London, came to
the Cape and studied at the SA College in Cape Town. He worked at Richmond and
Murraysburg in the Cape Colony before going to Kimberley during the diamond rush.
As a partner in the Randjeslaagte Syndicate he was involved in mining transactions in
the early days of the Witwatersrand and became involved in property development in
the Ford and Jeppe Estate Co., later known as the Witwatersrand Townships and
Estates Co. W H Auret Prichard, who also surveyed much of early Johannesburg,
surveyed the suburb. 3 Sir Julius Jeppe (jnr) was one of Fords assistants in Pretoria
during this period. He settled in Johannesburg in 1886 where he built the mansion
Friendenheim in Belgravia. His father Julius Jeppe snr. built the first brick house in
Johanneburg in 1886.4
There is evidence of a plantation and nursery in the early days of Fordsburg. The
nursery was much in demand to supply the plantations of especially bluegum trees
being established on the Witwatersrand with seedlings. One such plantation was
established in what is today Saxonwold on the north side of the Parktown Ridge. In a
natural environment consisting of mainly savannah and few trees, these mature blue
2
Stals ELP, Die Afrikaners in die Goudstad, Vol.I&II, HAUM, Pretoria 1978 & 1986, Vol I, p.5
Leyds GA, A History of Johannesburg, Nasionale Boekhandel, Cape Town, 1964, p. 5
3
Leyds, GA, p.152-53.
4
Meiring H, Early Johannesburg; Its Buildings and its People, Human & Rousseau, Cape Town, 1985,
p.94. Unfortunately this book, which contains detailed information on suburbs and individual
structures, is not footnoted. However, the text written was by G-M Van Der Waal, an architectural
historian who had done extensive research on the architectural history of Johannesburg and can be
considered to be reliable. His book, From Mining Camp to Metropolis, Chris van Rensburg
Publications, Johannesburg, 1987, remains a standard work on the architectural history of the city.
4
gums trees on Main Reef Road are a reminder of the vital importance of these trees
for the mining industry.
Stands on Main Street, Fordsburg up to Terrace Road were put out for sale at an
auction in May 1893. It alleged that these stands were in the heart of the Forest and
offer for private residence, complete rest and quietude. These stands face Lovers and
Nursery Walks, Pine Terrace, Park Lane, Commercial and Foundain roads. The
advertisement alleges that these streets had already been planted with street trees.5
As township developers, Ford and Jeppe appreciated this drawing card and were
among the first to level Commissioner Street, the early east-west arterial in 1888 to
connect Jeppestown and Fordsburg with the mining camp. They also built the first
bridges over the Natal, Booysens and Fordsburg Spruits.6
Fordsburg also lends its name to the Fordsburg Spruit which has its source in the
Kazerne Brickfields on the southern slopes of the Braamfontein watershed and flows
in the direction of the Robinson Mine. During the early days of settlement the spruit
had rich clay beds, which provided business opportunities for the brickmakers to
establish the first brickfields, which provided the burgeoning mining camp with green
and fired bricks. As the spruit flows south to meet up with tributaries of the Klip
Spruit, it flows through the Fordsburg Dip, which during the 1890s was considered to
be a dangerous swamp. The Fordsburg Spruit was used as the western drainage
level in the first sewerage scheme considered for Johannesburg in 1895. After the
British occupation of the city in 1900s it featured strongly in as the western outfall of
the gravitational sewerage works established on the farm Klipspruit, where Soweto is
today. 7
Brickfields/Burghersdorp - 18878
Before 1900s the area which today is known as Newtown was known alternatively as
The Brickfields or Burghersdorp. Many poor people of all races, who with the
discovery of gold lived in the rural ZAR, trekked to the Witwatersrand to find their
fortunes. However, having no skills in mining, most became brickmakers, transport
riders cab drivers or labourers, rural skills, which could be used in the developing
urban environment. In a very short time it became Johannesburgs first slum.
The Kazerne railway marshalling yards - 1892
The railway line, which gave access to the Kazerne railway yard as well as Park
Station and Braamfontein, then called Johannesburg station was laid in 1892.9 As the
ZAR possessed no manufacturing industry, all machinery, equipment and building
5
Smith A, Johannesburg Street Names, Juta, Johannesburg, 1972, Fordsburg.

Van der Waal GM, From Mining Camp to Metropolis: The Buildings of Johannesburg 1886-1940,
Chris van Rensburg Publications, Johannesburg, 1987,
p.38-39
7
Smith A, p.161.
8
Cf Van Onselen C, Main Reef Road into the Working Class: proletarianisation, unemployment and
class consciousness amongst Johannesburgs Afrikaner poor, 1890-1914, in Studies in the Social and
Economic History of the Witwatersrand: 1886-1914, New Babylon, New Nineveh, Vols I & II, Ravan
Press, Johannesburg, Shorten J, The Johannesburg Saga, John R Shorten, (Pty) Ltd. Under the authority
of the Johannesburg City Council, Johannesburg, 1970, p.171
9
Leyds GA, p.162
6

5
materials used on the mines and in the mining camp had to be imported from Europe
or America and transported inland from the coast. As the mining activities picked up
speed, the completion of rail links between Johannesburg and the coast, especially
Durban and Cape Town, became crucial. ZAR President Paul Kruger favoured the
Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg Maatschappiu (NZASM) which
undertook to link Johannesburg with Portuguese controlled Delagoa Bay. As imports
increased in volume, larger marshalling yards were required. The most ideal land lay
between the Braamfontein and Park Stations and after the expropriation and removal
of the brickmakers, the new Kazerne marshalling yards were built. These contained
huge NZASM goods sheds, compounds to house African workers, and married
quarters and sportsfields for white workers. A customs building was erected on the
eastern perimeter of the yards.10
Indian Location - 1887
The Indian Location was established in 1887 as the only area where people of Indian
origin could legally buy and own property in Johannesburg. Indian Location
comprised the area between Malherbe, Malan, Location/Carr and Christian Streets. As
this area comprised only six city blocks, it very soon became highly congested as
more and more Indian traders arrived in the mining camp. The then city authorities
did very little in terms of providing much needed services in the area.
By 1897 there were 96 stands in the area with an assessed value of almost 36 000
pounds and population of 4 000. The population dropped during the Anglo Boer
South African War (1899-1902) with only 600 Indians remaining in 1902. By 1904
some 1 600 Indians had returned to the city. Most of the hawkers, pedlars who lived
in Burghersdorp, Fordsburg and Vrededorp were Gujarati Hindus, whilst Muslim
Jujarati and Memon traders operated stores. The 1904 census shows that in this
population as with other immigrant groups, men vastly outnumbered women, by 8:1.11
Soon after the turn of the century Albert West, an associate of Mahatma Gandhi, then
a lawyer in Johannesburg described conditions in the Location;
The Indian Location in Johannesburg was in a deplorable condition, being
without proper roads, lighting or sanitation, the dilapidated buildings being
mostly of wood or iron. The residents acquired their plots by a lease of ninetynine years. People were densely packed together, the area of which never
increased with the increase of population. 12
After 1894 people of Malay origin mostly coloured people from the Cape Colony were provided with land which they could legally buy and occupy in the so-called
Malay Location further to the west, established in 1894. 13 Like the Indian Location
this area proved to be grossly inadequate for the number of people who migrated to
10
Taken from Brink E, Newtown - Old Town, MuseumAfrica, Occasional Publication,

Johannesburg,1994.
11
Bhana S &Brain J, Setting Down Roots: Indian Migrants in South Africa, 1860-1911,
Witwatersrand University Press, Johannesburg, 1990, pp.78-77 p.86-87
12
Itzkin E, Gandhis Johannesburg: Birthplace of Satyagraha, Witwatersrand University Press, 2000,
p.50
13
Taken from E Brink, Old Town Newtown, 1st Occasional Publication of MuseumAfrica, 1994.
Information form C van Onselen and ELP Stals, Vol I.
6
Johannesburg and were by law required to reside in this area. In time this area became
known as Pageview or Fietas.
Newtown after 1904
The area which was redeveloped after the destruction of the Indian Location was
renamed Newtown. Geographically Newtown straddles the M1 motorway constructed
above Goch Street (now Henry Nxumalo Street) which since the 1960s, has
artificially divided the area. The western portion of Newtown only forms part of this
review. For almost a century the bulk of the land in the area east of the motorway
belonged to the Johannesburg City Council, but pockets, especially on the western
side of Newtown were sold to private businessmen. After 1913 with the completion of
the Fresh Produce Market, Newtown West, which was previously occupied by the
Indian Location rapidly redeveloped. With the establishment of Premier Milling on
the site of the former location, numerous supporting trading firms, especially in grains
and feeds set up shop in the area between Carr and Bree Streets, which was well
served both by road and railway sidings.
According to Nigel Mandy, writer of Mandy N, A City Divided: Johannesburg and
Soweto,
Newtown became a lively and cosmopolitan place in the best tradition of
city markets everywhereIndian wholesalers, retailers and hawkers played an
important part in the distribution of produce while Portuguese market
gardeners were also much in evidence. Nearby were the factories and
showrooms of firms specialising in pumps and irrigation equipment, seeds,
harness and saddlery, canvas, veterinary medicines and stock feeds, builders
hardware, gates and fencing. The whole animated and sharp-witted
community came to be known as the University of Newtown. The areas
ageing and low-rent buildings made an excellent nursery for infant
industries.14
The most important enterprise to occupy western Newtown was Premier Milling.
Joffe Marks commissioned the first mill in Newtown in 1910. Premier Milling which
incorporated the Newtown, Fordsburg and Germiston Mills was formed in 1914 and
was listed as a public company in 1929. In 1934 Premier milling purchased the
Vereeniging Milling Company, first registered by the entrepreneur Sammy Marks in
1916. During the 1930s and 1940s Premier Milling expands its operations nationally
with the acquisition of mills in the Free State, Cape Town and the then Rhodesia. The
chairmanship of the company remains in family hands until the late 1980s.15
In addition, Newtown was the home to numerous Indian-owned businesses some
smaller but, others such as the much larger Mia Group, can still be found in the area.
The first members of the Mia family arrived in ZAR in the mid-1880s and after a
sojurn in Rustenburg migrated to Johannesburg in the mid-1890s. Essop Mia and
Moosa Ismail Mia started trading hawkers. In 1924 Moosa Ismail Mia opened a
wholesale business in the centre of town. By 1977 the Mia Group took control of the
14
15
Macmillan, Johannesburg, 1984, p.55

Jaffee G, Joffe Marks; A Family Memoir, United Trust (Pty) Ltd, Johannesburg, 2001,pp.182-184

7
Witwatersrand Gold Mining Company, one of the earliest gold mining companies on
the Witwatersrand. In 1994 the company was honoured by the Johannesburg City
Council with a Centennial Business Award, handed to companies who had been
trading in the city for more than 100 years. 16 The Mia family still owns premises on
the corner of Bree and Malherbe Streets in Newtown.
However, during the Apartheid ere, discriminatory action under the Group Areas Act
(1950) destroyed many of these valuable enterprises or forced them to operate less
economically behind white front men and from less suitable premises.17
Mayfair
After the ground on which Mayfair is located was de-proclaimed in 1892, the first
public auction for stands in Mayfair was announced in August 1896. Like that of
Fordsburg, the auction was held at the area known as Between the Chains outside
the Stock Exchange in Simmons Street. JB Robinson, owner of the Robinson gold
mine south of Fordsburg was the chairman of the company, which owned the suburb.
It is claimed that Robinson named the suburb after the London suburb of Mayfair
perhaps in the hope that it would become as fashionable as its British counterpart,
which is also located to the west of the city centre.18
16
Johannesburg City Council, Centennial Business Awards, Commemorative Book, 1994.

Mandy N, A City Divided: Johannesburg and Soweto, Macmillan, Johannesburg, 1984 p.56
18
Smith A, p.326
17

8
FORDSBURG AND MAYFAIR WORKING CLASS COMMUNITIES
Within a decade of the discovery of the main reef, Johannesburg became southern
Africas largest town. The western side of the city attracted mostly the poor. By 1893
poor white people moved into Vrededorp, and Indians, Coloureds and Black people
lived mainly in the Indian Location or on the low-lying swampy grounds along the
Fordsburg Spruit. The surburbs on the eastern side of the city centre, such as
Troyeville, Jeppestown and Doornfontein attracted the more affluent section of the
mining community.19
Stands in the township of Fordsburg were offered for sale from 1887 and since there
were no restrictions regarding its residential or business use, stands sold well. Its
proximity to the mines and to the centre of the mining town made it a popular choice
for the poor irrespective of race or creed. Mine workers chose to settle here - since the
suburb was in easy walking access to a number of gold mines, e.g. Robinson, Crown
Mines and the Village Deep mines. Indian traders, Chinese merchants and men
working in the Johannesburg transport business also set up stables for horse-drawn
cabs here. As a consequence the older suburbs such as Fordsburg consisted of a mix
of residential accommodation, small shops, workshops, and bars or eating houses.
Accommodation
During the early days of Johannesburg, accommodation was at a premium and
temporary housing in the form of hotels and rooming houses proliferated. Rooming
houses consisted of one or two rows of separate rooms, rented to workers. Very often
these were situated behind small shops or rows of shops. After the Anglo Boer South
African War as single miners brought their families to settle in Johannesburg detached
and semi-detached mineworker cottages as well as British-styled row houses, which
became highly sought after amongst white mineworker families in need of
accommodation close to the mines. In these suburbs black workers, either as
independent tenants or in the employ of the white occupants, occupied the rooms in
the outbuildings on the premises of white occupied residences.20
Shopping nodes
After the 1890s, as Fordsburg attracted larger numbers of more permanent residents it
also became a focus for commercial development in suburban shopping nodes to
serve the growing suburban population, both black and white. The principal node
developed along Main Road, Fordsburg, which was also the route of the horse drawn
tram ending in Commercial Road. This amenity remained a major draw card for
settlement in Fordsburg during most of the twentieth century, especially for members
of the working class who were dependent on public rather than private transport.21
Nature of the structures
During the pre-war years (1899-1902) many houses built in Fordsburg and
Burghersdorp were wood and iron structures with a single lining of green, sun-dried
bricks obtained from the Brickfields. Interior walls were also constructed of green
19
Mandy N, p.13
Van der Waal GM, From Mining Camp to Metropolis: The Buildings of Johannesburg 1886-1940,
Chris van Rensburg Publications, Johannesburg, 1987 p.38-39
21
Van der Waal, p.79
20

9
bricks. Due to the initial shortage of wood on the Witwatersrand, ceilings were canvas
or cotton sheeting which were nailed to the rafters.22 Only after the turn of the
century did redevelopment take place when British influenced Edwardian semidetached row houses and freestanding houses were built from predominantly fired
bricks. Many of these are still in existence, albeit much changed, especially as a result
of security measures taken by owners or tenants.
Van der Waal presents the following picture of the residential stock;
There was a marked difference between the older working class suburbs and
those for residents in the higher income groups. In the first category the stands
were smaller, for instance in Fordsburg Vrededorp, Jeppestown, Braamfontein
and Betrams and the houses were grouped in semi-detached pairs on each
stand set back about 2m from the street line. While the road surface was
meant for vehicular traffic, the verges would be developed into sidewalks
which carried the slow-moving pedestrian traffic emanating from the
relatively densely populated suburbs. Because the stands were demarcated by
low garden walls and verandahs virtually fronted on to the streets, these
sidewalks were probably regarded as extension of the semi-private front
gardens.23
Public open space
The area of Mayfair and Fordsburg does not have much public open space. Along the
lines of the original Johannesburg Market Square, Fordsburg has its own Market
Square, albeit smaller. It featured prominently during the 1922 Rand Revolt when its
Market Building was occupied by strikers and subsequently partially demolished
during bombing attacks launched on the strikers by government forces. After the
Revolt the building was completely demolished.
Fordsburg Park was laid out south of Main Road, but was later renamed John Ware
Park.24 It is currently used by the South African Police Services and consists of a
disused swimming pool, a number of disused bowling greens. The tennis courts and
club house are still in use. A group of very old palm trees indicate the age of the park.
Mayfair has a greater number of parks than Fordsburg. Most prominent is the Phineas
McIntosh Park at the northern end of Church Street, Mayfair. Before the forced
removal of Pageview in the late 1960s, Pageview residents intensively used this park
for sporting activities.
Transport
The Jeppestown, Doornfontein and Fordsburg commercial centres developed close to
the stations, as well as along the tram routes. Both Fordsburg and Mayfair are also
served by the railway line, which at first ran above ground, but during the 1930s was
submerged below ground level and the subway under the railway line, linking
Fordsburg and Vrededorp was constructed in 1911.25
22
Leyds GA,152-153
Van der Waal GM, p.84
24
Smith A, p.161
25
Van der Waal GM, p. p.82
23

10
THE FORDSBURG COMMUNITY
For most of the twentieth century Fordsburg was a multi-cultural melting pot of
mainly impoverished workers who found some means of making a living in service
industries related to mining. Since the Malay Location, later known as Pageview, was
immediately adjacent to both Fordsburg and Burgersdorp, Indians and Afrikaans
speakers lived and worked here in close proximity.
In her novel, Another Year in Africa, the novelist Rose Zwi, paints a very vivid
picture of the cultural melting pot which was Fordsburg and Mayfair during the early
years of the 20th century;
Main Street [Fordsburg] was shining after the rain. A tram car clambered
heavily up the hill, packed with people returning from work. Their faces
looked soft and warm in the golden light. Berka loved them all. Even that thief
Steinberg who gave short weight in his butchery; and Chidrawi, the swathy
Syrian who was arranging a pyramid of yellow peaches in his window; and
Levin the outfitter who stood in his doorway, a tape measure around his neck.
And all those children outside the fish and chips shop watching wistfully as
Ronnie Davis sprinkled vinegar over someone elses chips. He even felt a
fleeing affection for the miser Pinn who owned a second-hand shop.
The adults were having their Sunday nap and the street [in Mayfair] was
deserted except for Ruth and a few black servants who were sitting on the
pavement in their Sunday clothes. From across the veld, beyond the
plantation, came the sound of singing and drumming. The mine workers were
having their Sunday dance. Ruth had seen them once, dressed in beads and
feathers with rattles tied to their ankles. They stamped their feet wildly as they
raised their assegais above their heads in a mock battle dance.26
Despite the fact the Fordsburg was officially a suburb designated for white
occupation; it also housed a sizeable Indian community. The latter, of necessity,
occupied the area as an overflow from Pageview, especially Fordsburg north of
Avenue Road. If considered that total area of Pageview, as the only suburb which
Indians could legally occupy, remained virtually unchanged for most of the twentieth
century, it is not surprising that it was grossly overcrowded for most of its existence
during this period and that finding shelter in the northern portion of Fordsburg
remained the only alternative for many Indians. By the outbreak of World War II in
1939 there were 14 000 Indians living in Johannesburg, almost half 7 000 lived in
Pageview, consisting of 469 stands occupied by single storeyed houses.27
The following table gives some indication as to the growth of the Indian community
in Johannesburg in the second half of the twentieth century. A large segment of the
community lived in Pageview and Fordsburg.
26
Zwi R, Another Year in Africa, Bateleur Press, Johannesburg, 1980, pp. 16 & 75.
27
Beavon K, Johannesburg: The Making and Shaping of the City, University of South Africa Press,
Pretoria, 2004, p.191
11
Indian population of Johannesburg 1950-198028
Number
%
1951
22295
6,1
1960 1970 1980

28993 40021 54940
6,1
6,3
6,7
In contrast the following table portrays the size of the Afrikaans- and English
speaking community of Fordsburg and Mayfair portrays the way in which this
community gradually succumbed to the pressure of the Indian community in dire need
of accommodation. The statistics provided by ELP Stals in Afrikaners in die
Goudstad, Vol II, provides some idea of the migration of the white community from
Fordsburg to Mayfair and elsewhere between 1934 and 1961.
Number of municipal voters divided according to language group per suburb29
Fordsburg
Mayfair
1934
Afrikaans speaking 1023
1250
English speaking
924
3912
1949
5949
English speaking
390
4605
1961
5510
English speaking
218
3945
THE INDIAN COMMUNITY
From 1860 onwards, at the height of the British Empire, British authorities in the
Colony of Natal began importing indentured Indian labourers to work on the newly
established sugar plantations. These labourers were mainly from Madras India and
mostly Hindu. They were followed by many Gudjerati traders of the Muslim faith
who emigrated to southern Africa of their own accord from the 1870s onwards. In
competition with white storekeepers, these Indian traders established themselves not
only in Natal, but also in virtually all the small towns in the Zuid Afrikaansche
Republiek (ZAR). Scores of Indians also made a living as hawkers. From 1885
onwards, the ZAR restricted the rights of Indians to own and occupy property except
in areas set aside for them in these towns. The local authorities could refuse to grant
them trading licences without any risk of court action.
Prior to the outbreak of the Anglo Boer South African War, there were approximately
15 000 Indians lived in the ZAR. Johannesburg had the largest Indian population,
who made a living from trading, hawking, peddling or as cooks, waiters, or
laundrymen. Indian shopkeepers catered mostly for black and coloured clients,
especially in areas such as Diagonal and West Street in downtown Johannesburg.
28
Arkin AJ, The Indian South Africans: A Contemporary Profile, Owen Burgess Publishers, Pinetown,
1989. p.57 Comparatively Cape Town averaged around 2% of the population, Pretoria between 1,6 and
1,8% and Durban increased from 45% in 151 to 60,8% in 1980.
29
Stals ELP, Vol II, p.190-191

12
About 1 000 licensed hawkers and peddlers also operated in Johannesburg and mostly
lived in Burghersdorp, Fordsburg and Vrededorp.
Law 3 of 1885 governed the life and movements of Indians in the ZAR. During the
reconstruction period after Anglo Boer South African War, the new British
government maintained these discriminatory laws. In 1906 a new ordinance, the
Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance and the Asiatic Registration Act inflicted even
more stringent restrictions on Indians. It prohibited further Indian immigration into
the Transvaal, provided for the deportation of illegal residents and required every
Indian legally in the Transvaal to carry a registration certificate at all times.
The circumstances under which Indians were obliged to live provided the
background against which Mahatma Gandhi, then a young lawyer, developed his
ideas of passive resistance to racial discrimination and unjust laws, Satyragraha
(soul force), involving non-violent non-compliance with offending laws.30 (See the
section on significant events in the history of Fordsburg and Mayfair for a brief
discussion of the impact of passive resistance movement on this area.)
Social amenities of the Indian community
Since a systematic history of the Indian community of Fordsburg is yet to conducted,
information for this report was collated from numerous sources. The book by Nazir
Carrim, Fietas: A Social History of Pageview: 1948-1988, Save Pageview
Association, Johannesburg, 1990, which focuses primarily on Pageview, provides an
oblique view into the history of the Fordsburg Indian community.
Education
In 1913 at the request of a group of Muslim traders, the first school exclusively for
Indian people, was opened in Fordsburg with an enrolment of 136 pupils.31
In time education for the Indian children of Pageview and Fordsburg were provided in
Forsburg at the Johannesburg Indian Secondary School (JSS) and Bree Street Indian
Government Primary School (BIGS). These still exist and feature prominently in the
community, as a large segment of future community leaders were educated here.32
BIGS and JSS were jointly administered during the period 1948 1988. During this
period many children did not go beyond Std 7 (Grade 9) for then their parents
required their presence in their shops.33
In 1955 a teachers training college was also opened exclusively for the training of
Indian teachers in Fordsburg, The Transvaal College of Education.34 The other school
in Fietas was the Indian Girls Primary School on Krause Street.35
30
Bhana & Brain pp.77-78
31
Arkin AJ, p.107

Interview, Dr Y Eshak, 26 March 2008
33
Carrim N, Fietas: A Social History of Pageview: 1948-1988, Save Pageview Association,
Johannesburg, 1990 p.42
34
Arkin AJ, p.107 p.121 Kuppusami C & Pillay MG, Pioneer Footprints: Growth of Indian Education
in South Afria: 1860-1970, Nasou Ltd, Cape Town, 1978, , p.44-45
35
Carrim N, p.40
32

13
Religious institutions
Today a large number of mosques can be found in Fordsburg and Mayfair. The most
important and oldest of these is the Hamidia Mosque at 2 Jennings Street, Newtown.
This is where in 1908 Mahatma Gandhi addressed numerous meetings and on 10
January 1908 presided over a gathering at which passive resisters burnt their passes in
protest against new discriminatory legislations. The Star reported:
The meeting was held in the Mosque grounds, Newtown, at 11 oclock, and
despite the short notice of the meeting there was a large gathering. For the
purpose of such [a] meeting a platform had been erected I the grounds and
setaing accommodation was provided by means of the serviceable paraffin tins
which were strewn about in thousands. On the platform were Essop Ismail
Mia, Chairman of the British Indian Association, an Indian priest in artistic
Oriental garb, and Mr Gandhi.36
This meeting signalled the resumption of the passive resistance campaign. On 16 and
23 August 1908, at public ceremonies at the mosque, more passes were burnt.
Recreational facilities
During the period 1948-1988 three cinemas functioned in Pageview, but many people
also attended movies at the Lyric and the Avalon in Fordsburg. The people of Fietas
considered the Fordsburg cinemas as elite cinemas, as these were more expensive
but also safer than those in Fietas itself, The Taj, The Royal and The Star.
Going to the bios was a major social event on Saturday nights. You needed to
book your tickets well in advance. Everybody used to dress up for the
occasion. It was a time and place where everybody could check everybody
else out. (Mr Y Patel)37
Cinemas provided much-needed social recreational outlets in the Indian community
and many people used it for entertainment over weekends. In addition, it played an
important part in providing cinemagoers with heroes and role models, especially
gangsters who styled themselves on the American movies they saw.38
Sporting amenities
During the early part of the twentieth century, the Rangers Football Grounds, today
the Arthur Bloch Park in Mayfair South provided much needed sporting facilities for
not only white working-class men, but equally for Indian working class men. The
Rangers Football Club was founded by a group of British miners in 1889 and
regularly used these fields. It also attracted Indian teams from Fordsburg and Mayfair.
Between 1910 and 1913 soccer games between a team passive resisters from Pretoria
and a team from Johannesburg were held on these fields. Gandhi attended matches
there in June and September 1911.39
In Mayfair on Queens Road, the Phineas McIntosh Park at the top end of Church
street was an important recreational area for the residents of Fietas. Soccer games
were regularly played here.40 During the early 1980s in an effort to prevent these
36
Itzkin E, Gandhis Johannesburg: Birthplace of Satyagraha, Witwatersrand, p.55

Carrim N, p.75
38
Carrim N, p.74-75
39
Itzkin E, p.58
40
Carrim N, p.56
37

14
games from continuing the Johannesburg City Council imported truckloads of soil
and re-landscaped the park by creating artificial hillocks on the former sportsfields.41
AFRIKAANS-SPEAKING POPULATION
During the 1890s and early 1900s Afrikaans-speaking rural migrants who faced
destitution as a result of the war, droughts, crop failures, and plagues of locusts or
dispossession as a result of the Anglo Boer South African War flocked to
Johannesburg in search of a better life. Many found refuge in the poor and grimy
Fordsburg. From the outset it was a multi-cultural melting pot of people who were all
struggling to make ends meet. Since the Malay Location later Pageview - was in
such close proximity to Fordsburg and Mayfair, Indians and local Afrikaans speakers
lived and worked together. Given that they found themselves in similar straightened
economic circumstances, they inevitably developed strong links of mutual support.
From the outset Afrikaans speakers resident in Fordsburg demanded ethnic separation
with regard to living areas in terms of hygiene factors. In 1889 a Dutch petition
maintained that they did not wish separation from Indians (Arabs) shop owners but
from Colies (sic). Nevertheless they never demanded that the Indian and Chinese
be accommodated in separate locations. Indian traders allowed local Afrikaans
speakers to buy food and other items on credit, based on a system in which clients
who were literate, wrote up what they bought since the traders could often not read or
write. A mutual system of trust and honesty existed.42
Stals also outlines how many Afrikaans-speaking women in Fordsburg took in
washing, not only for fellow Afrikaners, but also for Indians who lived in the area. In
addition, he mentions that some of these women took the step to marry Indians whom
they met in Fordsburg, because he was the only person who had always been good to
her.43 Whereas Stals cites these examples as so-called moral decay among poor
white Afrikaners, from another perspective these examples point to a community
whose ties went beyond merely the financial and economic level, but also extended
into a social dimension. Men and women, it would seem, overcame not only the
barriers of race, but also of language and religion.
During the twenties especially migrants arriving in the city rural migrants used the
working class areas of Fordsburg and Vrededorp as initial refuge and then steppingstones from where they then moved regularly, almost on a monthly basis. Stals
mentioned that Afrikaans speakers tended to be a transient community, but does not
address the issue that these migrants may have been so down and out that they
possibly skipped their accommodation without paying rent. Nevertheless during the
early 1920s, after the Rand Revolt, the Nationalist Party captured the Vrededorp and
Fordsburg seats, as well the constituency of the North East Rand.44 It remained an
Afrikaner Nationalist stronghold, for during the 1940s, prior to the election victory of
1948, Minister BJ Schoeman represented Fordsburg and was the only Witwatersrand
member of the Purified Nationalist Party in parliament.45
41
Personal observation
Stals ELP, Vol,I p. 175
43
Stals ELP, Vol II, p.30.
44
Stals ELP, Vol,I vol II p.90
45
Stals ELP, Vol,I p.99
42

15
When their fortunes allowed it, and given the fact that they were not legally restricted
to live in only one area, if many of these Afrikaans families moved to better
accommodation in Mayfair and suburbs such as Turffontein in the south or
Jeppestown in the east.46 As a result by 1945 research done showed that in an area
such as Fordsburg, only about 9% of Afrikaners living there were homeowners.47
Education
Surprisingly, children were not totally absent from the early male-dominated mining
camp days of Johannesburg. During the earliest years of the city, residents
Uitlanders as well as local ZAR burghers could choose between Dutch medium
government school education or English medium private education, since the then
ZAR did not sponsor non-protestant, non-Dutch medium education. This included
English-medium Catholic and Jewish sponsored education. As a result most English
speaking denominations, such as the Anglicans, founded their own schools. 48
In August 1889 is the Spes Bona Skool in die Brickfields was founded with as
principal one CF Naude. It started with 67 pupils and in 1895 it has 165 pupils and 6
teachers. It was the biggist Afrikaans school in Johannesburg, but closed at the
outbreak of the Anglo Boer South African War in 1899.49
The Fordsburg Church School became another prominent Afrikaans school. It opened
its doors in January 1891 and by 1892 had 91 pupils and 3 teachers in a building,
which was used both as a school and as a church hall. However, it did not escape the
trauma of major events, which shook the city. It badly damaged during the dynamite
explosion of 19 February 1896. In the same year and in 1898 when small pox broke
out in the city the school had to close. It also faced local competition when in 1891
the Fordsburg Public School was founded in opposition to the church school. The
latter had 97 pupils, but was totally destroyed during the explosion. However it
reopened and by early 1899 it had 340 pupils and 300 parents whom were Afrikaans
speaking. The school also closed at the outbreak of the war, only to reopen as a
private school after the British occupation of the city in June 1900.
After the war and as a result of Lord Alfred Milners Anglicisation policies, CNO
(Christian Nationalist education) schools came into existence to provide mother
tongue education to Afrikaans-speaking children. By the end of 1903 the Fordsburg
school building was completed at the cost of about 2 000 pounds and became known
as the Goede Hoop School catering for 315 pupils.50
Religious Institutions
46
In time they and their rural brethren were referred to as Poor Whites and during the early 1930s
became the subject of intense study during the research conducted by the Carnegie
Commission.Chipkin p. 25
47
Stals ELP, Vol,I vol II p.27
48
Kaplan M & Robertson M, Founders and Followers: Johannesburg Jewry 1887-1915,Vlaeberg
Publishers, Cape Town, 1991, p.232
49
Stals ELP, Vol,I vol I, p.127
50
Stals ELP, Vol II, p.132
16
The Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) in Johannesburg divided its parishes into
geographical regions. As a result Fordsburg and Langlaagte fell into the
Witwatersrand-West regions. In Fordsburg the church obtained two stands on which a
school building was erected to be used as a school and church building. A church
building was reconstructed after the explosion and as a result of the rapid growth of
this suburb and settlement of Afrikaans speaking workers, the parish of more than
1000 souls later formally divided into the Langlaagte and Fordsburg parishes. The
first minister of the DRC in Johannesburg was rev. JN Martins and a rev. D Theron
was the first minister to serve in the Fordsburg congregation.51
Social problems
Like impoverished urban communities worldwide, the Afrikaans-speaking community
experienced most of the social ills found in such communities. During the early
twentieth century, prostitution, alcoholism and economic destitution remained huge
problems in the area.52 Young girls of South African origin, mostly driven into
prostitution by poverty, operated from the white working class suburbs of Fordsburg
and Vrededorp in Johannesburgs redlight area, what was called the Game Reserve.
The size of this redlight area can be deduced from the fact during the 1930s a
probation officer, one VP Steyn reported that between 1932 and 1938 more than 500
prostitutes were arrested, and it was thought that between 300 and 400 street prostitutes
were operating.
In 1949, Louis Freed published his thesis on European prostitution in Johannesburg.53
According to him most of the young prostitutes lived in Fordsburg, Vrededorp, Bez
Valley, Kensington and Turffontein, all white working class suburbs of Johannesburg.
However, the majority of prostitutes still operated in Vrededorp, central Johannesburg
and Braamfonein. Teen prostitution seemed to have been less of a problem, as most of
the young prostitutes were girls were older than 21. For the most part, they started their
economically active lives working in clothing, textile and chemical factories. Otherwise
these young girls found work in so-called dancing establishments or as waitresses in tearooms.
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF FORDSBURG
The majority of the early Jewish residents of Johannesburg were traders, craftsmen
and small businessmen. Many of them arrived on the Rand as refugees fleeing
persecution in Western Russia, Lithuania and Latvia and settled in the white working
class areas of Johnnesburg, such as Fordsburg and Mayfair. Without any resources
many started off as peddlers or participated both legally and illegally in the liquor
trade. During the early years of the Rand a section of the population, both male and
female also dealt in the prostitution to make a living, a problem, which the Jewish
welfare organisation, the Chevra Kadisha, tried to deal with. Many workers also
arrived profoundly influenced by socialist ideals and played a crucial role in the
establishment of trade unions and subsequent strike action on the Witwatersrand.54
51
Stals ELP p.121

Stals ELP p.35
53
Freed L, The Problem of European Prostitution in Johannesburg, Juta, Johannesburg, 1949.
54
Musiker N & R, Historical Dictionary of Greater Johannesburg, Scarecrow Press Inc., USA, 1999
52

17
Evidence that Fordsburg and Mayfair had a sizeable Jewish community can be found
in the establishment of synagogues in the area, since orthodox Jewish customs
required that Jewish congregants to live within walking distance of the shul. During a
schism in the Johannesburg Jewish religious community during the 1890s, a number
of East European Jews seceded and formed their own congregation in Fox Street
Ferreiratown, whilst another breakaway group gathered in Fordsburg.55 In 1906 these
rifts healed to the extent that Max Langerman, who was very active in Jewish affairs
in Johannesburg, laid the foundation stone not only of the new Fordsburg Synagogue
but also the Jeppestown, Germiston and Krugersdorp synagogues.56
As was the case with other religious denominations, the shul premises also served as
an educational facility. A picture dated 1906 shows a group of some 25 boys who
attended the Talmud Torah of the Fordsburg Synagogue, an indication that Fordsburg
not only houses a large number of Jewish families, but that they resided long enough
to send their children for religious instruction. If the clothing of the boys in the picture
can be taken as a gauge, this was a largely impoverished community.57
The B Gundelfinger warehouse in Pine Road, Fordsburg is representative of the
Jewish presence in this area. B Gundelfinger whose name is still to be found on the
building was a well-known name in the early history of Johannesburg. He was Benno,
who with his brothers Isaac, Abraham and Karl played an important role in the
commercial life of early Johannesburg.
The first brother to arrive in Johannesburg was Isaac. He was born in 1862 in Babaria,
Germany and arrived in Cape Town in 1883 from where he settled in Beaufort West
in 1885.58 With news of the discovery of gold spread, he closed shop in the Karoo and
trekked to Johannesburg in March 1887. 59 He prepared a mule train of three wagons
laden with merchandise and building material, which arrived on the Rand in May
1887, accompanied by his younger brother, Abraham, then aged 16. By the end of
1887 Isaac moved his general store, which was first located in a marquee tent to a
more permanent structure in President Street close to Market Square. At the same
time Gundelfinger also dug the first well in Johannesburg in Marshallstown and sold
the water at a sixpence a bucket. It would seem that water was such a scarce
commodity that the well was stolen dry during the night.
In 1889, his brothers Benno and Karl followed him to the goldfields. Isaac sold his
business to Benno in January 1890, with assets amounting to more than 8 000 pounds
and profits of more than 3000 pounds per month. From 1892 the firm B Gundelfinger
listed in the directory as Grocer, bottle store, importer of fancy goods and general
hardware, tobacco and cigar merchants and proceeded to become a famous
Johannesburg grocery store. After 1900 Benno, who suffered from asthma sold the
business to the Kaumheimer family and retired to Switzerland. They continued to
trade under the Gundelfinger name. Isaac Gundelfinger/Gundle continued to be an
importer of goods into South Africa, especially Johannesburg. He was noteworthy for
his efforts to improve the poultry industry in the country. He died in 1936, but his
55
Kaplan M, p.77
Kaplan M, p.208
57
Kaplan M, p.231
58
Kaplan M, pp.116-117
59
Kaplan M, p.22-23
56

18
sons continued the business.60 During World War I, during anti-German rioting in
Johannesburg, the Gundelfinger store in the city centre was burnt down.61 The
warehouse in Pine Road, Fordsburg is a reminder of this trading family.
The English-speaking community
The English-speaking community of Fordsburg consisted of immigrant miners from
Great Britain, who settled in the suburb and used mostly English as medium of
communication. As with the Afrikaans speaking and Jewish communities of
Johannesburg, a systematic history of the citys English-speaking working class
community is yet to be written. Within this larger picture the story of the English
speaking section of Fordsburg and Mayfair remains to be investigated. However, the
religious institutions found in these suburbs serve as reminders of the predominant
presence of an English speaking community during the early years of the 20th century.
Of particular importance is the Anglican church on Park Road, which borders on
mining land and Main Reef Road.
Hyslops discussion of early white trade unionism in Johannesburg gives some clues
as to the nature and composition of this segment of the Fordsburg community.
An important factor in the new strength of trade unionism on the Rand was
the influx of skilled artisans who had experience of the British and Australian
labour movements. Some of the men and been attracted to the Transvaal by
the revival of the mines after the interruptions caused by the war. Other had
come as soldiers in the British Army or the 16 000-strong Australian military
contingent, and decided to settle in southern Africa after the end of hostilities.
The Australians played a particularly strong role in stiffening the backbone of
the Rand unions, as did a small but significant number of Clydesiders and a
scattering of English and Irish activists.62
A more systematic study of this sector of the community would provide more
information on this segment of the community.
60
Kaplan M p.129-130
Shorten J, The Johannesburg Saga, John R Shorten, (Pty) Ltd. Under the authority of the
Johannesburg City Council, Johannesburg, 1970, p.273.
62
Hyslop J, p.162
61

19
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF FORDSBURG AND
MAYFAIR
1893
THE BRICKFIELDS MEMORANDUM FACTORY63
On finding rich clay banks on along the upper reaches of the Fordsburg Spruit, within
walking distance from the new mining camp, ZAR burghers who came to
Johannesburg in search of their own pot of gold, more prosaically set up clay mixers
and drying kilns and with the help of local African labourers set out to produce and
sell bricks. An active brickmaker who owned a clay mixer and employed three
African workers could make up to 2 500 brick per day and sell these at 10 shillings
per 1000. This represented a good living, made easier by the fact that brickmakers
needed only to buy a brick-making licence at 5 shillings per month. This provided
him with clay to work, a place to build crude shelters for himself, his family and his
workers on the same site. Soon local burghers who could not afford to live in
expensive boarding houses bought licences and erected their own shacks in the
Brickfields. Brickmaking became the third largest industry in the ZAR after mining
and farming. However, the area soon became Johannsburgs first slum.
By 1896 more land was required for the extension of the railway marshalling yards
between Park Station and Braamfontein station. At the time some 7 000 people of all
races had congregated onto the Brickfields, only 1 500 of which were bona-fide
brickmakers. This population was augmented by some 1 200 horses and mules and
450 wagons also stationed in the Brickfields. These licence holders were given notice
to vacate the Brickfields to make place for the proposed railway yards, but as the
Brickmakers Association successfully petitioned the ZAR government for alternative
brickmaking sites on the farm Waterval and accommodation further to the west. The
manner in which they petitioned the government earned them the dubious accolade of
being a memorandum factory.
In return for the loss of their stands, brickmakers could buy land in a newly
established Burghersdorp, laid out between Randjeslaagte, Fordsburg and the existing
Indian Location. This was Johannesburgs first affordable housing scheme, since the
government restricted new owners from selling their stands on the open market.
However, Burghersdorp residents again successfully petitioned the government and
was eventually given permission to sell their land to the highest bidder. A portion of
the study area is today still called Burghersdorp.
1896
THE DYNAMITE EXPLOSION
February 1896 the slum area of Fordsburg, Burghersdorp, Vrededorp and part of
Indian Location was hit by a massive dynamite explosion, when 55 tons of explosives
blew up and created a crater of 76m x18m x 9m, the size of a four-storey parking
garage. It damaged or destroyed 1 500 houses and killed 72 people, mostly in
63
Taken from Van Onselen C, Johannesburgs Jehus, 1890-1914, in Studies in the Social and
Economic History of the Witwatersrand: 1886-1914, New Babylon, New Nineveh, Vols I & II, Ravan
Press, Johannesburg, 1982.

20
Fordsburg, Vrededorp, the Indian Location. A disaster fund was instituted and many
people received aid to rebuild their homes, often better than those they had lost. The
explosion focused attention on the squalor and appalling conditions in the area.
Something had to be done, but before action could be taken the Anglo Boer South
African War broke out in October 1899. A mass exodus of foreign-born miners,
traders and workers of all races took place, whilst ZAR burghers who lived in
Johannesburg left to join the ZAR commandos. Only those who were too poor
remained behind. Amongst them were Boer women who were left destitute in
Fordsburg and Burghersdorp and were forced to resort to looting deserted shops and
unoccupied homes.
1904
JOHANNESBURGS FIRST FORCED REMOVAL, DESTRUCTION OF THE
INDIAN LOCATION
Soon after the British occupation of Johannesburg in June 1900 the redevelopment of
the Burghersdorp and Indian Location area received attention. It was decided to
declare the area as an Insanitary Area, which should be expropriated, demolished
and redeveloped. In 1902 a Commission of Enquiry was appointed to report on the
Johannesburg Insanitary Area Improvement Scheme. However, as experience
petitioners, the Burghersdorp residents as well as their Indian Location neighbours
lodged 234 objections. A total of 33 stand holders in the Indian Location appointed a
representative to object on their behalf. Evidence presented showed that about 55%
of the houses in the area were in a passable condition, not worse than elsewhere in the
city.64 This list of petitioners provides a interesting insight in the way in which the
multi-racial and multi-cultural community of Burghersdorp was constituted.
Ostensibly, the new British authorities advocated the declaration of the area as an
insanitary area and its redevelopment to regularise the grid iron pattern of the city and
with the extension of Bree and Jeppe Streets would link the western areas to the
centre of town. The land so close to the centre of the city was too valuable to be
allowed to remain a slum. By September 1903 the Johannesburg City Council (JCC)
had expropriated all the property in the area, but did not know where to accommodate
the 1600 Indian and 1 400 African residents of the Indian Location. The matter was
resolved in March 1904 when an outbreak of alleged bubonic plague was detected in
the Location and all inhabitants of six city blocks were summarily removed to an
emergency camp in Klipspruit, 16km west of the city on the farm Klipspruit, newly
acquired by the JCC to accommodate the citys much-needed gravitational sewage
farm. The Indian Location was burnt to the ground in a fire, which lasted for three
days, the largest inferno ever seen in the city. The African residents of the location
remained in Klipspruit, later renamed Pimville, the oldest surburb of the future
Soweto. Indians evicted in this manner eventually returned to the area and took up
residence in Pageview, laid out in 1894 as well as the northern part of Fordsburg.65
64
65
Taken from E Brink, pp.12-16

Beavon K, p.75-78

21
1890s and 1900s
THE JOHANNESBURG CAB DRIVING INDUSTRY
In his essay, Johannesburgs Jehus on the development of the cab-driving industry,
Charles Van Onselen typifies Fordsburg as the heart of cabby-country and adds that
this constituency also merged and extended into the adjacent areas of the Malay
Location [as Pageview was known at the time], the Brickfields and Vrededorp.66
This observation provides a clue that from at least the 1890s residents of these areas
were bound by close social and economic ties, which crossed over racial lines.
Van Onselen shows how the many men who had no mining expertise or skills still
managed to survive by engaging in the local Johannesburg transport service which
grew exponentially with the development of the city itself. During the early period
until 1902 the city was served by scores of cab drivers as well as horse drawn
tramways, which at its height ran along Main Street Fordsburg and ended at the
southern end of Central Road. By 1896 the cabdriver corps consisted of some 700 cab
drivers and 80 cab owners who resided within a three-mile radius of the city centre. A
large majority of these men resided in Fordsburg and Newtown/Burgersdorp. As
many as 300 cabbies were Muslim men who came from the Cape. White cabbies were
mostly English speaking men originally from either Great Britain or the Cape, and
Afrikaans speaking men who had migrated to the city from the rural area. A small
number of Polish or Russion Jews also acted as cabbies between 1897 and 1899.67
These men operated mainly from small, two-wheeled Cape carts drawn by a single
horse. From the early 1890s, at a cost of between 35 and 50 pounds, rural migrants
who had some knowledge of horses could therefore easily set themselves up in this
business which a man on his own could easily handle and operate. The outcome of
their working and living in the same area, was reflected in the name of their
association founded in 1896, the Forsburg Vigilance and Cab Owners Association
The outcome of their working and living in the same area, was reflected in the name
of their association founded in 1896, the Forsburg Vigilance and Cab Owners
Association
Most of these men working lived close to their businesses, which by choice they kept
mostly in Fordsburg, a location, which provided them with easy access to their
clientele in the centre of the city as well as the Market Square where forage supplies
could easily be procured.. They frequently held meetings at fellow cab-owners, one J
Zeemans beerhall in Avenue Road, Fordsburg. During the recession of 1896
between 200 and 300 cab owners also met at the Mynpacht Hotel in Main Road
Fordsburg to discuss their economic plight. These men had no qualms to bypass the
local authority structures to address themselves directly to the Kruger government in
Pretoria, which in time promised the petitioners to give careful consideration to their
requests regarding tariffs.68
At the end of the Anglo Boer South African War (1899-1902) and with the
installation of the new Milner administration in Johannesburg, the car drivers also felt
66
Van Onselen C, Vol I p.175

Van Onselen C, Vol I p.163-p.172
68
Van Onselen C, Vol I p.177
67

22
the impact of the new administrations efforts to reorganise the city and its services
along more efficient British public service lines. Opposition among cab drivers to new
laws regarding fares was such that on 15 January 1903 some 1 500 people involved in
the transport industry gathered on Market Square Fordsburg to discuss the issue. As a
result of this large gathering a list of cab drivers grievances was sent to the Town
Council, which re-looked and amended the proposed new regulations. The Fordsburg
protesters claimed this concession as a victory for the working classes. Yet cab drivers
were still harassed when plying their trade especially when on duty at race meetings at
the Auckland Park Race Course and when compelled to take out new and more
expensive London-styled licences. Dissatisfaction was again voiced at meetings in
Forsburg in 1905 when cabdrivers urged their Cab Drivers Union to call an official
strike. Despite the unions refusal to comply with this request some 300 cab drivers
called their own strike. Several hundred gathered in Fordsburg at the Fordsburg Dip
and from there marched into the centre of the city, bringing public transport in the city
to a standstill. In true revolutionary tradition they hoisted the Red Flag and sang the
French national anthem, the Marseillaise. Later that day they again regrouped in
Avenue Road, Fordsburg.69
However, despite successfully confronting the local authority, the Fordsburg cab
drivers could not hold their own against the electric trams introduced in the city from
1906 onwards. As the tramlines extended further and further into the suburbs, more
and more cab drivers lost their livelihood.
By 1908 a further blow came with requests to the town council for the introduction of
a taxi-service for the city, no less than from a former cab-owner, one B Golub from
Terrace Road in Fordsburg. As more Fordsburg cab-drivers were put out of work,
poverty and destitution became more and more prevalent in the area. In an effort to
make ends meet any former cabbies resorted to illegal means of making a living such
as prostitution and illicit liquor sales. Indeed the Transvaal Indigency Commission of
1906-908 maintained that it was in Fordsburg and Vrededorp where the collapse of
the cab-driving industry caused the most hardship. By 1913 the remaining active cabdrivers in Fordsburg came under more pressure from fellow residents who objected to
them keeping stables and providing accommodation for their black workers on their
premises. 70
1908
PASSIVE RESISTANCE CAMPAIGNS
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, later known as Mahatma or Great Soul, lived in
South Africa between 1893 and 1914. During this period Gandhi developed the
philosophy of passive resistance or Satyagraha which he introduced to great effect
in colonial India in the 1940s. After the war, Lord Alfred Milner, Governor of the
Transvaal maintained the discriminatory laws of the old republic and in 1906 a new
ordinance, the Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance and the Asiatic Registration Act
inflicted even more stringent restrictions on Indians. It prohibited further Indian
immigration into the Transvaal, provided for the deportation of illegal residents and
69
Van Onselen C, Vol I p.186-190 For a detailed discussion of the strike action of the cab drivers see
Van Onselens article.
70
Van Onselen C, Vol I pp.193-95
23
required every Indian legally in the Transvaal to carry a registration certificate at all
times.
Gandhi organised numerous passive resistance campaigns in the Transvaal and in
Natal, which revolved around the burning of passes and often resulted in prison
sentences for passive resisters. Among other campaigns in August 1908 Indians in
Johannesburg burnt more than 2 000 registration certificates and 500 trade licenses at
meetings held at the Hamida Mosque in Jennings Street, Newtown. The resistance
reached a climax when the government could not ignore the open defiance and jailed
1 500 protestors. By 1909 with most of the passive resistance leaders in prison, the
resistance subsided.71
1913/1914
STRIKES
On 27 May 1913, white workers of the New Kleinfontein Mine in Benoni downed
tools after the new manager retrenched a number of artisans and ordered five
underground engineers to work a full day on Saturdays. The strikers demanded a 48hour work-week and a half-holiday on Saturday. The Kleinfontein miners held a
number of meetings in Benoni and before long workers from other mines on the
Witwatersrand and also in Johannesburg, began to strike in sympathy of the
Kleinfontein miners.
The Chamber of Mines, intent on breaking the trade unions that organised white
workers, refused to give in to the workers demands, and called on the government to
deal with the strikers. General Jan Smuts, then the Minister of Defence, deployed a
large number of imperial troops to the Witwatersrand as a result. This did not deter
the miners and on 4th July trade union leaders called for a general strike. Within days
more than 19 000 white miners responded favourably to the call and almost all the
mines on the Witwatersrand were affected by the strike.
The strike turned violent very quickly. On the first day of the strike armed imperial
troops clashed with workers who had gathered in Market Square in Johannesburg for
a protest meeting. Angry strikers reacted by burning down a section of Park Station
and attacking the offices of The Star newspaper. Imperial troops patrolled the streets
of Johannesburg and dealt harshly with the strikers, killing 100 strikers and innocent
bystanders during the first two days of the strike. The strike spilled over into
neighbouring Newtown and almost certainly affected Fordsburg as well. More
research is required to determine the extent and nature of strike activity within
Fordsburg itself.
1922
THE 1922 RAND REVOLT72
On 2 January 1922 coal miners in Witbank downed tools over proposed wage cuts.
Eight days later the members of the South African Industrial Federation voted in
71
Itzkin E, p.53-55
Shorten J, pp.207-338. Other standard works which relate the course of this strike in detail include
Walker IL & Weinbren B, 2000 Casualties: A History of the Trade Unions and the Labour Movement
in the Union of South Africa, South African Trade Union Council, Johannesburg, 1961.
72

24
favour of a strike and as many as 25 000 workers including miners, power station
employees, and workers in the engineering plants, joined the coal workers. One of the
key factors that contributed to this strike by white workers was the intention of mine
owners to replace skilled white workers with lower paid semi-skilled black workers.
On 28 January the strikers were further angered when the Chamber of Mines
announced that 2 000 or more white miners would lose their jobs and that paid public
holidays would be abolished. Although communists tried to gain sway over the
strikers and urge them to strike for higher wages, as opposed to the protection of the
colour bar, Afrikaner nationalists increasingly won influence over the strikers and the
strikers began to organize themselves along commando lines. By 10 March, workers
had seized virtually all of Johannesburg and called for armed insurrection and the
overthrow of the state. On the same day General Jan Smuts declared martial law and
called in the military to bring the strikers under control. Aeroplanes dropped bombs
on Benoni and Germiston and there was shooting and fighting in the streets of
Johannesburg.73
The commandos retaliated by raiding police stations, but after five days of fighting,
during which Fordsburg was rocked by artillery fire, the strike was broken and called
off. More than 200 people had lost their lives during the strike and as many as 4 748
strikers were arrested. Out of those arrested, 46 were charged with murder and 18
sentenced to death, but in the end only four of the strikers were hanged.
The suburb of Fordsburg played a significant role in the Rand Revolt. Soon after the
declaration of the strike, striker leaders used the Market Square and other venues near
Benoni, to train their strikers commandos. Police also sheltered on the dump at
Robinson Mine to take aim at strikers in Fordsburg.74 Furthermore according to
Shorten;
At Fordsburg casualties were lighter though fighting was more spectacular.
There the strikers were strongly entrenched around the Market Square where
Percy Fisher had his headquarters in the Market Buildings. Trenches,
surmounted by sandbags, had been dug around the northern, eastern and
western boundaries of the Square which was protected on its south side by
Market Buildings and Sacks Hotel; barricades had been thrown across Main
and Commercial Roads and within the Square another trench that ran along the
northern and eastern side of Market Buildings formed a second line of
defence.75
Strikers were driven off Brixton ridge where their positions were bombarded by
artillery and by attacks from the air. The strikers were also attacked from the western
Mayfair side, so as to entrap the strikers in Forsburg itself.
73
Clarke J, Like It Was, The Star, Johannesburg, 1987, pp.73-76

Shorten J, p.316
75
Shorten J, p.328.
74

25
1930s
THE STRUGGLE FOR WORKING CLASS HOUSING
Octavia Hill Housing Scheme, Fordsburg
During the 1930s there was a huge housing shortage amongst whites in Johannesburg,
to the extent that Dr A J Milne, the municipal officer of health of Johannesburg
considered whites to be living in slum conditions in certain of the poorer districts
such as Fordsburg, portions of Jeppe and Doornfontein and Newlands. Only in
Mayfair was housing considered to be somewhat more reasonable. Here rental for two
bed-roomed houses was between 7 and 8 pound per month.
In 1934 the Johannesburg Housing Utility Co. was formed in order to redevelop slum
areas. Under its auspices the first housing scheme to be built was the Octavia Hill
apartments built in Fordsburg. The cornerstone was laid in September 1936 by the
then Governor-General Lord Clarendon and the mayor of Johannesburg.
Johannesburg residents also contributed financially to the scheme, to augment a low
interest loan from the state. At the time it was also the declaration of Vrededorp as a
slum was also recommended. 76 According to Mrs Bertha Solomon, member of
Parliament for Jeppestown between 1939 and 1958, The Octavia Hill Housing
Scheme was named after a British woman, Mrs Octavia Hill,
a famous English housing and slum clearing expert on the necessity, not only
of doing away with slums, but also of re-educating slum dwellers into decent
ways of living.77
The housing scheme still exists and still provides housing to impoverished families.
1950s and 1980s
POLITICAL STUGGLES
The Launch of the 1952 Defiance Campaign
In January 1952 leaders of the African National Congress (ANC) sent an ultimatum to
the government. The government was given one month to scrap all unjust laws on the
statute books. The apartheid rulers failed to comply, a massive Defiance Campaign
would be launched. Dr D F Malan, the Prime Minister, did not repeal any laws and
warned that the government would use the full machinery at its disposal to quell any
disturbances. In spite of these threats, it was decided that the Campaign should go
ahead.
Thousands of people gather at Freedom Square in Fordsburg on 6 April 1952 exactly
300 years after Jan van Riebeeck and the first Europeans arrived to settle at the Cape,
to witness James Moroka, president of the African National Congress (ANC), and
Yusuf Dadoo, head of the South African Indian Congress, launch the Defiance
Campaign in Johannesburg. Especially Dr YM Dadoo and Dr GM Naicker of the
Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC) were virulent in their opposition of the institution of
the governments apartheid measures. They played leading roles in the 1952
Defiance Campaign and the formulation of the 1955 Freedom Charter.78
76
Stals, ELP, Vol II, pp.23-25

Solomon B, Time Remembered, The Story of a Fight, Howard Timmins, Cape Town, 1968, p.95
78
Arkin AJ, p.177
77

26
During the 1980s the Transvaal and Natal Indian Congresses (NIC) affiliated with the
United Democratic Front (UDF), and played a leading role in the struggle against
apartheid from within the country. At the time the TIC and NIC stood for an
unqualified one-man one-vote outcome to the struggle. In October 1988 a South
African delegation of Indian members met with the ANCE in Lusaka, Zambia.79
1970s
COMMUNITY STRUGGLES AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE ORIENTAL
PLAZA
Indian residential rights severely prescribed by the Gold Law of 1908. As a result the
areas where Indians were allowed to live became severely overcrowded from an early
stage. This was especially the case in Pageview. By the outbreak of World War II in
1939 there were 14 000 Indians living in Johannesburg, almost half 7 000 lived in
Pageview, consisting of 469 stands occupied by single-storey houses.80 By 1979 there
were some 30 000 Indian and 60 000 coloured people who were inadequately housed
in the Johannesburg area. Legally Indians only had access to a small number of
overcrowded flats in Fordsburg. The only other alternative was accommodation in the
distant area of Lenasia.81
As a result Pageview or Fietas, remained the home of some 5 000 Indians, both
Muslim and Hindu wedged between the officially white suburbs of Vrededorp,
Fordsburg and Mayfair, was forcibly removed in the early 1970s to Lenasia, a racially
segregated area some 30km to the south of Johannesburg. Its 14th Street was its main
commercial node which attracted shoppers of all walks of life from the entire
Johannesburg was also destroyed.
In compensation for the loss of both their homes and businesses in Pageview, the City
of Johannesburg and the National Department of Community Development
(COMDEV) conceptualised the development of the Oriental Plaza a shopping area
where the evicted Indian traders could be resettled. Earliest tenants took occupation
in 1974, but the complex was only completed in 1975, then at a cost of R16.5 million.
Many traders who were forced to relocate their businesses there found that rents were
much took high. Since it was not easily accessible for black and coloured consumers
travelling by bus or train, the Plaza initially only catered for white suburban
consumers. 82 Ultimately some 400 traders set up shop in the Plaza.
Urban geographer, Keith Beavon is of the opinion;
The fact that the Oriental Plaza, in the heart of Fordsburg, has in time
succeeded splendidly in commercial terms, in no way diminishes the injustices
described here.83
Yet, it is nevertheless remarkable that neither Mandy nor Beavon, authoritative voices
on the urban geography and development of Johannesburg remain silent as to the type
of urban fabric, which was demolished in Fordsburg to make way for the Plaza. It is
79
Arkin AJ, p.185

Beavon K, p.191
81
Beavon K, p.213
82
Mandy N, p.119 Chapter 7, pp.122-124.
83
Beavon K, p.194
80

27
suggested that since the Indian residents of Fordsburg lived mostly along the northern
edge of the suburb, from Avenue Road northwards towards the border of Pageview,
the demolition of this portion of historic Fordsburg when unnoticed because it was
most probably mostly occupied by Indian tenants.
1980s
THE STRUGGLE FOR LEGAL HOUSING
A general critical housing shortage existed in the Indian community, which had not
been alleviated with the forced removal to Lenasia and elsewhere. Many Indians and
Coloureds found refuge in living illegally in officially white areas, such as the
high-rise area of Hillbrow and the suburb of Mayfair which adjoins Fordsburg and the
former Pageview from where they had been evicted. This area was a lower-income
white area. However, the situation changed when a Mayfair resident, Gladys
Govender obtained a Supreme Court ruling that she could not be evicted from her
house, which she was illegally occupying because she had nowhere else to go.
Gladys Govender had lived in Fordsburg for 39 years, and raised five children in a
one roomed flat and had been on the waiting list of a state house for 11 years. In 1979,
desperate for bigger accommodation she illegally rented accommodation in Mayfair
in a white-owned house, which because of its appalling condition no one else would
rent. When she was charged and convicted under the Group Areas Act and issued
with an eviction order the local community organisation, Actstop, appealed the
conviction, which was overturned in 1982. The judge ruled that a person convicted
under the act could not be evicted unless adequate alternative accommodation was
available, which given the appalling shortage of housing for Indian people, was not
the case.84 Until such time as the housing shortage had been alleviated or has been
eradicated, especially Indians were secured in their residences and could not be
evicted.85
This ruling paved the way for Indian families to move into Mayfair, either as tenants
or as buyers of properties. Between 1983 and 1987, 5 400 people or 1 200 families
moved into the area. These were mostly middle-class families whose incomes were
about 25% higher than the working class white families which they replaced. Beavon
comments on this migration:
The new arrivals in Mayfair quickly set about upgrading their
accommodation. In some instances whole houses that had been purchased
were demolished and completely new units were erected. The effect was that
the real value of land on adjacent properties rose. By 1987 property values for
the suburbs as a whole had increased by 161% compared with an average of
only 20% across the city. The greying process was also largely peaceful and
successful in other nearby inner suburbs on the western side of central
Johannesburg, notably Brixton and Crosby.86
This process contributed to pressure on government to repeal the Group Areas Act.87
84
Beavon K, p.218-219
Mandy N, p.140-143
86
Beavon K p.219
87
Beavon K, p.220
85

28
1980s
THE BATTLE FOR MAYFAIR
Mayfair was an old, established area, dating back to the 1890s, characterised by
detached and semi-detached working-class brick houses. Its position adjacent to the
old Indian heartland of Pageview and Fordsburg made it a logical outlet for Indians in
desperate need of accommodation. In the 1950s and 1960s working-class Afrikaans
residents and homeowners had slowly replaced the original working-class Jewish
residents. In the 1970s landlords were not unwilling to let available accommodation
increasingly middle-class Indian tenants who in desperate need of housing who
wanted to be close to the local mosques and were willing to pay higher rentals. Using
white nominees, they also proved to be willing buyers of properties. By early 1980s
almost 60 Indian Families had moved into the available housing stock, comprising 2
100 houses and 600 apartments. 88
In 1983 the announcement of a referendum to test the 1983 Constitution among white
voters, which would give Indians and coloured people a say in the so-called tricameral
parliament, focused sharp attention on the suburb of Mayfair. The then Minister of
Community Development, Ben Kotze went on an inspection tour of Mayfair, during
which he ordered Indian and Coloured residents immediately to vacate the area, a
move which was aimed at seeking support from local white voters. His
pronouncement that these people did not live in the sky before they came to
MayfairThey can go back where they came from caused a furore. The press
retaliated by claiming that it was Community Developments wanton destruction of
Indian areas such as Pageview that drove thousands to take up vacant houses and flats
in Mayfair and other fringe areas of white Johannesburg.89
In 1983 the Department of Community Development announced that besides
providing more building stands in Lenasia that the eastern part of Mayfair would be
added to the so-called Fordsburg Indian Group Areas, comprising portions of
Fordsburg, Burghersdorp and Mayfair East. At the time the Group Areas Board
found that there were 540 housing units in Fordsburg, 130 in Burghersdorp and 400 in
Mayfair. It was noted that some 70 Indian families were already residing in the area
and that an Indian school and a Roman Catholic convent school also serviced the area
and contained many Indian owned businesses. The remaining white people in the
area were mainly tenants. 90
88
Beavon K, p.218
Mandy N, p.142
90
Beavon K, p.277-278
89

29
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arkin AJ, et al, The Indian South Africans: A Contemporary Profile, Owen Burgess
Publishers, Pinetown, 1989.
Beavon K, Johannesburg: The Making and Shaping of the City, University of South
Africa Press, Pretoria, 2004.
Bhana S &Brain J, Setting Down Roots: Indian Migrants in South Africa, 1860-1911,
Witwatersrand University Press, Johannesburg, 1990.
Brink E, Newtown - Old Town, MuseumAfrica, Occasional Publication,
Johannesburg,1994.
Callinicos L, A Place in the City: The Rand on the Eve of Apartheid, Ravan Press,
Johannesburg, 1993.
Carrim N, Fietas: A Social History of Pageview: 1948-1988, Save Pageview
Association, Johannesburg, 1990.
Chipkin C, Johannesburg Style: Architecture and Society,1880s-1960s, David Philip,
Cape Town, 1993.
City of Johannesburg, The Golden City: Diamond Jubilee Souvenir, Johannesburg
City Council, Johannesburg, 1946.
Clarke J, Like It Was, The Star, Johannesburg, 1987.
Freed L, The Problem of European Prostitution in Johannesburg, Juta, Johannesburg,
1949.
Hyslop J, The Notorious Syndicalist: JT Bain: A Scottish Rebel in Colonial South
Africa, Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd, Johannesburg, 2004.
Itzkin E, Gandhis Johannesburg: Birthplace of Satyagraha, Witwatersrand University
Press, 2000.
Jaffee G, Joffe Marks; A Family Memoir, United Trust (Pty) Ltd, Johannesburg,
2001.
Johannesburg City Council, Centennial Business Awards, Commemorative Book,
1994
Kaplan M & Robertson M, Founders and Followers: Johannesburg Jewry 18871915,Vlaeberg Publishers, Cape Town, 1991.
Kuppusami C & Pillay MG, Pioneer Footprints: Growth of Indian Education in South
Afria: 1860-1970, Nasou Ltd, Cape Town, 1978.
Lang J, Bullion Johannesburg: Men, Mines and the Challenge of Conflict, No
publisher, Johannesburg, [1986].
30
Leyds GA, A History of Johannesburg, Nasionale Boekhandel, Cape Town, 1964.
Mandy N, A City Divided: Johannesburg and Soweto, Macmillan, Johannesburg,
1984.
Meiring H, Early Johannesburg; Its Buildings and its People, Human & Rousseau,
Cape Town, 1985.
Musiker N & R, Historical Dictionary of Greater Johannesburg, Scarecrow Press Inc.,
USA, 1999.
Shorten J, The Johannesburg Saga, John R Shorten, (Pty) Ltd. Under the authority of
the Johannesburg City Council, Johannesburg, 1970.
Solomon B, Time Remembered: The Story of a Fight, Howard Timmins, Cape Town,
1968
Smith A, Johannesburg Street Names, Juta, Johannesburg, 1972.
Stals ELP, Die Afrikaners in die Goudstad, Vol.I&II, HAUM, Pretoria 1978 & 1986.
Van der Waal GM, From Mining Camp to Metropolis: The Buildings of
Johannesburg 1886-1940, Chris van Rensburg Publications, Johannesburg, 1987.
Van Onselen C, Johannesburgs Jehus, 1890-1914 and Main Reef Road into the
Working Class: proletarianisation, unemployment and class consciousness amongst
Johannesburgs Afrikaner poor, 1890-1914, in Studies in the Social and Economic
History of the Witwatersrand: 1886-1914, New Babylon, New Nineveh, Vols I & II,
Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1982.
Walker IL & Weinbren B, 2000 Casualties: A History of the Trade Unions and the
Labour Movement in the Union of South Africa, South African Trade Union Council,
Johannesburg, 1961.
Zwi R, Another Year in Africa, Bateleur Press, Johannesburg, 1980.


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1

AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW &

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

Smith A, Johannesburg Street Names, Juta, Johannesburg, 1972, Fordsburg.

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

Taken from Brink E, Newtown - Old Town, MuseumAfrica, Occasional Publication,

Macmillan, Johannesburg, 1984, p.55

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

Johannesburg City Council, Centennial Business Awards, Commemorative Book, 1994.

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

1960 1970 1980

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

Bhana & Brain pp.77-78

Arkin AJ, p.107

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

Itzkin E, Gandhis Johannesburg: Birthplace of Satyagraha, Witwatersrand, p.55

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

Stals ELP p.121

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

Taken from E Brink, pp.12-16

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

Van Onselen C, Vol I p.175

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

Clarke J, Like It Was, The Star, Johannesburg, 1987, pp.73-76

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

Stals, ELP, Vol II, pp.23-25

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

Arkin AJ, p.185

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

PART 2 Fordsburg a history

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