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Bantu Men's Social Centre

  • Corporate body

The society was formed in Johannesburg in 1923 with the object of forming a nucleus for social intercourse for 'natives' employed on the Witwatersrand. Motto of the society was Stronger in body, mind, spirit and character. Provided recreational, educational and leisure time activities for Black men working in Johannesburg and the reef and also served as a meeting place for Non-White societies and organizations. On 31 December 1971 the centres premises at 3a Eloff Street were closed by the Johannesburg City Council in accordance with the Group Areas Act.

The Executive Committee submitted an appeal through the council to the Minister of Bantu Administration and Development for assistance in establishing of new centre in Soweto but there was no outcome to the appeal.

In 1976 the premises were renovated and were let to the West Rand Areas Bantu Administration Board.

Activities of centre and people of note who supported the centre:

Sports and athletics: Ballinger, W.G.

Educational classes: Bennett, P.J.

First Aid: Bridgman, F.B.

Gamma Sigma debating clicks: Hoernle, R.F.A

Music tuition and eisteddfords: Jones, J.D. Rheinallt

Dramatic society: Phillips, Ray E.

Films: Pim, J. Howard

Guest evenings: Pin, J. Montague

Library-First provided by Transvaal: Rathebe, J.R.

Carnegie Grant and from 1940 by the: Taberer, H.M

Johannesburg Public Library: Taylor, Dexter J., Webber, Walter

Zebediela Citrus Estate

  • Corporate body

"Zebediela" derives from a corruption of the name given to Mamukebe, an Ndebele chief, whose diplomatic skills in the mid-19th century Northern Transvaal earned him the appellation "Mabediela" - the one who pacifies

In the Sekukuni War of 1852 waged by the South African Republic against the Pedi, Zebediela supplied a contingent of four hundred auxiliaries in addition to furnishing supplies of corn and cattle. In return for this show of loyalty, Zebediela's clan were exempted from taxation for a while, and in 1885, a location was beaconed off by the Z.A.R. for them.

In 1917 a massive tract of land adjacent to Zebediela's location was purchased by African Realty Trust, a company incarnate as I. W. Schlesinger; Schlesinger (1871-1949): financier, entrepreneur, founder of what was to become the South African Censorship Board, one-time employer of A. W. G. Champion and a benefactor of the University of the Witwatersrand. Originally from the Bowery in New York, Schlesinger came to South Africa in 1902 as an extremely successful Insurance broker.

The following year he launched the African Realty Trust and with the proceeds of land sales in Orange Grove, Killarney, Parkhurst. and Marlboro, he established the African Life Assurance Society in 1904. By 1905 he had bought out J. B. Robinson's South African Bank, developing it into the Colonial Banking and Trust Company to which in 1911 was added the African Guarantee and Indemnity Company. With a base secure in banking, property and finance, Schlesinger began to diversify his business interests. In the entertainment field, he set up African Consolidated Theatres and African Film Productions Limited, the latter producing the weekly 'African Mirror' - the world's second oldest newsreel. The South African Broadcasting Corporation itself derives from a chain of radio stations sponsored by Schlesinger in the mid-1920s. Afamal, to name another Schlesinger enterprise, claimed for many year's to he the largest advertising agency outside Britain and the U.S.A.

One of Schlesinger's more ambitious schemes was the establishment of Zebediela Citrus Estate. Purchased in 1917, development of the estate began immediately with bush-clearing projects, dam building and soil preparation; the first trees were planted in 1918 and within a decade, nine square miles of orange trees had been planted, the fruit of which was already entering the export market.

Schlesinger's agents were mandated to invite investors locally and overseas to finance the scheme by purchasing 5-acre stands and leaving the company to take responsibility and a commission for producing the crop. Various marketing techniques were used, with U U. Robins-Browne, Schlesinger's man in Singapore, apparently appealing to the colonial mentality in his claim that 'The native of South Africa is a very fine specimen of a servant., being, big, healthy and strong. They cost about: ú3 per month. '

The three thousand black workers at Zebediela were, however, paid considerably less. In 1879 the Native Commissioner for the district reported that '[Zebediela's] people are rich and well-to-do - as none of his young men will work elsewhere than at the 'Diamond fields' - where they 'earn high wages'.

However, by the early twentieth century, much had changed. The diamond fields were no longer such an attractive option, and the Estate's management reported that the supply of labour on the estate was plentiful, and prepared to accept a wage of roughly 25/- per month, excluding provisions. In the 1930s however, the South African economy moved from a period of depression to one of rapid development, with the demand and competition for labour increasing accordingly as migrants sought: the more favourable labour markets of the Witwatersrand. The shortage of labour at Zebediela became acute.

The management of Zebediela was now obliged to recruit labour further afield through the established recruiting agencies operating from Messina, the Mozambican border, and across the Limpopo. Thus from the mid-1930s, the bulk of Zebediela's labour was drawn from Nyasaland, Portuguese East Africa and Northern Rhodesia. This provided no long term solution to the labour shortage, as desertion rates were high; in the opinion of A. R. van Blerk, Estate Secretary, 'The northern native, after his rough trek through the African jungle, could not settle to steady rural routine and was an easy prey to the lures of the not too scrupulous operators in the labour racket of some 30, 000 extra-Union Africans recruited, at the rate of 2300 n year over 1: 1 years, only 40% remained to serve their contracted time'. (3)

This high rate of desertion was, however, not an unreasonable response to the onerous work, low wages and poor living conditions which obtained at the estate. Indeed, a managerial report recorded the opinion of a Department of Native Affairs Representative in the late 1930s who 'condemned our old compounds as uncomfortable, insanitary and likely to become a disgrace if ever we had a serious outbreak of disease. Against this it was agreed that the raw native labourer is naturally dirty and prefers the squalor of a wattle and daub hut to a brick and iron-roofed building'.

Fortunately this attitude did not persist. In the 1940s, much effort was expended in devising living conditions compatible with labour stabilisation and economic rationality. Particularly valuable was the input of P. J. Quin, Director of the estate from 1936 to 1965, an outspoken opponent of 'the de-Africanising of the African', and a person highly regarded by the Nationalist government. On the basis of the findings of Quin's sociological study of the Bapedi, the accommodation and diet of Black workers on the estate were improved considerably.

It has been argued that Zebediela constituted something of a prototype for rural industry in South Africa. Indeed, its receptivity to industrial and mechanical advances - facilitated by the immense financial strength of the Schlesinger Organisation - was exceptional.

For many years the estate relied on white female seasonal labour, employed as packers and graders during the annual packing season; drawn largely from the local community these women, aged between 16 and 45, were accommodated within the benevolent confines of a hostel in which the virtues of thrift, propriety and Christianity were encouraged. It is interesting to note that recruiting officers of the Union Defence Force during the Second World War were advised that their cause was unlikely to be met with enthusiasm at Zebediela, as over 80% of the women did not support the government's stance vis-à-vis the war.

In the mid 1950s, economic rationality dictated that a transition be made from white to black seasonal female labour, a development which contradicted earlier racist assertions that black women were incompetent in that capacity. Nonetheless, the transition coincided with a major survey of labour relations and arrangements conducted by a consultancy, Bedaux Company of Africa, which resulted in the adoption of a sophisticated labour programme based on the principles of Taylorism.

Letaba Estates was an enterprise similar to Zebediela, although run on a smaller scale. Originally intended a settlement scheme for ex-servicemen after World War I, the incidence of malaria and snakes and the estate's general isolation apparently dissuaded immigrants from settling there permanently. Schlesinger's involvement in the estate in this period, the 1920s, is unclear; the estate was laid out by United Fruit and Citrus Farms Ltd, a company owned by the Investment Corporation of Africa Ltd, after the former owners, Messrs Judas and Gluckman, had incurred large debts with the Colonial Bank. Letaba Estates came under overt Schlesinger control in March 1931.

An adjacent farm, Beaconsfield, was purchased from the owners of Valencia Estates, the Foy family, in 1939.

In 1953 ownership of Letaba was transferred from Letaba Estates Ltd, to another Schlesinger holding company, the African Irrigated Land Company Ltd (AILCO). Established in 1923, AILCO had been concerned with managing Kendrew Estate, a somewhat unsuccessful venture in the Graaff-Reinet district, where irrigation problems effectively prevented the proposed citrus cultivation scheme from succeeding.

In 1967, Consolidated Citrus Estates (CCE) took over the management of Letaba and Zebediela from AILCO and African Realty Trust (ART) respectively, with the effect of concentrating all citrus production under one company. Valencia Estates, adjacent to Letaba, joined the fold in 1965.

CCE had, meanwhile, been running a citrus estate at Muden, in Natal, since 1957. This enterprise had been founded in 1917 as Golden Valley Citrus Estates; for various reasons, primarily recurrent labour shortages and its situation in the Midlands' hail belt, the farm was not a financial success and thus in 1944 Golden Valley went into voluntary liquidation.

Muden was then bought by the Pan African Land Company, a Schlesinger subsidiary which managed the farm until it was taken over by African Canning and Packing Company (ACPC) in about 1950.

ACPC, a Port Elizabeth-based canning factory (and the major shareholder in AILCO) dated back to 1921 when it was established to service Schlesinger's interests in several large pineapple plantations near Grahamstown at Langholm Estates - another ART project.

Subsequent developments within the Schlesinger Organisation are barely alluded to. It seems that ART sold out to African Consolidated Investment Corporation, a body closely allied to the two major property holding companies Townsview Investments (Pty) Ltd, and SOREC - Schlesinger Organisation Real Estate Corporation.

One body which remains enigmatic is the Native Farmers Association of Africa. Formed in 1912 by one of the founders of the African National Congress, Pixley ka Isaka Seme, the company was originally floated to enable Africans to buy land before the passage of the Native Land Act of 1913. Within months the company ran into financial difficulties, and was obliged to accept a partnership with Schlesinger, an arrangement which was to benefit Schlesinger greatly.

It was this Association which purchased, amongst others, the farms Daggakraal and Driefontein which later became the object of the Nationalist government's resettlement policy.

During the 1960s, Schlesinger's insurance arm, African Eagle and Guarantee Life, expanded rapidly; presumably it was this fact which attracted the attentions of the Anglo American Corporation. In 1974 Rand Selection, a subsidiary of Anglo American, bought John Schlesinger's controlling share in the Schlesinger Organisation. Included in the deal were such money spinners as Western Bank (later trading as Wesbank, a Barclays Bank enterprise) and Soroc and Townsview, later amalgamated with Amaprop.

Little remains of the Schlesinger Empire in South Africa today. Mandy Morons, Chief Executive of Schlesingers from the mid 1960s, resigned in favour of Gavin Relly in 1975 to concentrate on the development of Schlesinger European Investments, a new comglomerate based in London. At the last count, Rand Selection had a stake of 40% in SEI; by now, it is probably considerably more (sic).

Nb. Schematic Diagram of "Schlesinger Organisation" is not included in this published copy

Footnotes

1 Rangoon Gazette, 11 May 1927

2 S. N. I

3 Farmers Weekly, 1 June 1958

4 A. R. Van Blerk, 'Labour Report', 1953

The Helping Hand for Native Girls in Johannesburg

  • Corporate body

In April 1919 the Helping Hand Club for Native Girls was established by a small group of women presided over by Mrs. Clara Bridgman. They purchased a small house in Fairview where there were no restrictions on African residents.

The Club intended to provide domestic Servants working in the District with accommodation as well as instruction and recreation for others. It also attempted to find suitable work for women who resided at the hostel.

In 1930 the Helping Hand committee decided to provide training in domestic service, and atraining school was built. Lessons in cooking, dressmaking, laundry and general housework were given as well as courses in English, reading, arithmatic, first aid and home nursing. After 1940 however, the hostel side of the Club developed increasingly, while the training aspect decreased.

In 1974 the Helping Hand Club changed its constitution. Accordingly, the Helping Hand trust was formed whereby 50% of the Club's funds were to be used for black educational purposes, while the remaining 50% would take the form of donations to other black welfare organisations.

In 1990, R 84 000 was donated to the Department of Bursaries and Scholarships at the Universty of Witwatersrand for black women. The Residue of the Helping Hand Trust Funds, R10, 000 was donated to the Family Planning Association of South Africa.

At the meeting on 20th February 1990 the Helping Hand Trust was finally terminated.

The Star newspaper

  • Corporate body

Joseph Barnett was born in 1861(?) in Brynmawr, Wales as one of 6 children of Barnett and Ellen Isaacs. He came to Johannesburg around 1888/9, where he started a photographic business in 1895, later joined by his brother David. Both brothers obtained contracts with periodical publications like the illustrated London journal "Black & White". Joseph Barnett died while on holiday in Wales and was buried at his birthplace on the 23 July 1897.

His brother David not only continued with the business Barnett & Co., but also took over Joseph's appointment as special correspondent of "Black and White", taking the photographic work of the brothers further. In the years to follow he contributed many of his pictures of the South African War (1899-1902), published by 'Black and White', and later launched a series of postcards in about 1902.By the time he decided to sell his photographic business, he was approached by Mr C.D. Don, Editor of The Star from 1915 to 1938, persuading him to sell the collection to The Star, which he did in the 1920s. David Barnett died at the age of 90 in 1964.

The photographs of Joseph and David Barnett cover the early years of Johannesburg, its buildings and streets; gold mining, mainly on the Witwatersrand, but also as far as Barberton; events like the Jameson Raid in 1895, the Matabele Rebellion in 1896, the Queen Victoria Jubilee in 1897, and the South African War (Anglo Boer War) in 1899-1902; as well as personalities like Cecil Rhodes and Paul Kruger.

South African Post Office

  • Corporate body

The South African Post Office released a special edition postage stamp in 2012, depicting the Delegation of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) to England in 1914.

The image originates from a photographic collection which is held at Historical Papers in the collection A1384f Plaatje, Solomon Tshekisho, which shows the members of the delegation being Thomas Mapikela, Doctor Walter Rubusana, Reverend John Dube, Saul Msane and Sol Plaatje.

The special edition postage stamp was issued in commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the ANC, and was released with as a stamp and first-day cover on the 6 January 2012, designed by Martin Rossouw. Following its release the South African Post Office donated a sheet of the stamps and first-day cover to Historical Papers, accompanied by a text explaining in short the historical events from the founding of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) in January 1912 in Bloemfontein, to the renaming of the SANNC to African National Congress (ANC) in 1923.

Ossewa Brandwag

  • Corporate body

The Ossewa Brandwag was a movement started in South Africa by Colonel J.C. Laas about 1938. It was semi-military in its organisation and the more active group was represented by the Stormjaers. It appealed to Afrikaner sentiment, being strongly in favour of severing the tie with the British Empire and forming a Republic.

Their aim was to make Afrikaans the only official language and to have a benevolent dictatorship, rather on the lines of Nazi Germany. Not only were they anti-imperial but also anti-communist (for fear it would lead to the end of separated societies according to race) and yet at the same time anti-capitalist. During World War II the O.B. was declared illegal and as they did not offer any clear policy the movement gradually disintegrated and the Nationalists won over their members.

Swiss Mission

  • Corporate body

On the 9th July 1875, two young missionaries, Ernest Creux and Paul Berthoud founded the Swiss Mission station of Valdezia in the Northern Transvaal. It was on many occasions a hard hit and tested society. The field of action was in the unhealthy Lowveld, on the Transvaal side as well as beyond the Portuguese East African border, into Mozambique. The mission has constantly developed, not only geographically, but in the nature of its work and variety of its undertakings

Its hospitals were famous for the efficiency of their work and the practical help which they rendered to patients. There are hospitals and clinics, three of the hospitals having training schools for nurses. Female missionaries were of great importance in teaching and social work. Its schools and Normal College have done outstanding work. From the scientific standpoint, writers such as H.A. Junod, H.P. Junod, A.A. Jacques and others have contributed much to Bantu studies in all its branches, especially in linguistics and social anthropology. The church has helped to foster good race relations

There is a feeling of affinity and friendship between the Reformed Church of Switzerland, including the Mission Suisse Romande and a large section of South Africans of the same religious faith. There is a strong desire for union between the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa Presbyterian/Congregational and the Tsonga Presbyterian Church (Swiss Mission in South Africa). Among the tribes of Portuguese East Africa as well in the Northern Transvaal, in Pretoria and Johannesburg, thousands of African people have been built into the fabric of a church whose standards are unusually high. Its relations with other missionary societies have been most cordial and brotherly.

The principal task of the mission was evangelisation, but another very important function was education. Schools were opened at Shiluvane, Lemana Training Institution, near Elim, and Rikatla Bible School for the Mozambicans. Some schools had an industrial and agricultural syllabus

Church organization, Shangaan literature, the Blue Croat (temperance movement), scout and guide troops, teaching patrols who were went out from the stations Into the bush, are all part of the work of the Swiss Mission.

Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW)

  • Corporate body

The Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) was formed at the "First National Conference of Women" as the inaugural conference was called, held in the Trades Hall, Johannesburg on 17 April 1954. This meeting was the culmination of months of planning, having been first suggested at a conference held in Port Elizabeth in April 1953, which was an informal meeting of women, trade unionists and African National Congress members to which Ray Alexander had been invited. She, from her home in Cape Town, assisted by Hilda Watts in Johannesburg, organised the inaugural conference. Both women had been members of the Communist Party of South Africa before its banning in 1950 and had widespread contacts amongst women of various organisations.

There were close on 150 delegates representing 230,500 women at the inaugural conference and they came from all over South Africa and from a wide cross-section of women of all colours, although mainly Black. They were drawn mostly from the Congress Alliance, made up of the African National Congress, South African Indian Congress, South African Congress of Democrats, South African Coloured Peoples Organisation and trade unions which left the Trade Union Congress of South Africa and formed the South African Congress of Trade Unions in 1955. The conference adopted a Women's Charter which included these words "We women have stood and will stand shoulder to shoulder with our menfolk in a common struggle against poverty, race and class discrimination". A draft constitution was drawn up stating the aims and objects of the Federation as being "To bring the women of South Africa together, to secure full equality of opportunity for all women, regardless of race, colour or creed; to remove social and legal and economic disabilities; to work for the protection of the women and children of our land". There was some debate as to whether the Federation should provide for individual membership but this point was settled in 1956 when the National Conference voted in favour of the Federation consisting only of affiliated organisations and no individual members.

By 1957 the following organisations had affiliated: African National Congress Women's League, South African Congress of Democrats, South African Coloured Peoples Organisation, Cape Housewives League, League of Non-European Women (Cape), Transvaal Indian Congress for Women and the Food and Canning Workers' Union. The Federation grew into a massive organisation which played its part in the national struggle for liberation and was involved in the convening of the Congress of the People by the Congress Alliance at Kliptown on June 25-26, 1955, at which the Freedom Charter was adopted. FEDSAW led the great protest against the extension of passes to African women in the 1950s, the most important event in this campaign being the mass gathering at Pretoria on 9 August 1956, thereafter observed as "Women's Day" during which 20,000 women stood in silence for 30 minutes after presenting their petition. It was on this occasion that they sang "Strijdom, you have tampered with the women/ you have struck a rock/ you have unleashed a boulder/ you will be crushed", later to be adopted as an anthem. This was followed by several demonstrations in 1957 and 1958. Other campaigns protested against Bantu education, beerhalls, Group Areas, discrimination in the nursing profession, rent increases and basic community problems. They supported the boycott of the Union Festival in 1960 and the stay away from the Republic celebrations in 1961. In 1962 they tried to draw up a Bill of Women's Rights.

From the very beginning the Federation suffered from the fact that, although as an organisation it was never banned, the leaders - Ray Alexander, Hilda Bernstein, Lilian Ngoyi, Frances Baard, Helen Joseph, Dorothy Nyembe, Amina Cachalia and Albertina Sisulu were and so were its affiliates, the African National Congress Women's League and the women's branch of the South African Congress of Democrats. The Federation was weakened by the Treason Trial of 1956-1961 and some members were detained during the state of emergency which followed Sharpeville in 1960. For a few years they struggled on under difficult circumstances but the last conference of any size took place in August 1962. Thereafter it went into rapid decline as more and more women were either banned, house-arrested or left the country. By the mid-1960s it had ceased to exist as a viable, mass-based organisation. It was never dissolved and, from time to time, the members attended historical funerals wearing their black and green uniforms.

In the early 1980s there was an attempt to revive the Federation. A 30th birthday celebration meeting was held in Mamelodi on 9 August 1984. On the 2 August 1986 a national assembly of women was held, followed a week later by a prayer service to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the march to Pretoria to protest against passes for women. Grassroots organisations were formed, including the Federation of South African Transvaal Women (FEDTRAW) in the Transvaal in December 1984, and others were formed in the Eastern and Western Cape, Natal and the Orange Free State.

In the Transvaal an interim committee was formed, an open day held on 1 June 1987 which included speakers from the old executive of FEDSAW and newsletters were published. In the Western Cape there was a regional launch in August 1987. Women demanded an end to conscription, a free equal educational system for all and the total abolition of apartheid. Further repression followed during the state of emergency and it was not until 1990 that women were free to demonstrate openly. In the intervening 30 years times had changed and many women had other loyalties than to FEDSAW. There had been a division in the ranks as not all women could subscribe to a total redistribution of wealth as demanded by some organisations. Many women preferred to join organisations like the African National Congress Women's League. As a national organisation FEDSAW has not been resurrected.

Joint Council of Europeans and Africans

  • Corporate body

The black-white joint councils appeared under a variety of names - Europeans and Africans/Non-Europeans/Bantu/Natives, according to the accepted nomenclature of the time. There were, in addition, Coloured-European and Indo-European joint councils. In only two instances did a joint council include Africans, Europeans and Coloureds (Bloemfontein and Umtata) and in only one case (Johannesburg) was there a separate council for European and African Women.

The joint councils owed their inspiration to two Americans, Dr. James Aggrey, who was black, and the Rev. Thomas Jesse Jones who was white. They came to South Africa in 1921 as members of' a commission sent by the Phelps-Stokes Foundation to enquire into education for Africans. They were deeply distressed by the signs of racial tension and advocated the introduction of inter-racial councils which had proved successful in the American south. They persuaded black leaders and white liberals, in particular C.T. Loram {Chief Inspector of Education in [Natal) and J.D. Rheinallt Jones (Secretary for the Witwatersrand Council of Education) to form racially mixed councils, adapting, where available, the native welfare societies, composed solely of whites.

The first joint council was established in Johannesburg in 1921. Soon joint councils sprang up in other towns throughout South Africa and also in Southern Rhodesia and the need became obvious for a national organisation. This resulted in the formation of the South African Institute of Race Relations in 1929 but joint councils continued to exist. There was a close relationship between the Institute and the joint councils. The Institute's secretariat helped to send out circulars and Institute staff such eel J.D. Rheinallt Jones, Ngakane and A.L. Saffery travelled the country encouraging the formation of new councils and trying to resurrect defunct ones. Despite efforts to link joint councils by newsletters, conferences and the Consultative Committee, essentially each council operated on its own and stood or fell according to the enthusiasm of its members.

The people who participated in joint councils were mostly from the professions. There were clergy of all denominations, including the Dutch Reformed Church, and without their help the councils could not have survived. From the universities there were people like E. Brookes, M. Hodgson (later Mrs Ballinger), L.A. Hoernlee, D.D.T. Jabavu and W.M. Macmillan. There were lawyers like D. Molteno, O.D. Schreiner and W.H. Ramsbottom, journalists like R.T. Mackenzie, R.F. Selope Thema and H. Selby Msimang, civil servants like C.T. Loram and Major J.F. Herbst, municipal officials like G. Ballenden, head of the Native Affairs Department of Johannesburg City Council and businessmen like J.H. Pim and M. Webb.

The aims of joint councils were:

  1. To promote the well-being of the Union and good relations between the European and Non-European peoples through discussion and practical co-operation.

  2. To investigate and deal with any matter affecting the relations of the races.

  3. To initiate or support measures for the amelioration of social and economic conditions, particularly within the Council's own areas.

  4. To make representation on specific matters to Governmental and other authorities.

  5. To publish the results of discussions and investigations on racial matters.

  6. To enlighten the public and create a sound public opinion on racial questions.".

Fundamental to all these objectives was the fact that a joint council involved the races working together. While not achieving all their aims they were instrumental in having improvements made in the living conditions of Non-Europeans, particularly in having clinics, creches and schools built. They took a strong line on questions of broad policy issues such as the Colour Bar legislation and organised campaigns to make the people's feelings known to government.

The joint councils had varying fortunes from those which had only a brief existence to others which functioned far many years such as Johannesburg (1921-1955), Grahamstown (1921-1973), Port Elizabeth (1924-1952), Pietermaritzburg, (1927-1960) and Pretoria (1934-1963). Lack of visible achievements led blacks to withdraw from the joint councils and join political organisations. Nevertheless, the joint council movement was an interesting experiment in race relations, in learning to work together within the existing system to bring about changes.

Native Economic Commission

  • Corporate body

The Commission was appointed in 1930 and headed by Dr. John Edward Holloway. The Terms of Reference of the Commission included an inquiry into "The economic and social conditions of Natives especially in the larger towns of the Union", which in essence was its main concern.

The Commission gathered its evidence mainly through submissions from all sectors of society and through public hearings throughout the Union of South Africa. The areas of inquiry were defined by a list of subjects, which were published in the Government Gazette and included amongst others: 'Tribal and Detribalised Natives', 'Land', 'Landless Native Population', 'Native Migrations', 'Native Agriculture', 'Rural and Urban Native Areas', 'Native Labour', 'Education of Natives', 'Native Taxation'.

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