Ekurhuleni. Phil Bonner

United Party UWUSA United Workers’ Union of South Africa VCA Vosloorus Civic Association VPP Vosloorus Progressive Party WEAU Women’s Enfranchisement Association of the Union WLJ Women’s League of Justice ZAR Zuid-Afrikaanse Republiek ZCC Zionist Christian Church

FOREWORD

      T he region known as Ekurhuleni today, together with the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, may be but just over a decade old, but the history that lies behind the towns that make it up and the region dates back more than a century.

      Ekurhuleni – The Making of an Urban Region was commissioned by the Metro a few years ago and put together, with dedication and passion, by Phil Bonner and Noor Nieftagodien of the History Workshop of the University of Witwatersrand. Writing a book that has historical significance and is accurate requires the following attributes: time, dedication and a love for history.

      This history book takes you back to the late 1700s and shows just how the area of Ekurhuleni, or the East Rand as it developed into, came about. It is an overview on the area, and the influx of people due to the mining that took place. In addition it talks about the political and class struggle, insubordinate women during the period of 1918–1945, the industrialisation of Ekurhuleni – which the region still prides itself in.

      It touches the history of informal settlements and the immigrant culture, politics, apartheid and the civil war in the region – and eventually the transformation within the country and, of course, our area of Ekurhuleni.

      This historical oversight on our area will take you on a journey in time through the mid-1990s, just prior to when the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality was formed together with the region of Ekurhuleni.

      History is something that is in the making all the time. Ekurhuleni has a history unique to its area and its people. This area has had some turbulent times, and violence has played a role in the eventual establishment of an area that has been baptised with a name that means ‘place of peace’ – Ekurhuleni.

      Today Ekurhuleni may be a young area and metropolitan municipality, but we have come a long way and with our feet firmly on the ground we have a long way to go.

      I trust and believe that Ekurhuleni – The Making of an Urban Region will be put to good use by students of history as well as to those who are a part of our area, those in transit, visitors and those who will always be a part of it.

      Enjoy this great read.

       Councillor Mondli Gungubele

      Executive Mayor

      Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      The proposal to write a book on the history of Ekurhuleni originated during conversations in 2005 between Duma Nkosi and Karuna Mohan, the Executive Mayor and Director of Local Economic Development of Ekurhuleni respectively, and members of the History Workshop. It was evident to all of us that, despite research previously undertaken by the History Workshop and others, there was a dearth of historical research on the region. This sense of neglect was compounded by the post-1994 proliferation of oral and liberation histories, as well as the burgeoning heritage sector, which seemed to have by-passed the former East Rand. We agreed to make efforts to publish histories on the constitutive towns and townships of the new Metropolitan City. And so began a seven year journey. The first phase of research and writing was completed at the end of 2008 at which point, however, it seemed the draft manuscript would disappear into a bureaucratic black hole. Fortunately, many people in the Ekurhuleni Metro were committed to seeing the project reach its conclusion and over a period of nearly three years supported initiatives to this end.

      Duma Nkosi’s successors as mayors, Ntombi Mekgwe and Mondli Gungubele, gave their backing to our endeavours. The office of the City Manager also facilitated meetings at crucial times to clear logjams and to inject new energy into the process. Charles Mabaso, Ernest Sigasa, Elizabeth Gumbi and Malibongwe Kanjana made themselves available at different times to ensure progress was made. Viva Mokoena played a crucial role in co-ordinating all of these efforts and championed the proposed publication at the highest levels of the city. The Heritage Division of the Metro’s Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture was formally responsible for liaising with our research team. This was fortuitous, as the officials from that department recognised the value of undertaking proper research not only to produce historical publications but also to contribute to the various heritage activities which they co-ordinate. Vincent Maumela and Reggie Mabogoane were enthusiastic partners whose determination over several years to see the ‘final product’ never wavered. Their support has been invaluable. Over the years several other people contributed in numerous ways to the collective effort. Among these were Hannelie Swart and Gwen Shole-Menyatso, who were generous with their time. Lizz Mey has acted as the primary contact between the History Workshop and the municipality for several years and has shepherded the project through many difficult moments, whilst having to negotiate two intricate bureaucracies. Her patience and dedication have been absolutely crucial in ensuring the publication of the book.

      As explained in the ‘Introduction’, much of the research on which this book is based was undertaken by former and current members of the History Workshop. Nonetheless, it was evident from the start that there were major lacunae in the extant literature, which this particular project could only make a modest contribution to addressing. One serious gap that we had been aware of for some time pertained to the history of those young activists who, from the mid-1980s, joined underground structures and participated in various forms of military activities. Their relationship to the democratic dispensation had been a source of contention, so they were suspicious of researchers associated with the Metro. They had expressed for some time a deep frustration with their exclusion from official liberation histories. Sello Mathabatha, who was then employed as an oral historian at the History Workshop, spent several months interacting with groups of activists from Duduza, KwaThema and Tsakane. They eventually agreed to be interviewed, which process generated rich and novel insights into events such as the ‘Zero Hour’ incident. We are grateful that they trusted us with some of their memories. Sello Mathabatha’s skills as an oral historian again proved indispensable and produced an invaluable oral archive.

      At the start of the project a team of students was mobilised to undertake archival research in various local libraries and municipal offices in Ekurhuleni, as well as Historical and Literary Papers and the National Archives, in search of official records, newspaper reports and whatever records of community organisations they could find. Faeeza Ballim and Dasantha Pillay ably led this group. The librarians, curators and administrators of museums throughout Ekurhuleni and at the University of the Witwatersrand gave access to archives, photographic collections and reports, without which it would not have been possible to write a history of the region.

      Tshepo Moloi’s MA dissertation on Tembisa assisted significantly in overcoming the absence of historical material on that township and influenced our thinking on youth politics in the decades of the 1970s and 1980s. Other colleagues at the university, especially Marie Huchzermeyer, Alan Mabin and David Everatt fielded question about contemporary Ekurhuleni and pointed us to the appropriate literature. Our administrators in the History Workshop and the NRF Chair on Local Histories and Present Realities – Zahn Gowar, Gugulethu Nyathikazi,