T E EST LISH ENT OF fibLACK WNSHIPS S UTH F ICA WITH PA TICUL EFE ENCE TO THE EST LISHMENT F VEYTi N T S t I N T E EAST N

SI NGALISO SAMUEL. • LINGA

SHORT DISSERTATION SUBIAFTTED AS PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUI EMENTS FOR THE DEG EE OF

STE F TS

IN

HISTORY

11N THE

FACULTY OF ARTS

AT THE

tur ID AFRI NS WEKSITY

SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR G VE r 0E7

NOVE E 1997

THE ES TA m, LIS 'WENT OF %LACK TOWNSHRIPS III UTH AF KCA WITH P TICULA 4Z E FE "" E NC E TO 7HE ESTA:III 1SHMENT I F AVEYTON ON THE EAST RND

BY

SX NGALIS (I) S UEIL \ A, LINGA

N 4 YE E 1997

The fi ancial assist ce of the Center for Scie ce evelop ealt (r SRC, South Africa) towards this reset.. rch is hereby cknowledged. Opinio s expressed and conclusions arrived t9 ar those of the author a 11 d are of ecessarily to ttributed to the Cent r for Science evelop etc to II

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the following:

Professor G Verhoef for her resourcefulness, guidance and professional advice in the compilation of this work.

My wife, Manozi and children, Ayanda, Nandi and Sandile whose love and care have always been a motivating factor for me.

My friends and colleagues who sacrificed their time to assist me with distribution of questionnaires, their support and motivation.

Mrs. M Snyman for her willingness and expertise in typing the essay.

Above all, God the Almighty who gave courage to persevere. m

A iiS STRACT

The purpose of this study is to find factors which influenced the establishment of townships in South Africa, with special reference to Daveyton on the East Rand.

Research has shown that townships in South Africa were established as a means of clearing the slum and squatter areas, that were mushrooming in and around towns and cities of South Africa. This was also in line with the policy of the South African Government of establishing racially segregated residential areas.

Daveyton established in 1955 as a model township, was a means of providing proper accommodation to the inhabitants of the Apex squatter camp near Benoni, who were living in squalid conditions.

The "site and service" scheme was implemented in Daveyton and families from the Apex squatter camp moved to Daveyton. The movement to Daveyton was voluntary. IV

OPSOMMIING

Die doel van hierdie studie is om die faktore te bepaal wat die totstandkoming van townships in Suid-Afrika, met spesiale verwysing na Daveyton op die Oos-Rand, beitivloed het.

Navorsing het getoon dat townships in Suid-Afrika tot stand gebring is as 'n maatreel om die agterbuurte en plakkersgebiede wat besig was om soos paddastoele rondom die dorpe en stede van Suid-Afrika te ontstaan, op te ruim. Dit was ook in ooreenstemming met die Suid-Afrikaanse Regering se beleid om woongebiede te skep wat op grond van ras geskei is.

Daveyton, wat in 1955 as 'n modeltownship tot stand gebring is, was 'n maatreel om behoorlike behuising aan die inwoners van die Apex- plakkerskamp naby Benoni, wat in haglike omstandighede geleef het, te verskaf.

Die "erf-en-dienste"-skema is in Daveyton in werking gestel en gesinne van die Apex-plakkerskamp het Daveyton toe getrek. Die verhuising na Daveyton was vrywillig. TA LE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 1 1.1 EXPOSITION OF THE PROBLEM 2 1.2 AIM OF THE STUDY AND TIME FRAME 3 1.3 RESEARCH METHOD 3 1.4 CONCEPT CLARIFICATION 4 1.5 HISTORIOGRAPHY ON BLACK TOWNSHIPS AND URBANISATION 6 1.6 CONCLUSION 16 REFERENCES 18 GOVERNMENT POLICY REGARDING TOWNSHIPS 21 2.1 THE NEED FOR ADEQUATE HOUSING 27 2.2 METHODS EMPLOYED TO PROVIDE BLACK HOUSING 30 2.3 REACTION OF BLACKS TOWARDS HOUSING PROVISION 36 REFERENCES 39 PROCLAMATION OF DAVEYTON AS A TOWNSHIP 42 3.1 BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT 48 OF A BLACK TOWNSHIP 3.2 PLANNING OF DAVEYTON 52 3.3 TYPES OF SCHEMES USED TO ERECT HOUSES IN 51 DAVEYTON 3.4 FAMILY COMPOSITION OF INHABITANTS OF 56 DAVEYTON 3.5 RACIAL GROUPING AND ZONING OF DAVEYTON 57 3.6 ETHNIC GROUPING IN DAVEYTON 59 3.7 ESTABLISHMENT OF DAVEYTON 63 3.9 CONCLUSION 64 REFERENCES 66 CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES IN DAVEYTON 69 4.1 MARRIED ACCOMMODATION 73 4.2 SINGLE ACCOMMODATION 75 ii

4.3 ACCOMMODATION ACCORDING TO ETHNIC GROUPS 75 4.4 PROVISION OF AMENITIES 79 4.4.1 COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL CENTRES 79 4.4.2 RECREATION GROUND 81 4.4.3 OLD AGE HOME AND CRECHES 82 4:4.4 BEER HALLS 83 4.5 PROVISION OF ESSENTIAL SERVICES 84 4.5.1 WATER SUPPLY 85 4.5.2 ELECTRICITY 88 4.5.3 TRANSPORT SERVICES 89 4.6 OCCUPATION AND OPENING OF DAVEYTON 90 REFERENCES 91 DEVELOPMENT IN DAVEYTON 93 5.1 BUILDINGS AND OTHER DWELLINGS 93 5.2 THE ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT OF DAVEYTON 101 5.3 PROBLEMS AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS 109 5.4 PHYSICAL LAYOUT OF DAVEYTON 113 REFERENCES 114 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 116 REFERENCES 129 SOURCE LIST 131 ADDENDUM: QUESTIONNAIRE 141 1 INTRODUCTION AND ACKGROUND There are various reports published previously and recently concerning the vast housing backlogs in Black townships. Black townships are coupled by overcrowding, the mushrooming of informal settlements, evictions, removals and the inability of the tenants to pay rentals. These reports focused the attention on the Black housing problem that faced South Africa and that is still causing a heavy outcry from Black South Africans.

Seemingly the problem of Black housing started with the movement or the drift of Blacks from the rural areas which were predominantly "Black" to urban areas which were predominantly "White". The response to this movement often resulted to contradictory emergency measures from the government and the various local authorities. These measures provided little, if any, satisfactory or long-lasting solutions to the Black housing problem.

It is therefore the purpose of this study to review the historical processes or forces that influenced the demand and supply of houses for urban Blacks. According to Morris the policies adopted to provide housing for urban Blacks have been inappropriate and need to be critically reassessed. (1) Hence the study will focus on the forces that led to the creation and establishment of Daveyton as an area designated to accommodate Blacks who were infiltrating Benoni as a White area.

Housing is one of the basic needs of man, the most important after the provision of food and water. It is also one of the most important indicators of a person's standard of living or social well being. (2)

The Black Urban Areas Consolidation Act No. 25 of 1945, as amended, Section 2(1) (D) made it the responsibility of the local authorities to provide suitable and adequate housing for the Blacks legally employed in urban areas. (3) It was therefore necessary for any local authority, when starting any township scheme, to aim at achieving four objectives, namely the maintenance 2 of the health of the occupants, environment designed to discourage anti-social

practises, permanence with a minimum of maintenance and self sufficiency. (4)

This statement therefore correlates with what Morris stressed as the potential benefits of housing, namely, that housing may fulfil a number of interrelated individual, family or community needs, namely: physical, financial security, social status, responsibility, security, choice and awareness. (5) These factors make it clear that the potential benefits of housing derive not only from the house itself, but also from the way in which the house is provided.

Turner has argued that the way in which the houses are provided is a fact of greater importance to the occupant and the community than an over-emphasis on the physical qualities of the house. This may mean that many of the other potential benefits could be lost. (6) In South Africa the building of houses for Blacks in the townships was characterised by provision of housing as a mass produced product to specified minimum standards, as cheaply and as quickly as possible through the standardisation of plans and a rationalisation of construction processes. (7) Nell contends that during the late 1960's and 1970's the mass - housing approach became increasingly viewed as inappropriate. Few developing countries, including South Africa, had sufficient financial resources to provide minimum standard shelter for the increasing urban Black

population, hence the approach was bound to fail. (8)

1.1 EXPOSITION OF T E P 0 LEM This study will analyse the assumption that there was a need for the establishment of Daveyton to counter the mushrooming of the Apex squatter camp that threatened to flood the town of Benoni as a result of the inflow of Blacks from the rural areas.

Research will also focus on the forces behind the creation and establishment of Daveyton, that is, factors that warranted the removal 3

of Blacks from Apex to an area which was far from town and the place of work for most of the people removed from Apex squatter camp.

This study will also focus on the response of the inhabitants of Apex to the establishment of Daveyton whether there was any resistance on their part against removals or did the inhabitants support the removals?

1.2 AIM OF THE STUDY AND TIME FRAME The aim of this study is to uncover the forces behind the creation and establishment of Black townships in South Africa with special reference to Daveyton. This will cover the period starting from when the idea of establishing Daveyton was mooted to the time when the location was fully established in the late 1960's to the 1970's. This study will give a review of the existing structures in Daveyton with regard to forces that influenced them being erected.

This study will also try to assess how these structures met or did not meet the demand and supply to the people of Daveyton, investigate if there were or are any possibilities of improving on the existing structure and, establish the response of the inhabitants whether resistance or support.

1.3 RESEA C MET OD A study of the relevant literature as well as documents published by the central government department responsible for Black affairs, then known as the Department of Native Affairs, which changed names to be eventually called the Department of Co-operation and Development, will be undertaken.

Acts and regulations related to the establishment of Black housing and the government policies, will be studied. Oral evidence of the people involved and who were interviewed, will also be taken into account. 4

A random survey has been conducted in Daveyton among the inhabitants of Daveyton who were resettled from the Apex squatter camp. Questionnaires were circulated to all the ethnic groups in their ethnic sections. The aim was to ascertain from the residents who were directly involved in the resettlements as to how Daveyton was established. The questionnaire focused mainly on questions about resettlement, as to whether it was voluntary or forced, whether generally people were happy or unhappy about the movement to Daveyton, the allocation of houses according to ethnic groups, how they found conditions in Daveyton compared to Apex and what improvements would they like to see in Daveyton.

The response was excellent and the majority of the respondents answered all the questions in a satisfactory manner.

1.4 CONCEPT CLAIREFICA'11 ION TOWNS 11111: A place where non-white citizens live in South Africa. (9Y Black residential areas are also referred to as locations in South Africa. Conditions in these areas vary, but generally formal housing is provided in the form of rent and is sometimes for sale. These areas are supposed to be typically better off with regard to services and facilities than in squatter settlements. NATIVE: Someone who belongs to an earlier or original people, especially the non-European living in a place. (10) In South Africa Blacks have been referred to as Natives, Bantu and Africans. In this paper Native will refer to Blacks living in South Africa. SitUATEERS: According to Platzky and Walker in South Africa this term is used to refer to people living illegally on land without the permission of the landowner. The official use of the term is far 5 broader and looser, and it may be used to describe any Black person whose presence on a particular piece of land is not approved of by the authorities, regardless of the nature of the agreement between the occupant and the landowner." It will refer here to people living illegally on white-owned land, on tribal land and on state owned land. SQUATTE SETTLEMENTS: Walker defined these as areas of settlement which are not planned or approved by the local authorities or the state. Housing is erected by the occupants of the land themselves, generally from unorthodox building materials. The areas are densely populated and generally poorly serviced. (12) For the sake of uniformity this thesis will refer to squatter camps.

REMOVAL, RELOCATION AND RESETTLEMENT: According to the Surplus People Project, all these terms are commonly used to describe both the overall policy and the processes involved in the massive state-sponsored removals of people, almost all of them Black, from one area to another, that have characterised the apartheid system. (13) In this paper the terms will be used in the same fashion.

INFLUX C NTR L: Platzky refers to this as a network of legislation and regulations which controls African access to the urban industrial centres situated in what was known to be "White" South Africa. This severely limited the numbers of Africans as Black people allowed to live and work there, to those qualifying in terms of section 10 of the Urban Areas Act of 1923, as amended.(14)

6

GROUP AREAS: These are areas that have been proclaimed solely for occupation by members of a particular race group, either White, Coloured, Indian or Blacks in terms of the Group Areas Act of 1950. The Act also affected trading rights and inter-racial property transactions." 8. U 11, ANISATION: This concept refers to the increase in the population living in urban areas. (16) In this study the term will denote migration from rural to urban areas of both Black and White people of South Africa. eC OMELANDS: Homelands are geographically demarcated and constitutionally defined reserves for Black Africans within the boundaries of the Republic of South Africa. (17) These reserves are also called Bantustans and they were supposed to become politically independent in terms of the apartheid policy of the South African government.

1.5 HMO GRAPHY ON ac> LACK TOWNSH II" S AND U < is=ANISATION: There are various books and articles that have been written and published on the creation and establishment of Black townships. This study will be limited to the period of the late fifties and the late sixties. During that time little material is available that was written from a Black perspective, that is material written by Blacks on the establishment of townships in South Africa. The material available was written by Whites from a White perspective or from the government's point of view with very little input from the Black inhabitants of the townships, and people who were affected by the process. 7

This has therefore made it necessary that more research be undertaken to fill the gap that was opened by the less or non-consultation of Blacks when writing about locations which became part of their daily livelihood.

As provision of housing for Blacks has in recent years gained increasing prominence as one of South Africa's most pressing challenges, backlogs have grown rapidly, and housing has become a rallying point for focusing antagonism on the authorities, particularly among low income urban communities where housing shortages and social problems are still most severe.

Though it was generally agreed that the problem of providing housing for Blacks in urban areas was to be dealt with effectively, there was no agreement as to how to do so. Confusion was widespread, both as to the causes of the problem and what overall approaches should be adopted, and this was most prevalent with regard to the urban Black population.

Bonner maintains that the squatter movements on the Rand traced their origins to the structural changes that took place during the 1920's in the White farming areas of the former provinces of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. The Black labour tenants, who lived in these areas, were allegedly exploited more harshly and ruthlessly by capitalists and increasingly sub-divideding struggling White farmers. The brief explosion of resistance from rural farm workers led by the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union was one expression of this pressure. Emigration to the towns and city fringes was another. (18)

According to Bonner, as early as 1927, G. Ballender, then Manager for Non-European Affairs for Johannesburg, complained of six hundred Black families streaming into Johannesburg each year, and it is highly 8

probable that the Beat bulk of these were fleeing from the farms. This exodus gathered force under the impact of a devastating drought which gripped the whole of South Africa in 1932-3. Certainly the greater proportion of immigrants that arrived in Brakpan and Benoni at that time were coming from farms all over the Transvaal, and were augmented by increasing numbers from the African reserves whose economies were also cracking in this period of stress. (19)

The flood of immigrants to the towns changed the face of Black urban life. The municipalities initially reacted by attempting to impose a tighter system of permits on women and lodgers. The alternative for Blacks to seeking sub-tenancies in the towns was to squat on White small-holdings in the peri-urban areas. This took place on a wide scale until the land surrounding the main urban areas, both the Reef and around South Africa's other main towns was flooded by squatter camps.

Sapire who undertook an in depth study of Brakpan near Benoni, provided statistics indicating that in Brakpan alone on the Far East end of the Rand, a population of between nine thousand and twelve thousand Blacks lived on the small holdings, a figure which increased to twenty three thousand by the late nineteen fifties. She contends that even greater numbers lived on the fringes of Johannesburg and Benoni, Benoni being our main area of study, and that it is probable that a population of close to hundred thousand people who had only a limited exposure to Black urban culture, lived on the urban outskirts by the latter stages of the second world war. (20)

In these congested and increasingly unhygienic Black dwellings frustration and tensions progressively built up. Crankshaw put it that the frustrations finally erupted towards the end of the Second World 9

War in a succession of squatter movements that spread across the Rand.(2"

These were organised by grass roots community leaders who, having mobilised a following, organised invasions of what was usually municipally-owned land. They established rudimentary administrations for newly formed squatter settlement which in most cases were subsequently taken over or remained municipally-controlled "emergency" or squatter camps. The most important of these were set up around Johannesburg and Benoni, beginning with the squatter movements of James "Sofasonke" Mpanza in Johannesburg and Harry Mabuya in Benoni in April 1944 and December 1945 respectively. (22)

By the end of 1946, 63 000 people were living in Johannesburg's squatter camps alone. At this time the squatter movement paused for a_ while until it was restarted by a huge squatter movement to Apex near Benoni in July 1950. Within ten months its population had swelled to 18 000. Coincidentally the squatters had settled exactly within the boarders of the planned new Apex industrial area. As a result they could not be moved. In terms of the then existing legislation on housing, such squatters could only be displaced once alternative accommodation had been found. (23) By settling on the newly proclaimed industrial area, the squatters had thus check-mated the Council. Industry could not expand until alternative housing for the squatters had been built. Only at that stage did the Council seriously begin to regulate the influx of migrant labour. (24)

Mr. F. Mahungela who was working at New Kleinfontein mine in 1950 recalled the influx of miners into the vacant industrial land which became the Apex squatter camps: "They were people from Rietpan (small-holding) who came to New Kleinfontein at night having parcels in boxes and so on. I was actually 10

woken up. These people wanted some water and I gave them. They came in hundreds. There were men and women and their children. I asked them where they were going to, and they told me they had come to build their shacks. Early in the morning there were shacks erected all over the place". 25'

This shows how easy it had been to defy the Council and build a shack on the Council's land and be protected by legislation. A concern for anarchy was raised by J. Mathewson as early as November 1949. Mathewson, then Manager Non-European Affairs for Benoni, complained of the council's reluctance to control the influx of Blacks

into Benoni. (26)

During the late 1960 and the early 1970s, intellectuals with different theoretical outlooks attempted to explain the conflicts which were developing around the provision of Black housing and related issues in the South African townships officially classified as Black. Several of these writers adopted the view that housing and other social questions arose inevitably out of the natural migration pattern from the countryside, to the towns, and had been worsened by the governments apartheid policy. Other analysts proposed that class conflict was the major factor contributing to the fundamental shortage and relatively high cost of housing in the residential locations. (27) These theorists who percieved class conflict as the major factor shaping the establishment of thownships, were sympathetic towards what they viewed as the just aspirations of an oppressed majority for bigger, better and cheaper accommodation than the squatters.

Liberal writers like Franszen, Sadie, Maasdorp, Pillay, Morris, Mullins and Van der Wall all assumed that the population explosion and rural- urban migration were the major causes of urbanisation and more particularly of the Black housing shortage. (28) These assumptions were 1 1

also held by the Urban Foundation and the SA Institute of Race Relations, which are organisations which had committed themselves to seeking a solution to the housing shortage. In addition Maasdorp, Pillay and Morris also argued that the political intentions of the National Party was an important factor that contributed to the housing problems. As they wanted to enforce separate residential areas. (29)

Wilkinson, a radical writer, argued that the problem which confronted the policy makers of the National Party in 1948, was the danger that the masses of homeless people who concentrated in the major urban areas, might again resort to autonomous action to secure the shelter essential for their physical reproduction." °)

This therefore brings us to the reasons for and forces that led to the creation and establishment of townships in South Africa. Davenport saw the creation and establishment of townships as a tool that was used to curb social and health problems that existed in the squatter camps in South Africa, because urbanisation of all race groups proceeded apace during the first half of the twentieth century and many people who went to town, were poor. The adjustment of country-men to the new experience of town life was sometimes difficult, because it involved not only a new way of life, but also contact with members of other races and cultures." 1)

On the other hand the view that the government, in providing housing for urban Blacks, was to clear the squatter camps and the social problems that existed in them, is also shared by Bonner when he contends that from the mid-fifties key aspects of social problems were ameliorated in places like Johannesburg and Benoni as a result of housing and other reforms. Places like Wattville and Daveyton, which were constructed in the early and late fifties substantially eased pressure in accotrunodation."21 Similarly in 1953 to 1954 the Central labour 12

Bureau enjoyed some success in opening up jobs to juvenile labour, because for most of the 1940's and 1950's urban life for Blacks was brutalised and unstable as to leave its mark on a whole generation of Urban Black children. (33)

Again Legassick agrees with the other writers on Black housing, that in the housing field, whatever the long-term goals, it was recognised that there must be a transition period of industrial growth at existing centres and hence the problem of Black housing. (34) Therefore it was indeed the Nationalist Government that secured the construction of housing to replace the shanty-towns and squatter slums that had ringed the towns and cities in the 1940's.

This was certainly done in such a manner as to remove Black freehold rights whenever possible, to ensure easily policed townships and in later stages, to increase single rather than married accommodation. But this incorporated an earlier liberal programme, that is, permission for Black artisans to engage in the construction of houses for Blacks and a levy on employers to provide some of the cost of such housing and later of provision of transport.

Laying down stringent conditions for construction of such townships, Dr. Verwoerd remarked that they should not be seen as "Native Areas", but as "European owned property and the Natives who reside there reside just as Native labourers live on the farm of a European ownee'. (35)

Therefore one can conclude that the creation and establishment of Black townships was a means by the government of clearing out the slum conditions that surrounded towns and cities, and at the same time providing accommodation for its labour market at the outskirts of 13

towns and cities, according to the government policy of racial segregated residential areas in South Africa.

The Fagan commission of 1946 to 1948 was clear that the regulation of African movement was essential because where Native communities became settled in the vicinity of White ones, or Natives entered the services of Europeans, a certain amount of regulation was necessary for the maintenance of the principle of residential separation, and where there were contacts between races differing so greatly from one another for the purpose of checking both exploitation from one side and undesirable intrusion from others. (36)

Thus the combination of racial and class tension with real poverty aggravated conditions in the early twentieth century, as slums began to develop in the larger centres. The pressure to clear the slums arose, and was precipitated to a marked degree by the outbreak of epidemics. Davenport and Hunt therefore observed that the work of slum clearance came to be seen as an opportunity by the government to bring in racial segregation. This lead to the establishment of urban townships or locations. Ironically, the locations though established for health reasons, were generally health hazards as basic services were neglected or not provided at all, and there was a shortage of housing. (37)

From the mid fifties key aspects of social problems were reduced in places like Johannesburg and Benoni as a result of the provision of housing and other reforms by the government scheme of purposeful town-planning. In Benoni for example two huge new housing schemes in Wattville and Daveyton which were constructed in the early and late nineteen fifties, substantially eased the pressure on accommodation.

The erection of these townships had a notable transitional importance. Lodge put it that in the 1950's the Black population of Benoni, 14

Germiston and Brakpan were to be subjected to the full thrust of Afrikaner and Nationalist social engineering. During this period vast geometrically planned and tightly administered "model" townships were erected and in each case at a considerable distance from the city centre. Slowly township inhabitants were screened and sorted and resettled according to what the Minister of Native Affairs approved of. (38)

But during the nineteen eighties it became government policy to switch the home building effort to the towns and settlements of the h omel and s.(39)

The township of Benoni, Daveyton was among the first municipalities in the Union to comply with the Group Areas Act. In terms of living space, housing standards and sanitation, the new townships may have represented an improvement to the old location, but the fashion in which these changes were implemented evoked widespread resentment. (40)

The settlements tended to speed up a process of social differentiation within the local communities. The townships were isolated from city centres and therefore provided improved business opportunities for Black traders, and with their own administrations created a certain degree of clerical employment. This and their geographical features tended to make it less conducive for political leaders to evoke a united communal response to a particular issue. The strength of political movements of the 1950's in the old location of the East Rand was no accident. With the start of the resettlements which lasted more than a decade, the old location became even more neglected and their inhabitants increasingly insecure about their future. (41)

On the other hand however the strengths of squatter politics was matched by a corresponding weakness. A pre-occupation with daily 15

problems of social order and survival for example lent them to an unintroveted character which narrowed their political organisation. In Apex and its successor township, Daveyton, squatter residents gave negligible support to the Women's National Anti-pass Campaign and an ANC inspired resistance to ethnic zoning proved a total failure. (42)

This therefore shows that the forces behind the location and establishment of townships in South Africa were the government policies that were meant to separate residential areas along colour lines. This was in fact in accordance with the report of the Stallard Commission of 1922 which recommended that the native should only be allowed to enter the urban areas, which are essentially the White man's creation, when he is willing to enter and administer to the needs of the White man, and should depart there from when he ceases to minister. (43)

A survey of the literature suggests approximately a dozen possible motives or reasons for Black urban settlement and segregation. Most direct towards a materialist position, while the drive for political domination and control has been emphasized by others. Robinson highlights the significance of the Black townships as a strategy for building state power.(44) Hart too stressed the role of the state in promoting urban segregation in persuit of political goals even if it went against the logic of capital accumulation. (45) Maylam contends that in most case studies of urban Black segregation in South Africa reference is always made of the sanitation syndrome which explains urban segregation in terms of moral panic and racial hysteria, as Whites increasingly came to associate the Black urban presence with squatters, disease and crime. (46)

Reading from these general statements, one is drawn to the conclusion that Black townships were a means of slum clearance driven by racial 16

separation. Examples of these could be seen in South Africa when the spread of Bubonic plague from 1901 to 1904 was always followed by White ratepayers demands for greater racial segregation. (47)

A review of the urban historiography shows that it is difficult both to pinpoint the origin of urban racial segregation in South Africa, and to isolate dominant motives. Equally complex has been the process of urban segregation. A numer of mechanisms have been employed over the decades to bring about a peculiar race based spatial organisation of South African cities. One view stresses the significance of the 1950 Group Areas Act as the key measure that brought about urban segregation, but the Group Areas Act was only one of the many pieces of legislation enacted over the years and drawn up to push segregation further. (48)

1.6 CONCLUSION Segregation was therefore an essential form of Government spatial control over residential space, but residential segregation by itself was an insufficient means of achieving the kind of overall control for which the state was striving. The segregated space set aside for the occupation of the Blacks was also subjected to control. This control took various forms. Housing policy for instance, was geared not only towards providing shelter but also towards the regulation or subjugation of urban Blacks. (49)

A local state apparatus responsible for Native Administration was established in each of the major urban areas. This body further regulated the lives of those that fell under its authority. Access to municipal political space was closed down, instead forms of co-option were created in an attempt to head off the growth of urban social movements. On top of all this access to the towns and cities 17 themselves, segregated space within the towns and cities were tightly regulated by influx control and the pass laws.

Formal Black housing is found both on the periphery of White South African cities and within the former homelands. In the 1950's and 1960's the state engaged in a massive housing construction programme in the periphery of White towns and cities. Again Reintges supports other liberal writers that this was undertaken largely to achieve control over Black freehold areas and shack settlements. (50) Since the state rented the formal housing that it constructed to "legal" Blacks only, it was able to expel to the rural areas all those Blacks redundant to the economic functions located within the cities. Having constructed barely sufficient housing units to accommodate the "legal" urban Blacks, the state ceased construction and focused its attention on areas more peripheral to the White cities, the former homeland areas. 18

REFIERENCES Chapter 1 P. Morris: A History of Black Housing in South Africa, p. 1. C.F. Swart: Urban Housing in South Africa, p. 72. J.E. Mathewson: The Establishment of an Urban Bantu Township, p. 7. D.M. Calderwood: Native Housing in South Africa, p. 4. P. Morris: A History of ..., p. 2. A. Turner: Cities of the Poor: Settlements planning in Developing Countries, p. 51. Ibid., p. 52. M.A.E. Nell: Housing South Africa's Black Population, Juta's South African Journal of Property, 1987, p. 2. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English: 1987, p. 1172. Longman p. 725. L. Platzky and C. Walker: The Surplus People: Forced removals in South Africa, p. 14. Ibid., p. 12. Ibid., p. 1. 'bid , p. 9. Ibid., p. 12. D. Gelderblom and P. Kok: Urbanisation: South Africa's Challenge, p. 200. Ibid, p. 255. P.L. Bonner: The Politics of Black Squatter Movement on the Rand 1944- 1952, Radical History Review, No. 46-47, p. 90. 'bid, p. 91. H. Sapire: African Political Organisation in Brakpan in the 1950's, pp. 172-3. 0. Crankshaw: Squatting, Apartheid and Urbanisation on Southern Witwatersrand, African Affairs, 1993, p. 33. P.L. Bonner: The Politics ..., p. 93. P.L. Bonner: Family Crime and Political Consciousness on the Rand 1939- 1955. Journal of Southern African Studies, April 1988, p. 400. D, Humphris and D.G. Thomas: Benoni: Son of my Sorrow, p. 121. 19

P.L. Bonner: The Politics ..., p. 105. Benoni Municipal Archives, Non-European Affairs Committee Minutes, Meeting of 11 November 1949, p. 588. P. Hendler: Capital accumulation and conurbation: Rethinking the social geography of Black townships. (South African Geographical Journal, 1987, p. 45). Ibid, p. 52. Ibid, p. 60. P. Wilkinson: A place to live: The resolution of the African housing crisis in Johannesburg 1944 to 1954. p. 23. T.R.H. Davenport and K.S. Hunt: The Right to the Land, p. 2. P.L. Bonner: Family, Crime ..., p. 404. C.L. Glaser: Student, Tsotsis and Congress Youth League 1944-1955, pp. 80- 82. M. Legassick: Legislation Ideology and Economy in Post 1948 South Africa. Journal of Southern African Studies, 1975, p. 50. Ibid., p. 31. Ibid., p. 34. T.R.H. Davenport and K.S. Hunt: The right to ... , p. 63. W. Cohn: "Influx control and Black resistance in Apartheid South Africa. Transafrica Forum, 1986, p. 75. T. Lodge: The parent school boycott 1955, p. 386. Ibid, p. 387. A.J. Christopher: Roots of urban segregation in South Africa at the Union 1910. Journal of Historical Geography, 1988, p. 154. P.L. Bonner: The Politics of ..., p. 107. T.R.H. Davenport: African Townsmen: South African Native (Urban Areas) legislation through the years. African Affairs, 1969, p. 95. I. Robinson: The power of Apartheid: Territoriality and State Power in South African cities - Port Elizabeth 1923-1972. p. 323. D. Hart: Master Plans: The South African government's razing of Sophiatown, Cato Manor and District Six. p. 267. 20

P. Maylam: Explaining the Apartheid city: 20 years of South African urban historiography. Journal of Southern African Studies, 1995. p. 24. Ibid. Ibid, p. 27. C.M. Reintges: Urban movement in South African Black Townships: A case study. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 1990. p. 12. 21

CHAPTER 2

2. GOVERNMENT POLICY REGARDING TOWNSHIPS

In South Africa there has been hundreds of laws and regulations which were

aimed at controlling the presence and regulating the existence of Blacks in the

cities and towns of the country. The South African Government since the

union have built their racial policies around the concept of segregation through

the construction of various types of vertical or horizontal barriers.

At the time of the Union there was a pressing need for the government to

tackle the manifold problems which stemmed from the urbanisation of poor

Whites and poor Blacks. Overcrowding, the spread of disease, the growth of

crime and violence were seen primarily as a social problem. The statute book

therefore carried measures which separated Whites and Blacks on land, placed

different race groups on separate electoral rolls, which segregated Indians from

Whites and which imposed residential segregation on a wide range of ethnic

groups of South African societies. (1)

The relevant legislation, the Native Affairs Urban Areas Act was first

considered in 1912, but enacted in 1923 and amended in 1930, 1937 and 1944,

consolidated in 1945 and re-amended in 1945. 2) The Bill of 1923 was

measured closely to the Native Affairs Administration Bill of 1918, which

proved to be generous to Blacks in its encouragement to hold free rights in

urban areas. (3)

The Bill of 1923 retained freehold recommendations and was introduced

simultaneously with the Native Registration and Protection Bill. (4) The aim was

to cut out all the main irritants in the pass laws. Yet the Act was by later

standards, not a harsh measure. Segregation as a slogan did not in itself define

urban policy, for it left two courses of action open, either the strict

implementation of the Stallard doctrine that in urban areas White men had 22 rights and Black men had none, or the partitioning of urban areas into parcels in which Black men and White men had separate rights.

On the other hand authorities maintained that the Act of 1923 instituted five principles for urban policy, later to be amended, expanded and consolidated, but never in the period under consideration to be totally removed. These were: Control of influx into the towns and efflux from the countryside, and a linked system of labour allocation. The establishment and control of Black townships by local authorities and residential segregation. The self financing of facilities and amenities, certain means of collective consumption, by the inhabitants of the townships themselves, through a separate Native Revenue Account administered by the local authority. The limiting and eventual total curbing of land purchases by Blacks in urban areas. The refusal to grant any further political rights to Blacks in the towns and cities, beyond those exercised through purely consultative bodies, advisory boards being the first in this tradition in a two-tier system of local government. Those rights were gradually whittled away and then totally removed. (5)

On the other hand there is good evidence that in the early 1920's the Stallard doctrine met with much opposition, but there was a widespread fear especially among parliamentarians from the former Orange Free State, that the extension of rights to Africans in towns might in the long term undermine the security of the White man. Opposition from White Free Staters to freehold rights for Africans in urban locations in the twenties, was matched by their opposition to trading rights for them in the thirties. (6)

However, it was only after the passing of the Native (Urban areas) Act in 1923 that the seeds of conflict and discontent regarding the continued existence of areas like Sophiatown and Benoni old location were truly shown, as freehold 23 rights for Africans in the towns and cities were in direct contradiction to the ideas exposed by segregationists such as CF Stallard. Moreover during the 1930's the existence of these suburbs were strongly opposed by both neighbouring White ratepayers and real estate companies, who were anxious about the effect of a high density poor community on property prices. This opposition was also voiced at the municipal level and culminated in the adoption of the resettlement schemes starting in 1944. Due to a chronic shortage of funds and the inability of municipal councils to find a solution to the housing crisis, the implementation of the resettlement scheme was

delayed. (7)

As mentioned earlier, municipalities were required to keep separate Native Revenue Accounts, into which revenue contributed by location residents from rents, fines and beer hall profits could be paid. All such revenue had to be spent on the welfare of the location which had not been the case before, and location budgets were subjected to departmental perusal. Davenport pointed out that it was only in the 1940's that the principle became commonly accepted that locations should receive additional financial support from general municipal revenue, while the compulsory involvement of employment of White officials in the welfare of municipal locations was increased by the Native Service Levy Act of 1952. (8)

It is therefore proper to believe that the Act provided the skeleton for subsequent urban areas legislation, because of its empowerment of urban local authorities to set aside land for occupation by Blacks in separate areas known as townships or locations, and to house Blacks living in the town or required by their employers to do so. This prevented Europeans from owning or occupying premises in locations and prevented unexempted Blacks from living outside them, though their right to buy property outside locations was not taken away until 1937. Restrictions were imposed on Black residence in peri- urban areas, a problem which continued to plague the Union of South Africa for many years. 24

The Act laid down the basis for the system of Advisory Boards. There had to be a board in each location, containing at least three Black members, either elected or appointed, with a chairman who was normally a European. The board's powers were to be advisory only, and as a result the system never really brought alive a responsible interest in local government among Blacks.

Considerable efforts were made to establish a proper basis of representation for some of the boards during the 1930's through the division of locations into blocks, each returning representatives to the board, but the history of board elections was in general one of low polls. In contrast to the rest of Africa, the experiment of admitting Africans to membership of municipal councils was never undertaken, nor that of turning locations themselves into self-governing local authorities. That was only recently achieved by the local Government Transition Act of 1993, which combined Black and White local administrations. (9)

The Act also instructed urban local authorities with the registration of service contracts, with the aid of the strengthened pass machinery. Blacks arriving in the area, being discharged from service, had to report accordingly while the local authority could deport from the area those who were habitually unemployed, those who had no honest livelihood, and those who were idle, dissolute and disorderly. The machinery has not provided for any systematic control over Black influx into towns. That only came about in 1937. (10)

The adoption of the Act was optional. Some municipalities especially larger ones, adopted it without delay. There was some reluctance among smaller municipalities, which feared that adoption of the Act might involve excessive financial responsibilities, and no response from some local authorities which cared little about their locations. There were 64 locations under the Act in 1927, a good many of which had been in existence in 1923 and by 1937 the 25 number registered under the Act has risen to 234, a high proportion of South Africa's urban areas.""

The Native Law Amendment Act of 1937 was enacted by the United Party Government, and the role of the Nationalist Opposition was restricted to a series of unsuccessful attempts to stiffen the Bill where it seemed to them too lax. The government lacked the ruthlessness which would have been necessary for the proper implementation of influx control. Consequently it faltered, tried to soften the rigours of the law, and between 1942 and 1948 when industrialists began to stress the industrial value of semi=skilled Blacks labour in manufacturing employment, thought of very seriously reversing the policy behind it."2)

After 1948 the Nationalist Government reverted to the policy of 1937 and began systematically to tighten its hold over Black urbanisation. In the first place, it sought to increase the degree of segregation between Black and White in urban areas. A clause had been introduced in the 1937 Bill to empower the Minister to close Black churches in White areas, and to prohibit the building of any more. This was not carefully considered legislation, and the public reacted strongly to it. The Government withdrew the first half of their proposal to the annoyance of the Nationalist Opposition. In 1957 the National Party reintroduced the same proposal of the Native Laws Amendment Act of 1937 and again there was a public outcry. The government agreed to leave the final say with the urban local authorities. But in most other respects the opportunity for joint participation by members of different races in common cultural or sporting activities had been steadily reduced by the succession of proclamations under the Act. The physical separation of the races in the towns, which had been the original objects of the law, was thus dramatically extended. 13)

The Government also revised the 1937 procedure for removing unwanted Blacks from towns by defining, under the 1952 amendment, the qualifications that Blacks .had to comply with to be able to claim the right to remain in an 26

urban area. He had either to have been born there and lived there continuously, or to have worked continuously in the same town for the same employer for 10 years or to have lived continuously in the same town for 15 years. If the 1952 Act defined the right of townsmen, and thus gave those who qualified for residence greater legal security than ever before, the Act of 1964 substantially undermined those rights. It made the right enjoyed under the 1952 Act dependent on their owner's allowing them to continue in employment. It obliged employers in search of labour to operate through the Labour Bureau machinery. (14)

Under the 1920 Housing Act and the 1923 Urban Areas Act, direct responsibility for provision of housing to accommodate Blacks in the urban areas was given to the local authorities. The central government had retained responsibility for the financing of housing schemes initiated by local authorities at subsidised rates of interest through revolving loan funds established in each province. (15)

The 1944 Housing Amendment Act replaced the Central Housing Board which had overseen the operation of the Provincial Loan Funds, with the National Housing and Planning Commission, (NHPC) a body with much wider powers enabling it to undertake its own housing schemes, as well as more directly controlling local authority schemes through a centralised national housing loans fund. The Housing (Emergency Powers) Act of 1945, finally repealed in 1957 further extended the powers of the NHPC and set up certain controls over the supply and pricing of building material. (16)

Despite the NHPC's attempts between 1944 and 1947 to produce a subsidy or loan formula, more favourable to the local authorities, the shortage of houses continued to grow.

This was the situation which the Nationalist Government faced when it assumed office in 1948. This was further complicated as the South African 27 economy slowed down in the late 1940's and the funds available to extend housing loans, became increasingly difficult to find. Six years later, in 1955, an editorial in Bantu, the periodical published by the Department of Native Affairs to spread its viewpoint amongst Blacks, could claim that the solution of the Native Housing problem had reached a stage which they could call the end of the beginning.(17) Mathewson, then Director of Non European Affairs in Benoni added his voice of appreciation and approval citing Daveyton as an example of the solution of housing problems."

During this period certain ideas about how Blacks were to be accommodated in the urban areas were translated into reality by the erection of model townships of which Daveyton was one.

2.1 THE NEED FOR A EQUATE IHIOUSIING: Calderwood in his study of the principles of mass housing named four reasons for a continnous demand for adequate housing within a town or city. These are:

the natural increase in the population, which result in a steady demand badly constructed or old houses having to be replaced - slum clearance and the prevention of decay an increased standard of living causing people to want something better than they had previously the downward pull due to social and economic pressures. (19)

In South Africa as a whole immediately before and during the war years, attention was focused upon production with little thought being given to the serious social consequences that followed upon the unprecedented tempo at which commercial and industrial undertakings were being developed. Mathewson maintained that effective machinery for the control of the influx of Blacks was non-existent and the question of an organised native labour bureau 28 had not been considered. Although some local authorities had availed themselves of housing schemes a few years before the outbreak of the Second World War, this was mainly for the purpose of removing slum areas. Far- sighted planning to cope with possible conditions to follow was not thought of and as a result Black Housing Schemes as such were short term schemes. (20)

With the exception of isolated local authorities which embarked upon Black housing, the building of houses virtually came to a standstill during the war period. Several commissions and departmental committees were appointed to enquire into various aspects of urban native problems, but in spite of that a policy of "laissez faire" was pursued. (21) This was seen in 1950 in Benoni when Blacks invaded a proposed industrial area and set up a squatter camp known as Apex Emergency Camp and the Benoni Council could not remove them before providing them with proper housing.

With the lack of proper influx control in urban areas as well as ineffective efflux control from the native reserves, the flow of Blacks from rural town centres continued unabated. Unscrupulous and illegal harbouring of native families became the order of the day, but the public opinion was only roused when Black leaders took the law into their own hands, by leading their people to form squatter camps which ironically gave birth to what was later known as "Site and Service" housing schemes. In Benoni the squatter camp of Apex gave birth to the Daveyton "Site and Service" housing scheme, which was completed on the 1st April 1955, when the inhabitants of Apex were invited to move in.(22) In the "Site and Service" scheme a Black resident was given a serviced plot where he could build a temporary shack at the corner of a stand on which a municipal contractor was building his house or if he could afford it, he built the house himself and then demolished the shack.

The provision of adequate Black housing was seen by the National Party as the best way of taking full control of Blacks in urban areas, thus curbing and controlling the influx of Blacks into towns and cities. This could be seen in 29

words of W.M.M. Eiselen, then Secretary for Native Affairs, when he drew a quite specific conclusion from the "explosive situation":

"In the nature of things, the urban areas are in themselves fruitful breeding grounds for unrest because the Native population has increased so rapidly that housing measures could by no means keep pace with the greater influx of population. To control overpopulated villages held in Native ownership ... and the numerous squatter camps around the Witwatersrand and Pretoria efficiently would be attempting the impossible. The most pressing single need of the Native community is more adequate housing. Only by the provision of adequate shelter in properly planned Native townships can full control over urban Natives be retained, because only then will it be possible to eliminate the surplus Natives who do not seek or find an honest living in the cities. (23)

The Apex squatter camp was built on Council owned land which was earmarked for future industrial development. This land was bought from the Brakpan Council in October 1938. The choice to occupy Apex council land was of strategic importance. These people were aware that if they settled on mining land, they could be evicted, and on privately owned land they could be arrested for tresspassing. By choosing Apex, it meant that they could be evicted by the Council on whom then rested the responsibility to house them.(")

This meant that if the Council wanted more industries it would have to clear the ground, and it could clear the ground only by providing alternative accommodation for the Blacks there. Humphriss contends that the occupation of the industrial land caused several members of the Council, who had previously showed no interest in the Black mining problem, to become anxious for speedy action.(25) 30

Families continued to flood the area of Apex, and by the 6th of July 1950, 217 shacks had been erected. Eighteen days later the then Director of Non- European Affairs reported to a special meeting of the Native Affairs Committee, that the number of shacks had increased and the total population of squatters was estimated at 5 000. According to a survey, 50% of the squatters at Apex had come from Peri-Urban areas around Benoni, 25% were from the Benoni European area, a further 22% had moved from the overcrowded Native location and Asiatic Section and the remaining 3% had strayed in from the country (26)

The move to Apex put a stop to the Council's uncertainty about the question of Black housing and compelled it to tackle the problem once and for all in the interest of all the town's residents. The squatters won the day when the camp was taken over by the Non-European Affairs Department of the Benoni municipality, and became the best of all squatter camps. In that time the Wattville emergency camp was closed down and absorbed into it. The principles of Native administration and social welfare were applied. The population was said to be happy, not only because they were supplied with amenities such as a social centre and clinic, but because they realised that at last something positive was being done for them. The Apex squatter camp provided accommodation for 3 969 families comprising a total population of 23 225 people. (27)

2.2 METHODS EMPL YED TO °VIDE LACK USING: Four major elements can be identified in the process by which the provision of adequate shelter in properly planned Black townships eventually produced what seemed to be a solution to the African housing crisis.

Bloch identified these elements as follows: 31

restructuring of the provision of state housing which more directly linked the formulation and implementation of a Black housing policy to the program of apartheid. the legislative resolution of two key issues in the crisis around which a great deal of conflict had developed about the use of Black artisans on "Native housing schemes" to reduce building costs and the transfer of at least some of the overall costs of providing accommodation for the urban African population to the employees of African labour. the development of the concept of the "Modern" African township and of the techniques and methods which enabled its scientific application to the problem, and the implementation of "site and service" schemes on a large scale in order to hasten the achievement of full control over the urban squatter population. (28) The process of restructuring of the provision of the state housing involved what was eventually a shift in the power to direct African housing policy from the National Housing Planning Commission (NHPC) to the Department of Native Affairs (DNA).

According to Geyer this occurred in three stages. In the first stage shortly after the installation of Malan's government in 1948 certain members of the NHPC were replaced by people apparently more sympathetic to National Party policy and the Directorate of Housing on which the NHPC was dependent for technical services, was reorganised to bring it more closely under the control of the Minister of Health. The second stage commenced with Verwoerd's assumption of office as Minister of Native Affairs in 1950. The DNA changed from having only a consultative role in the approval of African housing schemes to being able to examine schemes described by the NHPC and the DNA acting jointly and concurrently and not separately and successively.(29) 32

The increasing dominance of the DNA in the formulation of African housing policy was further reflected in the leading role it played in the development of the site and service concept during the early 1950's. The result was the arrival of the third stage in 1957 with the establishment of the Bantu Housing Board, a body consisting solely of members appointed by the Minister of Native Affairs in whom was vested all the powers of the NHPC that related to the provision of African housing. From then on the content and direction of African housing policy was to be clearly under the control of the Department of Native Affairs and the departments which succeeded it.

The conflict surrounding the proposed employment of African artisans on the construction of African housing in the post-war period centred on the question of how the cheaper African labour could be introduced without affecting the position of White building workers. The Native Building Workers Bill tabled in 1949, contained clauses which heavily restricted the use of African artisans by narrowly defining the Native Areas in which they could be employed. There was opposition both within the House and from the 'building industry and employer organisations outside it, and it was subsequently withdrawn. (30)

A second Bill, the Native Building Workers Bill, was introduced in 1951, with amendments, which somewhat relaxed the restrictive clauses of the earlier Bill, but still limited the degree to which African advancement in the building trade would be tolerated, and in this form it was finally passed. (31)

Bloch argued that the restrictive measures in the 1951 Native Building Workers Act merely represented the extension of the job colour bar in the 1956 Industrial Conciliation Amendment Act. Nevertheless it is true that even the restricted use of African artisans permitted by the Act made a major contribution to the massive construction costs achieved 33 on African housing schemes during the 1950's, the government which benefitted the Black artisans and the Black population in the townships.

(32)

In 1952 the Native Services Levy Act enabled the central government to impose a levy on the employers of African labour within the specified urban areas and to use the funds thus obtained to finance the provision by the relevant local authorities of basic infrastructural services that is, access roads, trunk water mains, sewers and connections to the electricity supply grid in African housing schemes. (")

Though these statutory developments were necessary, the restructuring of the state's housing apparatus did not in themselves produce adequate shelter and properly planned Black townships. For that at least two things were needed according to Bloch, namely a clear idea of the physical forms that such shelter and townships would take and the technical means of putting it into practise. (34) Both tasks were ultimately given to the National Building Research Institute (NBRI), a body set up in 1946 as a unit working independently within the structure of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Between 1947 and 1955 the NBRI devoted almost all its intellectual and material resources to the effort to overcome the Native housing problem.

On the supply side problem, it developed a series of standard house designs to provide for minimum space requirements and to meet minimum building standards. It also provided a guide to the best planning layout for the number of people that could fit into a township. Different methods making use of both materials and labour in the housing construction process which were cheaper and more efficient were systematically developed. On the demand side it started a 34 comprehensive survey of the rent-paying ability of urban African households throughout South Africa. (35)

One measure of success of its intervention is the fact that in the period between 1948 and 1962 an average of 11 386 houses were built every year in African housing schemes as compared to 1 573 between 1920 and 1948. (36) In Johannesburg alone at the peak of the building program in 1957-1958, 11 074 houses were completed in a single year.(37) In Daveyton for the period starting in November 1954 to December 1966, 10 571 houses were completed. (38)

It is known that in the final analysis the State chose to ignore the warning issued by the Committee on Socio-economic Survey for Native Housing Research in its final report in 1958. "The situation ... is a complex of factors that include the level of earnings and taxation and the cost of food, clothing, fuel and transport as well as the cost of housing. To attempt to solve the housing problem in terms solely of bricks and mortar, of site and service, or even of rent and accommodation would be to mistake the nature of the problems". (39)

That the state chose to ignore this warning, was essentially because what was at stake in the attempt to solve the housing problem, was ultimately its capacity to retain its political credibility. Unless full control over the increasingly militant African population of the urban areas could be regained, without delay, the program of total apartheid might have begun to collapse under the weight of its inability to contain, let alone displace, that population. (4°)

This then was the origin of the fourth and last element in the resolution of the African crisis. The "Site and Service" concept was devised by the Department of Native Affairs as an "adjunct to normal housing schemes" in order to solve the "Bantu housing problem" as 35

economically and speedily as possible. 14" It involved the idea that the limited capital available in the housing loan fund, together with the money collected from employers in the Native Services Levy Fund, should as far as possible, be reserved for the acquisition of land on which sites could be laid out in accordance with proper planning criteria and provided with temporary, basic services such as communal water and a bucket sewerage disposal system. (42)

Temporarily dwellings could then be erected on the sites until such time as it became possible to replace them with conventional houses, either through the occupants own efforts or as part of a local authority housing scheme. Some local authorities, particularly the Johannesburg City Council, continued to remain strongly hostile to the idea, claiming that the provision and maintenance of temporary services, even at the basic levels demanded by the DNA, would in the long term prove to be false economy in relation to the immediate provision of complete permanent service.

Humpriss contends that at the time of the formation of the Apex Squatter Camp in Benoni, dr. Verwoerd was considering how his policy of separate development might be put into effect by establishing separate towns where Blacks could develop with White assistance and learn the principles of local government of their own people. (43) The towns, as earlier mentioned were first to be established under a "Site- and-Service" scheme, and then development was to follow through the extensive finance and technical assistance provided by the Government. Because the Municipality of Benoni offered its co-operation to the Government, the first practical application of the new plans took place in Benoni. The township of Daveyton was the result. (")

At the request of the Apex Emergency Camp Advisory Board, the new township was named Daveyton after the Mayor of Benoni, William 36

Davey, who did much to further the cause of the non-white in his capacity as chairman of the Council's Non-European Affairs

Committee. (45 )

2.3 REACTION OF LACKS TOWARDS HOUSING IPROVISION: It should not be thought that the inhabitants of African townships were satisfied with the conditions. Direct management of the townships was vested in the municipalities or other local authorities. This could be seen as a deflection strategy by the state. (46) Municipal Non-European Affairs Departments often attempted to portray themselves as more humane and less repressive than the central state, in spite of the fact that objectively their interests were very similar.

Rising rents and transport costs, poor facilities and conditions and the evils of administration and control were still major grievances and there was widespread grassroots mobilisation against these issues, in conjunction very often, with the broader based national campaigns run by the Congress Alliance and individual organisations that belonged to it.

On the other hand the threat of forced removal from the cities, which usually meant disruption of family life and permanent loss of access to the main source of livelihood, created powerful incentives for the individual to avoid calling himself to the attention of officialdom. The implication for political organisation was profound. In the South African situation there was probably no better way to attract officialdom's attention than by political activity.

Thus, since survival under the influx control system required maintaining a low profile, individuals were discouraged from joining political organisations. In the history of apartheid, the decade of the 1950's was marked by the evolution of policies to control the physical 37 movement and social life of apartheid's grand political design, the policy of separate development. The mass movement of Black opposition to White rule that had begun to take shape during the 1940's responded to the introduction of the apartheid system by organising campaigns of defiance. Through mass civil disobedience and protest demonstrations, organisations within Black communities, sought to block the implementation of apartheid within their communities and nation-wide.(47)

Blacks saw the large scale construction of new housing as the state's policy to eradicate freehold rights of Blacks that were still remaining. The Bantu Resettlement Act of 1954 set up a resettlement board empowered to buy, sell and expropriate property in a given area, to plan townships and build houses and, if directed by the Minister, to become a local authority itself for "Bantu Adtninistration". (48)

In terms of this Act the Western Areas Removal Scheme was carried out. In spite of an ANC organised assistance campaign, 22 516 families and 6 494 single people were removed from the freehold areas of Sophiatown, Martindale and Pageview to Diepkloof and Meadowlands in the period of 1955 to 1968, and that was what was known as the Western Areas Removal Scheme. (49) On the East Rand the Benoni Old Location fell onto this list. The freehold townships were difficult to control, and they had to be replaced.

The activities of advisory boards in the 1950's would appear, to some extent, to reflect the changing patterns of class alliances. At times they were used, primarily in close co-operation with the ANC, as focuses for popular discontent over localised issues, and were seen as useful up to a point of mobilising and organising residents around such issues as rents and transport conditions and administrations. The inefficiency of the 38 boards as representative and consultative channels was recognised at the same time. (5°)

With the removal of people from the Apex Squatter Camp or the closure of Apex Emergency Camp, which commenced on 1st April 1955, shacks were demolished, people were transported to Daveyton and re-erected shacks in the corner of the sites allocated. The move was entirely voluntary. This could also be read in the minutes of meeting of Non-European Affairs Committee held on 18th July 1955." A letter dated 6th July 1955 was submitted from the Town Clerk to the Secretary for Native Affairs which confirmed the voluntary movement from Apex to Daveyton. "I have the honour to inform you that the disestablishment of the Apex Emergency Camp where over 20 000 squatters were accommodated and which commenced on 1st April 1955, was completed on Saturday, 25th June 1955. All the families having voluntarily moved to Daveyton Bantu Township where they are settled in the "Site-a.nd-Serving Scheme". (52) This shows that the people of Apex welcomed their resettlement to Daveyton. 39

REFERENCES Chapter 2 R. Davenport: African Townsmen: South African Native (Urban areas) legislation through the years. African Affairs, 1969, p. 98. Ibid., p. 98. Ibid., p. 98. D.C. Hindson: Orderly urbanisation and influx control: From territorial apartheid to regional spartial in South Africa. Cahiers D'Etudes Africaines, 1985, p. 402. R. Bloch and R. Wilkinson: Urban Control and popular struggle: A survey of State Union policy 1920-1970. Africa Perspective, p. 4. T.R.H. Davenport: African p. 102. D. van Tonder: Boycotts, unrest and the Western Areas removal scheme 1949- 1952. Journal of Urban History, 1993, p. 21. T.R.H. Davenport: The beginning of urban segregation in South Africa, p. 27. J. de Beer and L. Lourens: Local Government: The road to democracy, p. 170. W. Cohn: Influx control and Black resistance in Apartheid South Africa. Transafrica Forum, 1986, p. 57. T.R.H. Davenport: The triumph of Col. Stallard: The Transformation of the Native (Urban Areas) Act between 1927 and 1937. South African Historical Journal, 1970, p. 89. T.R.H. Davenport: African ..., p. 102. R. Tomlinson and M. Addleson: Regional restructuring under apartheid: Urban and Regional policies in contemporary South Africa, p. 57. D. Gelderbloem and P. Kok: Urbanisation: South Africa's challenge, p. 84. Ibid, p. 85. R. Bloch and P. Wilkinson: Urban Control ..., p. 22. Ibid., p. 23. Bantu, 06 1995, p. 10. D.M. Calderwood: Principles of mass housing, p. 16. J.E. Mathewson: The establishment of and urban Bantu township, p. 7. Ibid, p. 8. 40

R. Humpriss and D.G. Thomas: Benoni: Son of my sorrow, p. 124. R. Bloch: Using the institution of the oppressor: African Advisory Board 1923- 1948. African Perspective, 1979, p. 33. D. Humpriss and D.G. Thomas: Benoni p. 110. Ibid., p. 121. Ibid, p. 121. J.E. Mathewson: The establishment ..., p. 70. R. Bloch and P. Wilkinson: Urban control ..., p. 84. H.S. Geyer: Apartheid in South Africa and Industrial Deconcentration in the P.W.V. Planning Perspectives, 1989, p. 260. R. Bloch and P. Wilkinson: urban Control ..., p. 25. Ibid, p. Ibid., p. T.R.M. Davenport: The beginning of ..., p. 29. R. Bloch: Using the institutions..., p. 56. D.M. Calderwood: Principles of ..., p. 84. D. Dewar and G. Ellis: Low income housing policy in South Africa, p. 15. R. Bloch and P. Wilkinson: Urban control ..., p. 26. D. Humphriss and D.G. Thomas: Benoni p. 125. R. Bloch and P. Wilkinson: Urban control ..., p. 26. Ibid, p. 27. Bantu, 06.1956. D. Humphriss and D.G. Thomas: Benoni p. 123. T.E. Mathewson: The establishment ..., p. 70. Bantu, 07.1955. R. de Villiers: The state, capital and labour relocation: The Johannesburg municipality 1948-1962. African Perspective, 1979, p. 33. M. Lasassick: Legislation, ideology and economy in post 1948 South Africa. Journal of Southern African Studies, 1979, p. 22. R. Bloch and P. Wilkinson: Urban control p. 30.

41

C.J.F. Speirs: The investigation of the town planning schemes of 18 Witwatersrand municipalities with regard to residential property development, p. 24. R. Bloch: using the institutions of p. 20. . 51. Benoni Municipal Archives, Non-European Affairs Committee Minutes, Meeting of 18 July 1955. 52. Ibid. 42

CHAPTER 3

3. PROCLAMATION OF DAVEYTON AS A TOWNSHIP As a result of the influx of Blacks to the Witwatersrand during the late 1940's and the housing shortage, squatter camps appeared almost overnight at various places on the reef and elsewhere. During this period a squatter camp was established on the outskirts of Benoni in the present industrial area of Apex. This was declared an emergency camp, and immediate steps were taken to resettle the residents in a permanent township. The provision of housing for these people had to be in terms of section 2 of the Natives (Urban Areas) Consolidation Act (Act No. 25 of 1945). This meant that before houses could be provided, the area under consideration for such a purpose had to be proclaimed as a township in the Government Gazette. (')

An application by the local authorities for the formal proclamation of a township was only considered by the then Department of Bantu Administration and Development when the following requirements were met: The area had been registered in the name of the local authority. The layout plan of the township had been completed and approved by the National Housing Office whose technical staff examined all layout plans submitted by local authorities. A diagram of the outside boundaries of the area undeveloped boundary belts included had been approved by the surveyor - general. (2)

As soon as these requirements were complied with, a formal application by the local authorities concerned, for the reservation of the township in terms of section 2 of the Natives (Urban Areas) Consolidation Act No. 25 of 1945, was submitted to the Department of Bantu Administration and Development. Then a township was proclaimed in the Government Gazette. (3)

These requirements for proclamation were also revealed in a letter from the Secretary for Native Affairs Department of Non European Affairs to the town 43

clerk of Benoni. In this undated letter, read by the town clerk to other members of the Council on the 12th August 1954, it was stated that:

Where ever an urban local authority wished to establish or extend a location or Native Village its teams of Section 2 of Act No. 25 of 1945 as amended, irrespective of the topography of the land or its contours, an effective buffer was to be provided. :4) The width or the buffer zone was determined by the Minister of Native Affairs who directed that except in extra ordinary cases, a native township was to be provided with a buffer strip or an underdeveloped bounding of 500 meters in width between the built-up area of the native township and the European town or the residential area of any racial group other than a native group.

A strip of 200 meters wide between the built-up area and all external boundaries was in any case allowed, except where a National road formed the boundary in which event a buffer strip of 500 meters was to be reserved. In case of a Provincial or Divisional Council main road, a strip of 300 meters was required. The Department of Native Affairs stressed that a separate, access road from the township to the town had to be constructed for the exclusive use by township residents. (5) The requirements were met in 1954 when the Benoni Town Council purchased Halfontein farm and the area was proclaimed a Black residential area in terms of the Government Notice No. 1550 dated 30 July 1954. 6) In Daveyton therefore an area of (495) acres out of 2 486 acres formed the buffer, which was 23.7% of the whole area. (')

The township's first residents moved from Apex Emergency camp to Daveyton on 1 April 1955. 8) The transfer of residents from Apex to Daveyton and their resettlement by means of site and service scheme was completed within a period of three months. After the completion of the resettlement the population of Daveyton numbered 23 225. 44

3 . 1 A SIC REQUIREMENTS FOR A LACK TO'WNS1110 E STA LISIB1MENT: Mocke, a senior urban areas Commissioner, maintained that when establishing townships, one must remember that not only must people come together to live, but they must remain together so that they may live a good life and become and remain decent people as well as good citizens. Here he was stressing the importance of providing suitable and good shelter for Blacks so that they could develop a sense of ownership, belonging and togetherness. This statement was made after he had seen the sprawl of squatter camps throughout the country as a result of unplanned accommodation. (9) Hence he initiated to the Department of Native Affairs the introduction of a "site and service" scheme which was designed mainly to provide proper housing for Blacks in the locations in order to alleviate housing problems in townships. This concept will be discussed later. UO)

It was the policy of the ruling party in 1948 that the different races should have their own separate residential areas. As far as Blacks were concerned, the selection of a site for loCation purposes was of the utmost importance as it had a direct bearing on the costs and also on the type of environment, established on completion of the scheme or schemes. When selecting a site for the establishment of a Black township or location certain basic requirements were laid down and had to be met. These requirements entailed the following: When considering a site for Black housing it was important to ascertain whether the zoning of an area was suitable for Black residential purposes in accordance with the provision of the Group Areas Act, 1950 (No. 41 of 1950) and that the surrounding areas would in no way interfere with such development. It was also to be ensured that effective buffer strips are provided in accordance with the policy of the government." 45

Furthermore, the site was to be situated as far away as possible from the White Area, that it would be capable of developing radically away from the European town centre. This was mainly to ensure that there would be no repetition of what happened in the Western Areas of Johannesburg, where Black or Non-European residential areas of Newclare, Martindale, Sophiatown and Pageview became encircled by White residential areas. The Black inhabitatnts of those areas had to be resettled at a great cost and inconvenience, in Meadowlands and Diepkloof, which was situated in proclaimed Black residential areas. (12)

Then when selecting a site for Daveyton a repetition of these problems had to be avoided at all cost. A fitting example of this problem is Wattville, another Black residential area of Benoni which is now encircled by Actonville which is an Indian residential area, Dunswart which is Benoni's industrial area and Dalpark, which is a Brakpan White residential area. Consequently, Wattville could not expand and the excess population has again reverted to establishing a squatter camp at Apex Industrial area which was disestablished in 1956, or some moved to Daveyton squatter camps that are now mushrooming from all sides of Daveyton.

Another basic requirement to be considered, was health. It was of major importance that the site was so situated that any development on surrounding areas would not affect the health of the future inhabitants of the location. If the neighbouring areas contained factories, which constantly emitted thick clouds of smoke or poisonous fumes which, due to prevailing winds, would continually be inhaled by the residents on the site, that would cause a health hazard. Then either the site was abandoned or steps were taken to control the negative factors. U3)

In the field of health, aspects such as noise, fumes, odour, vibrations, smoke, polluted and stagnant water, etc. which are all factors affecting 46

Wattville in Benoni, were not to be ignored and the medical officer was consulted when selecting a site of Daveyton.

The topography and nature of the soil were important aspects in relation to the costs of establishment. A steep slope proved to be expensive to develop. A very flat area might again lead to difficulties regarding sewerage, surface drainage and storm water drains, taking into account the developmental stages of technology in the 1950's in South Africa. Matters such as rainfall, flood levels, formation of waterpans, etc. were also considered.

The ideal site was land with an undulating slope with gentle hillsides sloping away to the north or south. Rocky areas as well as clay formations would result in heavy development costs. Topography and soil considerations were best handled by experienced technical officers who were in a position to interpret ground formation when considering costs of development. (14) After all these factors were considered, Daveyton proved to be a suitable area for development as the area purchased was an undulating slope with a gentle hillside sloping away to the north.

Another factor considered was transportation and services, because these needed sound judgement to determine the best selection. The most important point to be considered in connection with the selection of the site was its situation in relation to the place of work and the town centre. The journey to and from town had to be carefully considered in terms of finance, income and efficiency loss because of fatigue in the case of workers who had to travel an unnecessarily long distance daily to and from work.(15) 47

Again Mocke cited other factors to be considered as, Will the workers have to traverse the whole town every day, as this was if at all possible, be avoided? Were they going to use transport? How long was the journey going to take and what would their transport cost be?(16)

It was also essential to ensure that an adequate access road was available and as a result Daveyton had only one access road to Benoni. If possible the road was to be separated from other roads for as long a distance as possible as it was assumed that the danger of accidents and consequent causes of friction would be lessened. These factors considered only the use of common or public transport without taking into account the buying power of Blacks which has later on resulted in many cars in the townships. The single access road to and from locations eventually resulted in traffic congestion during peak hours. (17)

In selecting a site, due consideration was also given to the cost of the services to be provided to and on site, such as water, roads, sanitation, rubbish removal, storm water, electricity, etc. (18) Therefore, when considering sites for purchase, foresight and good planning could save unnecessary expenditure.

In Daveyton attention was also given to matters such as the number of families to be housed, family size and composition, single or old age pensioners, their rent paying capacity, as these had a direct bearing on the size of the site or the density, if the size of the site was limited. The extent of the land required and the cost thereof, taking into account the income of the people to be housed thereon, was also considered when a site was selected. Future expansion could not be overlooked and the immediate purchase of adjoining areas proved to be a good long term investment. According to Mathewson land adjoining Black townships

48

had a tendency to appreciate in value in spite of objections to the contrary to White landowners, for instance the land for Daveyton was purchased at R120 per acre. Two years later adjoining land was acquired at over R400 per acre. The impression was that the value of land occupied by Blacks and its surroundings would depreciate, but when the demand for land to accommodate Blacks arose, landowners put up a high price, hence the value appreciated.

3.2 PLANNING OF II) AVE YTON In the immediate post-war period urban local authorities in South Africa were not in a position to keep up with the provision of the required accommodation in Black townships. The main reasons for this were the shortage of land, the high wages that had to be paid to White building artisans, the high cost of building material and the capital cost of providing essential services. The results were that existing Black residential areas were quickly overcrowded.

At the same time there was also a great shortage of adequate and suitable land for the establishment of new or the extension of existing Black residential areas. The result was that big uncontrolled and unplanned squatter camps quickly arose on privately owned land in the vicinity of the larger cities. Here thousands of Black families were living in hovels under the most appalling and unhygenic conditions. Not only did this state of affairs create a danger for the dwellers themselves, but it also endangered the health and welfare of those concerned. Local authorities were powerless to tackle the problem because in the first place, they did not have the necessary land at their disposal, and secondly the removal of the squatter camps and provision of suitable alternative accommodation was estimated to cost millions of rands.(2" 49

In 1957 the Department of Native Affairs made a survey of the shortage of dwellings for urban Black workers throughout the country. The results showed that Black housing conditions were appalling. It appeared that there was an immediate shortage of 167 300 houses, and to meet the estimated requirements for the next ten years, 185 800 dwellings would have to be provided, i.e. a total of 353 000 houses for Blacks alone. (22)

The Department of Native Affairs was concerned about this national problem. The necessary funds for the required housing had to be found and thousands acres of land had to be purchased in order to house urban Blacks. Suitable land was virtually unobtainable on account of the extremely high prices demanded by the owners, especially on the Witwatersrand, where the acquisition of land was further complicated by the existence of vested mining and industrial interests. In order to combat the tremendous squatter problem, therefore it was essential that suitable and adequate land, on which the local authorities could either establish new Black residential areas or extend the existing ones, had to be found without delay.

With this object in view, since 1951, various planning committees were appointed by dr. H.F. Verwoerd, then Minister of Native Affairs, to investigate the position in the area around Pretoria and on the Rand. These planning committees aimed at zoning Black residential areas in such a way that workers would travel the minimum distance to their places of work. Furthermore, hinterlands had to be zoned so as to avoid future enciclement by other developments. In this manner it was attempted to reserve for all possible future extensions of Black urban areas.(23)

Wherever possible, a wedge-pattern was followed. The centre "wedge" starting from the centre of the city and moving out towards the 50

periphery, was zoned for commercial and industrial purposes, i.e. as an employment area. This area was flanked on one side by a Black residential wedge and on the other by a White residential area. Where this ideal type of planning was not possible, owing to previous development, this plan was superimposed on an existing area or adapted to local conditions. (24)

Within a period of two years sufficient land was found for those local authorities whose needs were greatest and steps were immediately taken for the purchase, planning and proclamation of those areas for the purpose of providing Black residential areas. This however did not solve the squatter problem, because in terms of the then existing definition of the word "accommodate" in the Union Areas Act, it was necessary to provide the required houses before the squatter families could be removed to these areas. (25) This would require millions of rands to build the necessary number of houses and would also take years before all the squatters could be resettled after the houses were completed.

In order to remove this stumbling block, the Act was amended to include, in the term "accommodate", a stand provided with water as well as health and other services on which the occupant could erect, with or without assistance, a temporary shelter, usually superior to the one he had vacated. As a result of this amendment, it was now possible to remove families to vacant stands in locations on which latrines had been built and water supply provided at convenient places. (26)

This was the start of the famous and much criticised ""Site-and- Service-Scheme" of which Daveyton is the product.

The provision of all residential amenities in residential areas like Daveyton was most important if the area was to function properly 51

because, a residential area was an area in which people were housed in surroundings which created an environment condusive to a full life. In order to meet these requirements full amenities conveniently positioned in relation to all dwelling units, were to be provided.

In planning Daveyton's residential areas, provision was made for the following sites which will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter: a. residential, b. schooling and education, c. outdoor recreation, d. indoor social and cultural amenities and administration, e. shopping and commercial activities, f. accommodation for single Black men, and g. access roads. (27)

The Daveyton scheme was intended to be an entirely economic venture. Daveyton was to generate money for its own development since Benoni could not shoulder that responsibility. It was realised that initial costs in an undertaking of this magnitude compared to annual income, were of necessity very high. For example, the interest and repayments on the purchase price of the land commenced from the date on which the sale of land was concluded, and before any income could be derived, certain essential services were to be provided. Revenue collections only started with the population of Daveyton when they were resettled from Apex.(28)

The basic policy regarding houses in Daveyton was to provide for a man only what he could afford. The more affluent members of the community could either build their own homes to their own design or extend house's built by the Council. (29)

The first portion of Daveyton was planned to accommodate 8 000 families and 4 500 single men in such short time as humanly possible. Thereafter the remaining area was to be developed in the normal course of events until eventually 13 000 houses were completed. Funds 52

permitting, it was hoped to complete the 8 000th house before the end of March 1958. The 4 000th house was opened in Daveyton by Mr. T Naude, then Minister of Health, on Saturday, 5 May 1956.` 30)

3.3 TYPES OF SCHEMES USED TO ERECT HOUSES EN DAVEYTON In view of the fact that Black residential areas were usually located some considerable distance from the White areas, it was felt that it was unfair to expect that the inhabitants should meet the heavy cost of taking essential services such as water, electricity, roads, etc. to the boundaries of locations. The Service Levey Act No. 64 of 1952 was therefore placed on the Statute Book. (31)

The important underlying principles of the Act can be summarised in order to show the purpose of the Act:

that the provision of water, sanitation, lighting and roads essential for the proper development of new Black Townships would be debited against the Native Services Levy Fund at no cost to the residents; that services to existing locations should, if adequate, be amplified, but only after sufficient new land had been serviced to ensure that building sites were available for all who were entitled thereto, and that services on a rudimentary basis in site-and-service schemes be provided. (32)

The Services Levy Act was therefore applied to some 36 of the larger urban authorities. Daveyton was the first and was regarded as a model township of providing Black housing in the locations. The Services Levy Act was passed by parliament to meet an emergency. Its provisions placed a temporary burden on employers of Black labour, 53 but it was expected that it would go a long way towards solving the Black housing problem in South Africa. To solve this problem as economically and as speedily as possible, the Department devised the Site-and-Service Scheme as an addition to normal housing schemes.

The Site-and-Service Scheme was planned with the specific intention of using all possible material and human resources, in order to bring relief mainly to the many thousands of Blacks, who were residing in shanty towns and illegal squatter camps. These were living under repulsive conditions (Apex in Benoni) or as lodgers in already overcrowded locations or in back yards or blocks of flats in White residential areas.

Mocke therefore defined the Site-and-Service scheme as an a scheme for providing housing within a proclaimed Black location, which is planned on modern lines and which is provided with essential services such as water at convenient points, roads (graded), individual sanitation, and a rubbish removal service before any families would be allowed to occupy the site. (33) Mr. W.A. Davey was looked upon as the father of the scheme. At the time the scheme was first started in 1952, Davey was the mayor of Benoni. He did not leave one stone unturned to have the project and plans accepted. His enthusiasm paid off when Daveyton was established in 1955, and all possible assistance was given to him to get the scheme started. He is the founder of Daveyton and because of his initiative the members of the Benoni City Council and the officials enthusiastically supported the scheme. The initial dwellings which inhabitants of the site-and-service scheme were required to erect, were only temporary until such time as the local authority or the African himself was able to build a standard type of dwelling.

The scheme could be classified into two categories: 1. Site : an African was allocated a site which he had to occupy. He then hired a contractor to build a house for him, or he or someone 54

else laid a foundation and as a start erected one room, i.e. stage housing or the local authority built the house and let or sold it to him, or if he was financially unable to build, he erected a shack in the corner of the plot and awaited the erection of a standard type house in due course. 2. Services : a temporary toilet was erected on each site or a temporary latrine which could be converted into a permanent one in due course. Communal water would be supplied within a distance, as well as the removal of refuse. (35)

In Daveyton a site-and-service scheme was introduced on a large scale. After the area had been laid out as a model township, the sites surveyed, passed and numbered, the necessary internal roads were graded. Water reticulation was laid on and stand pipes were interspersed at points approximately 1 000 meters apart.

As the disposal works serving Benoni were too far, an earth hole- boring machine was acquired capable of sinking a hole about 16 meters deep and about 1 meter in diameter on each site. A contract was entered into for the initial supply of 6 000 latrines and pedestals. The superstructures consisted of an air-entrained concrete cast in panels and bolted together. The hole was capable of being dismantled and re- erected should it become necessary to move it to another position. When sewerage was installed, the superstructure capable of being fitted with a cistern, was moved to its permanent position and plastered. (36) The next step was to allocate a site of 45 meters by 75 meters to a family who would then erect a temporary shack in one corner of the site.

The disestablishment of the Apex Emergency Camp 12 km from Daveyton, where more than 20 000 squatters were living in shacks, commenced on 1 April 1955. Operations started early in the morning and within a matter of hours the removal was in full swing. Shacks in 55

Apex were demolished, transported by their owners to Daveyton and re-erected in the corner of the sites allocated. Each site holder was given a number to affix to his shack and issued with a refuse bin. These families at Apex who resettled in Daveyton using their own means of transport were paid R4,00 each as compensation for transport. (37)

According to Mathewson, a total of 431 people moved from Apex to Daveyton on the first day and by the end of April the figures had increased to 7 087, and on 25 June 1955 just under three months after the mass exodus had started, 23 225 people comprising 3 969 families, had settled in Daveyton. (38) As mentioned earlier, the move was entirely voluntary.

The move was actually planned to take from 12 to 18 months. Concurrent with the move, extensive home building activity was taking place by both the building section of the Council and by private contractors.

In his statement on policy to the Senate of the Parliament of the Union of South Africa on June 20, 1955, the Hon. Minister of Native Affairs, dr. Verwoerd said that the "Site-and-service" scheme was at first criticised by government opponents, but had found favour everywhere and it could be expected that the days of shanty towns would soon be numbered. Pretoria, Benoni, Springs, Germiston and Vereeniging were all in the forefront of the towns that were mastering their housing problems and many more were following their example. (39) Members of the Black Community in Daveyton especially S. Sinaba who was the leading figure behind the demand for proper housing for the community of Daveyton, welcomed the scheme as a relief to the squatters. They were only not satisfied about the distance to the place of work and the division of Daveyton into ethnic sections, which was a general trend in most Black townships. (4°) The opposition party was not happy about the scheme as they regarded the idea as a temporary measure of providing 56

Black housing. They claimed that the provision and maintenance of temporary services would in the long run prove to be a waste in relation to the immediate provision of complete and permanent services. (41)

3.4 FAMILY COMPOSITION OF INDIA ITANTS OF IDAVEYTON The following table reflect the number of people in Daveyton as at 31 July 1955.

TA LIE II. POPULATION OF DAVIEYTON 11955 OVER 18 UNDER 18 MALE FEMALE MALE FEMALE TOTAL Xhosa 959 793 719 737 3008 Zulu 1092 1197 1103 1199 4591 Swazi & 1308 1423 1477 1517 5725 Ndebele Northern 1331 1304 1409 1421 5465 Sotho Southern 744 830 683 760 3017 Sotho Shangaan/ 283 287 287 293 1150 Tsonga Venda & 75 69 56 69 269 Others Total 5592 5903 5734 5996 23225 Total number of families: 3 969 Source: Non-European Affairs Committee The figures above reveal a shortage of 277 houses for families in Daveyton in August 1955, because by the end of March 1956 about 3692 houses were completed in Daveyton, but this shortage was remedied in May 1956 when the 4 000th house was opened in Daveyton. It should be borne in mind that Daveyton was to be 57

developed in sections over a period of seven years starting from 1955 to accommodate 80 000 in 13 000 houses as well as hostels.

3.5 RACIAL GROUPING ANID ZONING OF DAVEYTON In 1950 the government promulgated the Group Areas Act, No. 41 of 1950, which aimed at defining areas within which only one racial group could reside or carry on business, and local authorities throughout the country were requested to submit proposals for group areas within their boundaries to the Group Areas Board. Benoni was one of the first town councils to comply with these requirements. (42)

The proposals for Benoni were that Blacks were to live in the proclaimed area of Daveyton and its future extensions, with Wattville Township remaining a Black residential area until housing loans and other loans had been repaid, when its future would be determined.

Act No. 16 of 1955 which amended the Native (urban areas) Act of 1945, gave rise to a spate of controversy throughout the country. In terms of the amendment, an African could be ordered in terms of a segregation proclamation issued under section 9(1) of the principal Act, to take up residence in a location even though no alternative house was offered to him, as long as a plot equipped with water, sanitary and other services was made available to him. The services were to be approved by the Minister or by an officer acting under his authority. (43) In other words, Blacks could be ordered to take up residence in the site-and- service scheme, or on a plot in a location which has been serviced as indicated above. In Daveyton the scheme was warmly welcomed by residents from Apex as it provided them better facilities and the Council was moving swiftly in erecting houses for those who could not afford to build their own. 58

Prior to the amendment a domestic servant actually employed as such and provided with sleeping quarters, and satisfactory sanitary arrangements, could not be compelled to reside in a Black township or hostel, nor was a licence to accommodate him necessary. He was then partially exempt fi-om•the operation of a segregation proclamation. (") In other words domestic servants in private households were not affected in any way as long as they resided on their employer's premises. If they resided elsewhere they would be subjected to licence control.

The new act further prohibited residence outside a proclaimed Black township of more than five Blacks in any one building irrespective of whether or not they were subject to licence control, unless special permission to exceed that number had been granted. The new restrictions applied in respect of any building whether it was a block of flats in a residential area or a compound in an industrial township. (45) Complete residential segregation was the ultimate purpose of these measures. This could be deduced from the words of the Secretary for Native Affairs when he said that it was expected from all local authorities to take early action under the amending Act so as to implement the Government's policy of accommodating all Natives in the areas specifically set aside for them, or removing all undesirable elements from urban areas and without causing undue inconvenience to employers and ensuring that labour supplies were not surplus to

requirement s. (46)

Daveyton was divided in eight distinctly separate areas for different ethnic groups where 40 000 people were provided with 8 000 completed houses and all essential services within the record time of exactly two years, between 1955 and 1957. In Daveyton the Xhosas, Zulu's, Swazi and Ndebele were grouped with small buffer zones separating them. The Shangaans, Tsongas and Vendas resided in one 59

area dermacated by streets and the northern Sothos, southern Sothos and western Sothos also stayed in one are separated by streets. (47)

3.6 ETHNIIC G OUPING IIN DAVEYTON A letter, circulated to all local authorities, from dr. W.W.M. Eiselen, who was then Secretary for Native Affairs, informed all local authorities that all townships in urban areas were to be created or established according to ethnic groups. (48) This instruction came from the Minister of Native Affairs, dr H.F. Verwoerd, the directive of which was to be included in the Urban Bantu Authorities Bill first published in 1951. 49) In zoning the town, the local authorities were to determine through their socio-economic survey, which main groups were present in their areas. Where it was practically feasible as a result of the size of the sub-groups within the main group, separate residential areas were to be planned and occupied by such sub-groups. To obtain an idea of the percentage composition of Black Ethnic groups of South Africa, the Department of Native Affairs made the following estimates based on the 1946 census: 60

TA LE 2 ETHNIC GROWING, 1946 ETHNIIC PERCENTAGE IN SURVEY OF 3313 ACTUAL GROUPING THE UNION 1946 FAMILIES RESULTS OF 6127 CENSUS FAMILIES IN % % DAVEYTON % NGUNII Xhosa 31,8 13,8 12,94 Zulu 27,5 17,35 19.92 Swazi 2,8 10,4 15,96 Ndebelle 1,94 7,11 8,93 TOTAL 64.04 48,05 57,15 St T alt 0 Northern 10,4 26,05 23,25 Western 8,0 2,95 2,4 Southern 10,1 10,15 10,4 TOTAL 28,5 39,15 35,69 Tsonga 3,4 10,35 5,68 Venda and others 4,06 1,85 1,48 TOTAL 9,46 12,20 9,116 . Source: J.E. Mathewson: The Establishment of an Urban Township., p. 31. The composition of the racial groups was therefore greatly influenced by the location of an urban area. For instance, although the Ndebele group then formed 1,94% of the country's Black population (Union of South Africa), most of them were residents of the Transvaal and worked on the Reef and formed as much as 8,73% of Daveyton. Similarly the Swazi whose only outlet was the Reef, were larger in numbers than the Xhosa in Daveyton in spite of the fact that the Xhosas' proportion of the country's population varied as much as 2.8% in Daveyton and 31.8% of the Union of South Africa respectively. This disparity proved how essential it was to conduct as wide a survey as possible before planning a township.(50) 61

In 1954 the Department of Native Affairs required all township housing to be allocated according to ethnic groups. The reasons given for the policy were stated as being to simplify the provision of mother tongue education, the development of community spirit, municipal control and tribal discipline.`" ) There was much opposition to the proposal by Blacks, since it was felt that the government had instituted the measure to strengthen the tribal barriers which under the impact of urban and industrial conditions, had largely broken down. (52)

When it became known that the principle of ethnic grouping was to be applied in the new township of Daveyton, there were protests from those who opposed the policy of apartheid. (") They declared that it was bad enough to house the Blacks in a township some 12km away from their place of work, but to divide the township into areas and encourage tribal customs, was to push them back towards savagery.' 54 In Daveyton the opposition to ethnic grouping faded with time since more and more people were only interested in the provision of houses, considering the conditions in Apex. Daveyton was hence divided ethnically. In Daveyton township residents were vulnerable to retaliation and their choice of political action were in accordance to their reluctance to risk worsening their position as well as their concern to improve it. Most residents avoided confrontation and opted for limited benefits, when these were available, rather than lobby for more and thus risk all. More widely, residents in Daveyton responded with inaction.(55)

Dr. J.E. Mathewson, then Director of Non-European Affairs, who was a strong supporter of ethnic grouping, addressed the Benoni Rotary Club on 29 March 1955, defended the policy, saying that it was incorrect to regards Benoni urban Blacks as detribalised. (56) He pointed out that many Blacks who had come to Benoni from their tribal areas tended naturally to form tribal groups. There were marked variations 62 among them in their languages and social customs, particularly in the manner of settling internal differences which could be applied advantageously if each tribe were settled in a single area. (57) Another advantage would be the feeling of pride and self respect inculcated in the individual through identification with the customs and traditions of the tribe. He said that the ethnic group of children of the few families where the husband and wife did not belong to the same tribe would be decided on the basis of the language in which they wished their children to be educated. (")

Daveyton was therefore divided into sections providing for eight ethnic groups, Xhosa, Zulu, Swazi/Ndebele, northern Sotho, western Sotho, southern Sotho, Shangaan/Tsonga, Venda and others. Mathewson cited that the dominance of one main language in each area of Daveyton facilitated the provision of mother-tongue education in the primary schools, as staff could be appointed from the same tribe. Early learning could take place in the home language, although Black school masters had opposed its use after Std. III. (59)

Another advantage, as argued by Mathewson, was that by grouping the population on ethnic basis, each Black Councillor together with his Ward Committee, would be able to effectively represent his ward in matters of day to day administration. It also appeared to have reduced the incidence of widespread problems like tsotsism, illegitimacy and improved family cohesion. Generally speaking it was claimed that ethnic grouping had exerted a positive beneficial influence on family life in Daveyton and had contributed materially to the happiness and contentment of the community. (6°)

It was notable that although the income of the average Daveyton family was on average far lower than that of White families in Benoni, the crime rate among the Blacks was far lower than in the White areas. 63

However, allowance was made for the fact that many of the burglaries in the White areas were the work of Black criminals. (61) This was mainly because there was far less at stake in the township for the hungry and unemployed.

Daveyton was therefore planned and divided into three areas namely, Area 1 which had to accommodate Shangaan/Tsonga and Venda speaking people, Area No. 2 to accommodate the Nguni group and Area No. 3 to accommodate the Sotho group. The matter was said to have been carefully investigated and according to sample surveys of the Apex Emergency Camp residents as well as lodger families in the Old Black Township of Benoni and Wattville, there were sufficiently large sub-groups within the main ethnic groups to justify the settlement of the main sub-group in their own areas. (62)

3.7 ESTA LItS MENT OF DAVEYTON Daveyton was established in 1955 and achieved municipal status in 1983. Dr. J.H. Mathewson directed its establishment using the Site- and-Service Scheme. This entailed installing all services according to a proper town planning scheme. By 1973 when dr. Mathewson retired, there were 424 units housing 500 000 people. The expansion of the old Daveyton resulted in the inclusion of extensions 1, 2 and 3, i.e. Swazi ext. 1, Boya's view ext. 2 and Turton and Gumbi ext. 3, to the present borders of Daveyton. Low income groups has been catered for by the establishment of Etwatwa West, Ext. 4, 9 and 10, and Etwatwa East Ext. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 11 to 15 which were areas affected by forceful invasion without proper planning. The method used in these extensions was that of availing a site to a person, allowing the person to put up a structure which he or she could afford. Sites in Etwatwa extensions have been allocated to private developers to allocate to their clients who have obtained loans from financial institutions.(63) 64

3.8 CONCLUSIION Slum conditions with all its social evils prevailed during Post war years for Blacks in particular. Despite new industrial employment opportunities, there was no solution to the Black-housing problem of that time. It must be remembered that the original Black Township of Benoni had been established as long ago as 1912 to serve the limited needs of the mining period in the early history of the area.

The year 1948 was the turning point in the history of the Black residents of Benoni. Firstly a new Government which held decisive policy views on the Black housing issue, came into power and secondly the Benoni Council appointed J.E. Mathewson as its manager and later director of Non European Affairs. Mathewson and his staff were immediately faced with serious problems as large numbers of squatters invaded the vacant Apex Industrial land belonging to the Council on Friday, June 23 1950.

Urgent action was called for and negotiations resulted in the purchase of land on the farm Halfontein readily accessible to Benoni and places of employment. It was realised that Daveyton would not be developed overnight, but due to pressure of circumstances in Apex Squatter Camp, the Minister for Native Affairs paved the way for "Site-and- Service Schemes".

Daveyton was planned accordingly. The challenges offered in the development of this new model township were professionally approached with careful speed, carefully planned and speedily developed. Daveyton was ready for its new residents on site-and- service basis on April 1 1955: Eventually every house was to be connected to the complete water reticulation system. Water borne sewage system, and electricity reticulation complete with street lighting, storm water drainage and even tarred roads. Residents reacted 65 gratefully in keeping Daveyton the cleanest Black Township in South Africa.(64) Every site was provided with trees. Gardens and parks became the pride of all its residents. The next chapter will explain how the houses were constructed in Daveyton. 66

REFERENCES Chapter 3

W.C. Mocke: Bantu housing with special reference to site and service, p. 23. Ibid. Ibid, p. 25. NE/21/1/1954: Town Council of Benoni: Non-European Affairs Minutes. Ibid. NE/13/2/1955: Ibid. J.E. Mathewson: The establishment of an urban Bantu township, p. 26 Town Council of Benoni ..., NE/13/2/1955. D. Humphriss and D.G. Thomas: Benoni: Son of my Sorrow, p. 124. W.C. Mocke: Bantu Housing ..., p. 30. D.M. Calderwood and P.H. Connell: Minimum standards of accommodation for the housing of non-European in South Africa, p.l. W.C. Mocke: Bantu Housing ..., p. 8. J.E. Mathewson: The establishment of ..., p. 21. D.M. Calderwood: Minimum standards ..., p. 3. W.C. Mocke: Bantu housing ..., p. 8. Ibid, p. 89.

H. Mashabela: Townships of the PWV , p. 52. J.E. Mathewson: The establishment of ..., p. 21. D.M. Calderwood: Native housing in South Africa, p. 4. J.E. Mathewson: Recent development in urban Native administration, p. 34. Ibid, p. 85. Ibid. C. Heald: Urban Bantu housing, p. 5. Ibid, p. 10. W.C. Mocke: Bantu Housing ..., p. 15. Ibid, p. 17. Ibid, p. 24. Ibid, p. 25. 67

J.E. Mathewson: Recent Development ..., p. 36. C. Heald: Urban Bantu ..., p. 15. NE/53/7 and NE/17/11/3/1954: Town Council of Benoni. NE/53/9/1/1954: Ibid. W.C. Mocke: Bantu Housing p. 179 and NE/21/1/1955: Town Council. Ibid, p. 34. NE 21/1/1955: P. Morris: A History of Black Housing in South Africa, p. 49 and Town council of Benoni . J.E. Mathewson: The establishment of ..., p. 70 and NE 21/1/1955: Town Council of Benoni. W.C. Mocke: Bantu housing ..., p. 37 and NE 38/3/1/2/1955: Town Council of Benoni. J.E. Mathewson: The Establishment of ..., p. 70. W.C. Mocke: Bantu Housing ..., p. 89. Interview: S. Sinaba, Daveyton, 13-07-97. B. Bloch, and P. Wilkinson: Urban control and popular struggle: A case study of state urban policy 1920-1970. African Perspective 1982, p. 27. D. Humphriss and D.B. Thomas: Benoni the Son ..., p. 135. NE 8/3/1/1955: Town Council of Benoni. W.C. Mocke: Bantu Housing ..., p. 24. Ibid, p. 259 and NE 8/3/1/1955: Town Council of Benoni. Ibid. T.F. Mathewson: The establishment of ..., p. 32. NE 21/4/1955: Town Council of Benoni. Ibid. J.E. Mathewson: Recent developments ..., p. 31. NE 21/4/1955: Town Council of Benoni and Morris: A History of ..., p. 50. P.L. Bonner: African urbanisation on the Rand between 1932 and 1960: Its social character and political consequences. Journal of Southern African Studies, 1995, p. 120. P. Morris: A History of p. 51. D. Humphriss and D.G. Thomas: Benoni the son ..., p. 128. 68

Interview: S. Sinaba, Daveyton, 13-07-97. NE 21/4/1955: Town Council of Benoni and W.C. Mocke: Bantu housing ..., p. 18. D. Humphriss and D.G. Thomas: Benoni the son ..., p. 129 and W.C. Mocke: Bantu Housing ..., p. 20. Ibid. D.M. Humphries and D.G. Thomas: Benoni the son..., p. 130 and W.C. Mocke: Bantu housing..., p. 26. Ibid. D.H. Humpriss and D.G. Thomas: Benoni: The son ..., p. 129. NE 21/4/1955: Benoni Town Council. Daveyton: p. 2. NE 36/3/1/2/1955: Benoni Town Council. 69

CHAPTER 4

4. CONSTRUCI RON OF HOUSES IN DAVEYTON The previous chapters dealt with the government policy regarding the establishment of townships generally, and then specifically Daveyton was brought into the picture as the main area of study. What was looked at in the previous chapter in as far as Daveyton is concerned, was the planning of the township Daveyton which was singled out as a model township. In Daveyton the principle of ethnic grouping of residents was put in place for the first time and it is where the "Site and Service" scheme was also put in place for the first time on the East Rand.(')

Chapter four will focus on the construction of houses in Daveyton, and how the government succeeded in implementing its policy of ethnic segregation. This was achieved by allocating houses according to ethnic groups, which eventually led to the division of Daveyton into ethical segregated wards and the naming of streets ethnically. The provision of amenities and essential services as well as occupation and opening of Daveyton will also be discussed in this chapter.

At the request of the Chairman, Non European Affairs Committee, an extract from the memorandum on Daveyton was submitted to various Ministers in Cape Town in April 1954. It was realised that on a basis of a family of five, the immediate housing requirements of Daveyton as revealed by official records, were estimated as follows: 70

TA LIE 3. HOUSING REQUIREMENTS IEN DAVIEYTON, 11955

Residing Total Population No. off Families Apex Emergency Camp 20 356 4 071 Benoni Old Location 12 106 2 421 (Lodgers) Wattville Township 3 025 605 (Lodgers) Asiatic Bazaar 1 167 233 European Urban Area 2 915 583 Total 39 569 7 913 Source: Town Council of Benoni: Non European Affairs Minutes, 1955.

It was thus observed that nearly 8 000 houses for the accommodation of families totalling about 4 000 people, were required immediately in Daveyton. (2)

In Daveyton the most common forms of dwellings constructed were the detached and semi-detached single storey units, but single storey row or terraced houses were also considered where topography and economic considerations favoured their use. Terraced houses were not built in Daveyton. Residential plots in Daveyton had space for privacy, laundry and clothes drying, children's playground, cultivation and sufficient overall area to allow for fresh air and uninterrupted sunlight. (3)

The area of Daveyton was divided into sites of 45 meters wide by 75 meters long, each of which was supplied with a tap and a latrine consisting of a superstructure with a seat over a large deep hole bored by a drilling machine. This constituted the site and service scheme, and by this time no houses were fully completed.

Three contractors were given permission to build houses in Daveyton, besides the Department of Native Affairs. These were R.W. Rumble, Laing and 71

Roberts and Woolaway Markham Corporation. By the 16th of May 1955 no houses were completed by the different contractors including the Department, but a number of houses were nearing completion. (4) It should be noted that when people were moved from Apex to Daveyton, they were allocated sites where they had to build a shack while waiting for the construction of their houses. This meant that houses were only erected after an individual family had occupied a site.

Daveyton residents did not have to put up with the inconveniences of the site and service scheme for very long, 6 000 houses were built within twenty months, an average of twelve houses a day, which was claimed as a world record. This building rate was achieved through the use of several large firms of contractors, and by the creation of a team of municipally trained Black builders, who erected 915 two-roomed and 603 three-roomed houses between April 1955 and March 1958. The artisans, bricklayers, carpenters and wiremen who worked on the scheme remained with the Department to continue its further building operations. (5)

The experiment with economic housing, the provision of large scale housing without the imposition of heavy recurring debt on the municipality, had been tried at Wattville, and its success there paved the way for a similar scheme in Daveyton and in many other townships in South Africa.

The largest number of houses were erected by Messrs. Laing and Roberts, who cast the four sides of the house in concrete, lifted them into position on the foundation with a crane and joined them together with a pre-cast corners. The old conception of supplying only communal amenities for Blacks was completely discarded. Each house in Daveyton was supplied with water, electricity and waterborne sewerage. Easy access to the houses and a minimum of dust and mud were ensured by the general construction of tarred roads. A fast and cheap electric railway service was provided from Daveyton to the industrial belt. Within Daveyton itself a bus service was introduced at a 72

uniform and very cheap fare. (6) Table 4 below shows the type and rate at which houses were completed and various methods employed.

TA LE 4 TYPES OF °USES UlTLT AT DAVEYTON, 11954-1966 DATE OF COM- DATE OF COMPLIE- NO. OF HOUSES TYPE AND CON- MIENCIEMIENT 'HON STRUCTMN November 1954 August 1955 200 2 room fines con- crete site April 1955 March 1958 915 2 room brick 603 3 room brick May April 1957 600 2 room pre-cast concrete units 4 699 3 room pre-cast concrete units July 1956 August 1957 1 167 3 room pre-cast concrete units February 1966 December 1966 2 383 3 room pre-cast concrete blocks TOTAL 10 571 Source: D. Humphriss and D.G. Thomas: Belzoni: Son of my sorrow, p. 125. These houses were built in accordance to the needs of a family unit. Larger families were housed in three roomed houses whilst smaller families were housed in two roomed houses, with a possibility of extension should the need arise.

The capital for the erection of these houses was supplied by the National Housing Commission in the form of a loan of R4 000 000,00 at an initial interest of 4,75% to be repaid out of revenue from the sale and rental of houses.

With the planning and erection of a new township like Daveyton or extensions to existing locations, local authorities gave effect to the Bantu Education 73 requirements before the plans could be lodged for approval by the Department of Native Affairs in terms of section 2(2), Act No. 25 of 1945.' 7) For every unit of 8 000 families in Daveyton, 10 sites were provided for education comprising of 11/2 acres each for a Lower Primary Schools, 5 sites comprising 21/2 acres each for higher Primary Schools and 2 sites comprising 21/2 acres each for Post Primary Schools. The number of sites required in the case of larger or smaller units, varied with the number of families, for example for 4 000 families there were 5,3 and 1 sites respectively for school purposes. (8)

4.1 MA ACC MM DATION In terms of the directive from the Minister of Native Affairs, the cost of houses including a latrine and fencing erected as part of a housing scheme financed from state funds was not to exceed R500,00 for a family house. This meant that a house for a married couple was not to exceed R500,00, taking into account the size of the family and its ability to pay rent. Therefore the type of house built in Daveyton had to be affordable for the family and received careful consideration in order to ensure that the most suitable structure was produced. °)

The target for Daveyton was the erection of 8 000 family houses within a period of two years. Building was accordingly undertaken both departmentally and by private contractors, because a minimum output of approximately twenty houses per working day had to be sustained. There was naturally a certain time lag before this figure be reached and the rate of production was also adversely affected by seasonal weather conditions. (10)

Of the total of 8 000 houses constructed, only 1 500 were undertaken by the departmental building section as essential buildings, such as shops, offices, sub-stations and sundry. In order to ensure initially that the cost of the house would be within the limits of R500,00 per house, nine hundred to one thousand houses consisting of a 74 sleeping/livingroom, bedroom, kitchen and shower cubicle were constructed. All those houses could be extended by the addition of one or two rooms. These were erected by Messrs. Woolaway Markham Limited at a cost of R422,00 each, inclusive of the cost of the latrine and fencing. The remaining six hundred houses erected were a slightly modified version of the National Housing and Planning Commission plan type No. 51/9. These were standard type houses drawn by the National Housing and Planning Commission and used extensively throughout the Union. (11) These houses proved to be more suitable and consisted of two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and bathroom, but could not be extended further without major structural alterations. Steel doors were also supplied and fitted by Messrs Woolaway Markham at an additional cost of R8,20 per house. Other contractors also built houses at relatively the same cost. (12)

The official opening of the 6 000th house in Daveyton took place on December 6, 1956 by Inn Biihrmamn, Chairman of the National Housing Commission. According to the figures provided by the Benoni Town Council, Non European Affairs Committee, the population of Daveyton was put at a total of 6363 in 1956. ( '3) The population of Daveyton at that time consisted of the following: 75

TA LIE 5 POPULATION OF DAVEYTON, 1956 OVER 18 UNDER 18 MALE FEMALE MALE FEMALE TOTAL

XHOSA 1 115 1 166 1 098 1 183 4 562 ZULU 1 669 1 829 1 732 1 862 7 092 SWAZI & 1 943 2 126 2 250 2 365 8 801 NDEBELE SOUTHERN 960 1 089 948 1 008 4 005 SOTHO SHANGAAN/ 534 536 545 550 2 165 TSONGA VENDA & 149 145 126 140 560 OTHERS TOTAL 8 509 9 005 8 932 9 423 35 869

Source: Town Council of Benoni: Non European Affairs Minutes 1956.

4.2 SINGLE ACCOMMODATION In planning Daveyton, provision was made for the accommodation of 4256 single Black men, in nineteen double storied hostels. Sixty four were to be accommodated in each of the larger buildings and thirty two in the single storied hostels. The hostel sites covered an area of thirty- four acres, giving a density of 125 persons per acre which was the maximum permissible. Separate administrative offices, recreation halls, restaurants and other buildings were provided. (14)

The construction of double storied buildings as hostels was transferred to the Wattville Council and Daveyton remained with the task of providing single storied hostels. (15)

4.3 ACCO M • DATION ACC G T ETHNIC G UPS The question of the accommodation of ethnic groups in all locations and especially in Daveyton, was discussed in the previous chapter in a more detailed manner. In this chapter the emphasis is on how ethnic 76

groups were housed, the naming of streets in Daveyton, as well as the ward boundaries which were demarcated according to ethnic groups. This is discussed here to show how segregation was achieved through the manipulation of housing allocation systems in Daveyton.

Before the disestablishment of Apex Emergency Camp, a survey of the records kept at Apex reflected the following composition: there were 1 715 families belonging to the Nguni group, 1 676 families of the Sotho group and 237 of the Shangaan/Tsonga group. A factual house- to-house survey was also conducted by the Welfare official in charge of the population of Apex to ascertain the housing requirements and check the ethnic composition as disclosed by the records of the Council. (16)

The Welfare section headed by the Welfare Officer, mr. P de Kock, recommended that Daveyton be developed to accommodate the following families from the Apex squatter camp: Nguni families, consisting of Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi and Ndebele ethnic groups; Sotho families consisting of Northern, Southern, Western ethnic groups, and Tsonga, Venda and other smaller groups not included in the above. (17)

This led to the division of Daveyton into housing for different sections according to ethnic divisions as promoted by the Department of Native Affairs. The advantages for the government of such divisions, has been discussed in the previous chapter.

Ward 1 was commonly known as Xhosa area. The area bounded by Mocke, Mahlobo, Dungeni, Tonga and Sihoko streets comprised approximately 1 148 sites.

Ward 2 was commonly known as the Swazi and Ndebele area. The area fell within the following boundaries, from the northern most point of Mahlobo street down to Mocke street, and along Mocke street in the 77 eastern direction to Mpinga street; stretching northwards along Mpinga street to Kheswa street. Again northwards, the area extended along Khanyile street to stand no. 4 675 and then stretched in an Eastern direction to the end of the planned portion. This area comprised of approximately 1 015 sites.

Ward 3 was commonly known as the Zulu area. The area was bounded by Eiselen street in the south, Hlakwana street in the west of Daveyton and along Mocke street to Mpinga street. It stretched northwards along Mpinga to Kheswa street and then joined in an eastern direction with Kheswa to the area covered by Khanyile street. The area northwards stretched along Khanyile street to stand no. 4675 and then in an eastern direction to the end of the planned portion. The area comprised of approximately 729 sites.

Ward 4 was commonly known as the northern Sotho area. The area was bounded by Eiselen street in the north, Hlakwana street in the west and along Turton street to Lobedu street. It covered Lobedu street in a southern direction to Nareng street which was joined in an eastern direction by Sotho Street. It also covered the area from Sotho street in a southern direction and through the pedestrian way to Pulana street in an eastern direction which include Thlako street. This area comprised 1 182 sites.

Ward 5 was commonly known as the south Sotho area. The area was bounded by Turton street in the north to Lebedu street and then moved in a southern direction to Nareng street. From Nareng street it stretched in an eastern direction to Sotho street and south through the pedestrian way to Pulana street. The area comprised 663 sites.

Ward 6 was commonly known as the Tsonga-Venda area. The area lay within the following boundaries : the area covered Heald street and 78 along Mocke street to Dungeni. From Dungeni street in a northern direction of Daveyton it went through to Tonga street and south along Tonga, Sibeko and Phaswane streets. The area comprised 1 321 sites." 8)

In terms of Resolution 3 (4) of chapter 20 of Administrator's notice no. 343 dated 30 April 1952, the above delimitation came into operation on 24 September 1955, the date on which the first Daveyton Advisory Board elections were held. (19)

The new areas that developed in Daveyton like Ext. 1, 2 and 3 Sgodi and Etwatwa were incorporated in these wards in 1982 when the Daveyton Council was led by mr. T Boya.

In Daveyton, the streets were named for identification purposes and also to honour some high ranking individuals. There were four main roads within Daveyton and two main access roads, one from Alliance Station and the other from Benoni. Four senior officials of the Department of Native Affairs played a major part in the acquisition of land and continued to play a major role in the development of Daveyton. It was therefore recommended to name the four main streets after these officials and to name the access roads from Alliance station as the name applies, namely Alliance road and to name the access road from Benoni likewise namely Benoni road. The four officials referred to were dr. Eiselen, then Secretary for Native Affairs, mr. Heald, then under Secretary for native Affairs (Urban areas), mr. Turton, Principal Urban areas commissioner (Labour) and mr. Mocke, senior Urban Areas Commissioner (Housing). (20)

Therefore the street from the Western entrance of Daveyton to the entrance of the civic centre of Daveyton was named Heald street. The main street through the civic centre, which passed through the entire 79

Daveyton, was called Eiselen street. This has also become the access road in Etwatwa Extension, a new developing area. The street to the right of the civic centre was called Turton street and this also became an access road to Crystal Park and Pretoria. The street to the left of the civic centre was called Mocke street and the remaining streets were given African names in accordance to recommendation of the Advisory Board. (21) From the Western side joining the Benoni road in Extension 2, there is a new main road which has been named Mathewson Road, after dr. JE Mathewson, who was the Director of Non-European Affairs in Benoni. (22) This main road is also an access road to Crystal Park and Pretoria.

4.4 P WS! N OF AMENITIES 4.4.1 Community and Social Centres The basic aim of providing social or community centres was to create a positive instrument to promote culture and encourage a harmonious and balanced living. The activities for which community centres had to cater were numerous and diverse. Many forms of activity needed accommodation for which space was not available in the home, while others were of an educational nature which necessitated buildings. These sites were to be accessible to the whole area it was intended to serve and be grouped with other social and community services.

The uses to which parts of the community centres may be put, fell into three main related groups, namely social, recreational and educational. The social group includes activities such as dances, concerts and dramatic performances. The recreational group covers activities such as physical training and indoor games. The educational group provides for lectures, library and reading facilities. Communal centres could also incorporate a clinic for mother and infant welfare as part of the building.(23) 80

Although it was considered the ideal that a community centre in a Black area should not serve a population greater than ten to fifteen thousand people, well planned centres could serve a greater community. According to Mathewson it was experienced that a hall providing seating accommodation for 500 people proved to be fairly adequate for a population of 5000 Black families, approximately 25 000 persons of all age groups.(24) It was therefore advisable that buildings designed for use as community centres should be so planned that future extensions may be effected easily.

The main social centre in Daveyton was designed to serve a Black community of approximately 80 000 people. It comprised of a main hall of 6 500 m2 which, together with a large gallery provided seating accommodation for 1 000 people. There was also a smaller hall of 2 600m 2, providing seating accommodation for 450 people. As part of the scheme a library with a floor space of 3 500m 2 was provided. The scheme further provided for a committee room, eight offices with adjoining store rooms and a kitchen with two buffers serving the main and small hall for club equipment, walls for chairs and ticket offices. (25)

The social centre in Daveyton was planned that it could be used for a variety of purposes including the showing of films, but a - cinema was later erected in Eiselen street. A new and bigger library was also built, but it was not attached to the social centre. The centre with other amenities were built from the profits of selling traditional beer in the township. It was built by Black labourers under supervision of the Department of Native Affairs. it was named after councillor Lionel Kent who was 81

Chairman of the Council's Non-European Affairs Committee and Chairman of the Advisory Board for his contribution to the development of Daveyton. (26)

When Sanlam Milt a shopping Mall in Daveyton next to the social centre in 1993, they also provided funds for the renovations and upgrading of the centre which was completed in 1995. The centre's name since changed to V. Ndlazilwana Community Centre in honour of the late musician who was a product of Daveyton.

4.4.2 ecreation Rrounds In modern townships provision was made for open spaces which were laid out as parks, gardens, playgrounds, open air baths and sportsgrounds. These were either grouped together or provided separately. Playgrounds for children were advantageously placed near dwellings in the centre of groups of houses, thus avoiding journey and road crossings. Whilst the ideal was to place playgrounds within half a kilometre of every house, it was realised that playgrounds attached to schools were of assistance toward open air amenities.

Recreation grounds for adults and juveniles were concentrated in one large area, and if possible the ground area was planned so that the some ground was used for different types of games at different seasons of the year, e.g. athletics, soccer, rugby, hockey, basket ball or netball, etc.

In the layout of the recreation grounds of Daveyton one main stadium was set aside for soccer, as soccer was by far the most popular sport in Benoni. In addition to the one main soccer stadium for important matches, provision was made for a 82

number of subsidiary grounds for less important matches and practices. A further stadium was provided for cricket, athletics and cycling as well as rugby. The demand in Daveyton allowed for that arrangement. In addition provision was made for tennis courts, a swimming pool and a tribal dancing stadium. (27) The soccer stadium was named after Councillor S. Sinaba who was a proponent of Blacks living in squatter camps to be accommodated properly. It is known as the Sinaba Stadium.

4.4.3 Old age home and creches The purpose of establishing a creche was to care for pre-school children whose mothers were compelled to work in order to make ends meet. The urban Black family today is affected almost daily by circumstances which tend to hamper its existence as a happy unit. Life is punctuated with constant economic changes and economic fluctuations, whilst the basic do not decrease. Aged people often find themselves under insecure circumstances where their children or relatives are either unwilling or unable to care for them. The need for the establishment of homes for the aged existed in most of the larger centres. The choice for such a home was generally governed by the availability of various amenities such as transport, shopping and medical, whilst the most important aspect was the guarantee of quietness. The homes should also be on sites which will permit good light, ample ventilation and space for gardens and trees for shade.

In Daveyton it was planned to site the creche and old people's home together. Certain facilities were common to both institutions such as staff quarters, administrative offices, medical and isolation rooms, kitchen, laundry, boiler and fuel room, pantry and storeroom. In this way it was felt that by placing the 83

institutions on the same site, as one entity, the essential facilities were to be usefully and effectively employed to serve both. An additional advantage of this scheme was the hope that essential staff, maintenance and running expenses would be limited to an absolute minimum.(28)

Provision was made for the separation of the creche from the aged people by planning the layout in such a way that the administrative offices, medical and isolation rooms, kitchen, pantry and laundry formed a central and dividing wing. The layout also provided for the conversion of the old people's home into additional creche accommodation should future demand justify extensions to the crèche or the combined venture prove unsatisfactory. (29) The centre was named after councillor mrs. N. Mcdowell, in honour of her contribution towards solving housing problems in Daveyton irrespective of her capacity on the Council. (3°)

4.4.4 eer glans The beer hall in Daveyton was designed by a firm of private architects who investigated various beer halls throughout the Union. It was built by using exclusively Black labour. 31 The total cost was estimated at 8280 000,00. The hall provided seating accommodation for 1 000 people. An interesting feature was that Black males objected to the provision of drinking facilities for females and thus only off-sale facilities were provided for women. (31)

In a large township like Daveyton it was proper to establish beer depots within the township particularly for the purpose of off- sales. The general feeling was that one depot should be 84

provided for every 1 000 families and thus avoid congestion of large numbers of people. (32)

4.5 PROVISION OF ESSENTIAL SERVICES The Council of Benoni decided that the provision of houses would be on an economic basis, therefore the next issue was the provision of essential services and amenities necessary for making it possible for the people to be able to occupy the houses under healthy conditions. These services were devided into revenue producing projects and those which were non-productive. Under the former could be classified water, electricity, cinemas, shops, brewery and beer halls. Among the non- productive essentials the following had been included : road construction, chreche, clinic, schools, old people's home, social centre and library. Moreover a market, swimming pool, administrative buildings, workshop, stores, government buildings as well as sports grounds were included. (33)

The most important principle in developing a Black township as an economic unit, was that revenue producing projects had to be financed by way of loans, and non-revenue producing services from income and accumulated surpluses. It was also borne in mind that whilst some projects were semi-productive, eg. rentals from government buildings, social centre, etc., the annual recurring expenditure on the running and maintenance of others was likely to be considerable. (34) In order to demonstrate the important role played by the revenue producing projects in the economic set-up of Daveyton, a few examples will be mentioned.

4.5.1 Water sumily To install water supply to the boundaries of Daveyton it would cost 8267 600,00. This was financed from the Services Levy Fund. Of this amount 8206 000,00 was received by way of a 85 ten year loan against the fund. The cost of this service together with other essential services to the boundary of Daveyton was therefore not reflected in internal cost of administering the township, and without the Services Levy Fund it was going to be extremely costly, if not financially impossible from the Native Revenue Account point of view, to provide various essential services immediately. (35)

The internal reticulation which included metering the supply to each house, providing water in the kitchen and bathroom and one stand pipe in the garden would cost R352 000,00 in respect of the first 8 000 houses. The householders paid a water tariff and whilst there was a deficit of R1 758,00 during the first year, a small surplus was reflected in 1956 after which it was expected to increase as the loan charges were repaid and developed in the area proceeded. (36)

It was a practise in the past to impose a site rental to meet the cost of the services incidental to living in the houses. Instead of this charge being a composite all inclusive amount of R2,05 per month, the residents in Daveyton paid 15 cents per month which covered the purchase of land, administrative charges, an amount for road construction, general maintenance and sanitation. (37)

The consumption per family in the Black townships in Benoni where houses were not metered amounted to over 4 000 kilolitres per month. On metering the supply to these houses, the consumption dropped to below 1 000 kilolitres per month. In the following year the income on water was R46 000 against and expenditure of R45 000,00 reflecting a profit of R1 000,00. Had the water not been metered, the shortfall through wastage would have been considerable. A double saving to the overall 86

Native Revenue Account was resultantly affected and each member of the community participated in making the project economically viable. The following tables show the estimated revenue and the estimated progfessive accumulated surplus. The figures are reflected in Rand. TA LE 6 ESTIMATED INCOME REVENUE IN DAVE 'TON 19554960 YEAR GENERAL BEER SERVICES SCHOOLS TOTAL NATWE LEVY REVENUE 1955/56 303 557 R194 950 .1: 1,4 800 R2 580 11595 887 1956/57 '' 48 001 R229 344 II: ',4 800 R11 520 R763 665 11957/58 11513 149 8261 840 ' 1001125 R13 920 R888 934 1958/59 R599 123 R283 344 R1105 250 113 920 R1001 637 Il959/60 s 638 788 R288 976 RHO 500 R113 920 «11052 184 Source: Bantu: April 1956. TA LE 7 ESTIMATED PROGRESSIVE ACCUMULATE SURPLUS IN DAVEYTON 1956-1960 YEAR NATIVE ONE THIRD SC1OOLS SE ' VICES ENDING 30 REVENUE i::EEN A/C ACCOUNT LEVY JUNE 11956 157 853 '87 204 1 516 60 OH 1957 187 3113 R1119 457 R204 R36 232 1958 R340 107 159 931 x.70 R23 832 11959 R474 070 R206 277 4 0116 b 72 532 11960 R622 596 R254 203 ' ' 876 '1 79 8112 Source: Bantu: April 1956.

Table 6 & 7 show the role played by the traditional beer in contributing to the Council Revenue in order to subsidise developments in Daveyton. Most of the capital used was coming from the traditional beer sale. It was therefore visualised that after 1960 the Native Revenue account would reflect a surplus independently of the beer account. This was 87

the result of the township being fully established and the residents paying for the services.

The beer' account was by far the most important revenue producing project in Daveyton and the local Council had exclusive right to manufacture and sell the commodity. In terms of the amendment to the Native (Urban Areas) Act, two thirds of the profits made on the sale of the beer could be used virtually for any purpose in the township, whilst one third could only be used on expenditure of a welfare nature.

This was known as the five year master plan, Native Revenue Account, adopted on November 4, 1955, by the sub-committee of the Non-European Affairs committee. In terms of this plan it was visualised that after the year 1960 the overall Native Revenue Account would reflect a surplus independently of the Beer Account. An amount of R508 406,00 was made available for the next five years for the old people's home, cinema, sports ground, etc. As this amount could not be spent on projects other than of a social nature, it was concluded by council members that those amenities be provided as speedily as possible in order of preference during each of the successive five years when funds became available. (38)

4.5.2 Electricity One of the most important services after the supply of water was electricity, especially in a township of the dimensions of Daveyton. If in the reticulation of electric energy, street lighting alone was provided, the annual recurring costs in loan repayments and interest together with the cost of the current used, could become unbearable to the main Native Revenue Account. If, however, the current was supplied and metered to 88

each house, the income derived therefrom would not only eradicate that expenditure, but would create a further saving by transferring the amount from the debit to the credit side of the Native Revenue Account, and so release a substantial sum of money for use in other directions. Most important of all the cost of electric current to individual consumers was less than they would have to pay for the old fashioned methods of lighting by either candles or oil. (39)

The cost of taking electricity to the boundary of Daveyton amounted to R198 800,00 as a direct charge to the services levy fund of which an amount of R166 000,00 was by way of a short term loan. The total cost of providing internal electricity reticulation, wiring of houses, installation of meters and house connections amounted to R878 000,00 in respect if the first 8000 houses. As the impact of loan charges preceded actual income from consumers, the deficit in the first year amounted to R23 200,00, whilst the profit in the fourth year exceeded R10 000,00.(40) Infrastructural development continued through the 1970's in Daveyton, and by 1975 Daveyton was fully electrified, but whilst Daveyton's infrastructure and services were good, it had a growing housing shortage. From 1961 to 1982, Daveyton's population doubled, while its housing programme grew by one third. For instance, in 1979 nearly four thousand families had been on the official housing waiting list for at least four years. (41)

4.5.3 Transport services Realising the tremendous importance of an efficient transport service to convey Black workers to and from their places of employment, an inter-departmental committee was appointed to investigate the problem in larger centres. The committee 89

consisted of the General Manager of the then South African Railways as Chairman, the Secretary of Finance, Secretary of Transport, Secretary of the Treasury, Chairman of the Land Tenure Advisory Board and the under-secretary for Native Affairs (European Areas) and excellent progress was made. In the case of Benoni a double railway line was electrified, taken to the outskirts of Daveyton and a spur provided to a point within the township so situated that any resident was within walking distance of the station. The total cost of the scheme was R4 000 000,00.

The number of trains per day were initially five, but improvements were affected to increase the number of trains to 15 a day. This service was also augmented by the municipal bus service. (42)

There were a number of other essential services that were provided to the population of Daveyton which were financed by the Native Revenue Account, such as road, stormwater, sanitation and sewerage, etc. These were eventually completed.

4.6 OCCUPATION AN PENING S F VEYTON The opening of Daveyton was marked by the coming together of the residents of Daveyton. On the day of the opening the inhabitants participated enthusiastically by performing different sporting activities. Mr. H.B. Nyathi, then a member of the Native Advisory Board, thanked the dignitaries present for the role they had played in establishing Daveyton on behalf of the inhabitants. 90

The official opening of Daveyton township took place on Saturday, April 16, 1955 and was conducted by dr. W.W.M. Eiselen, then Secretary for Native Affairs. The occasion was attended by Councillor Vosloo, Councillor Davey after whom the township was named, Councillor Lionel Kent, Councillor Walmsley and the then Mayoress, Councillor mrs. N. McDowell, to mention a few. (43)

The success of the occasion was also applauded by the commentary in the Rand Daily Mail that Blacks moved with smoothness to the new Benoni Township, and this brought new hope to South Africa. (44)

Therefore one can conclude that the provision of housing in Daveyton generally was a welcomed venture as it helped to alleviate the housing problem of Benoni for some time. As the population of Daveyton grew in number and more people were attracted to Daveyton, the problem of the shortage of houses was to emerge again. 91

REFERENCES Chapter 4 A.J. Christopher: Apartheid and urban Segregation, p. 127. NE/17/2/1955: Town Council of Benoni: Non-European Affairs minutes. D.M. Calderwood: Site selection in Non-European housing estate layout, p. 18. NE/17/6/1/1955: Town Council of Benoni. D. Humphries and DG Thomas: Benoni: Son of my sorrow, p. 125 and Ibid., NE 17/6/5/1956. Ibid., p. 126. NE 51/1/1956: Town Council of Benoni. Ibid. Ibid., NE 45/4/4/2/1956. J.E. Mathewson: The establishment of an urban Bantu Township, p. 73. Town Council of Benoni..., NE 45/4/4/2/1956. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid., NE 22/3/3/1956 and Mathewson: The establishment ..., p. 78. Ibid., Ibid., NE 21/1/1955. Ibid., NE 21/4/1955. Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., NE 29/2/1955. Ibid., NE 25/14/6/1958. Ibid., Ibid., NE 25/14/6/1958. J.E. Mathewson: The establishment of ..., p. 87. NE 23/4/2 and NE 45/4/4/2/1957: Town Council of Benoni. Ibid., J.E. Mathewson: The establishment of ..., p. 93 and Town Council of Benoni..., NE 25/5/4/1956. 92

W.C. Mocke: Planning of Modern Bantu Township, p. 23. Ibid., p. 24. - C. Heald: Urban Bantu Housing, p. 11. J.E. Mathewson: The Establishment of ..., p. 84 and Town Council of Benoni..., NE 10/3/5/1955. Town Council of Benoni..., NE 10/3/5/1955. C. Heald: Urban Bantu..., p. 31. Town Council of Benoni..., NE 24/18/1956. W.C. Mocke: Planning of ..., p. 132. Town Council of Benoni..., NE 17/6/8 and NE 1/2/16/1956. Ibid., and W.C. Mocke: Bantu Housing with special reference to Site and Service, p. 102. Ibid., NE 24/18/1956. C. Heald: Urban Bantu..., p. 32 and Ibid., NE 53/7/6/1955. Ibid., NE 23/4/2 and NE 45/4/4/2/1957. Interview: S. Sinaba, Daveyton 26/06/1997. C. Heald: Urban Bantu..., p. 45. W.C. Mocke: Planning of..., p. 86 and Town Council of Benoni..., NE 53/7/2/1955 and NE 15/3/1/1957. NE 25/10/7/1955: Town Council of Benoni. Ibid. 93

CHAPTER 5

5. DEVELOPMENTS IN DAVEYTON This chapter will discuss the developments that have taken place in Daveyton since its establishment in 1955. This will be by way of revealing the type of buildings erected and the purpose they serve. The management of Daveyton will also feature in the chapter as well as the population of Daveyton, their activities, their problems and future development of Daveyton as township will be discussed.

Daveyton is situated to the East of Benoni, bounded by the R22 freeway to the South and R51 to the West, with various agricultural holdings to the North East.

The Daveyton township was laid out on proper town-planning principles, so that the monotonous effect of houses built to a set pattern was broken by curving streets which gave interest to the layout. The stereotyping of the design of the houses was allegedly necessary for the sake of the economy as the whole project was meant to provide shelter as speedy as possible at minimal cost, but certain sites were made available to those who could afford to build homes of their own. In addition Blacks could buy municipal houses and develop them to their own taste, as long as these develOpments did not detract from the appearance of the houses or of the neighbourhood. Trees were planted in the front gardens of the houses so that, today many streets in Daveyton are pleasantly shady, with exception of the new extensions like extension two and three, where trees were only recently planted on the main streets.

5.1 UILDINGS AND OT E DWELLINGS A civic centre was built at the entrance to Daveyton in 1956 which included the nerve-centre of the township and an administrative block with a Council Chamber. Nearby it was followed by a library, a clinic, a 94 crèche, the police station, a large and well equipped social centre, and opposite stands a shopping centre which had been overshadowed by the erection of a new big Daveyton Mall which caters for modern demands and facilities needed by the Daveyton Residents. The Mall is suitably situated because of the taxi rank erected on the opposite side. The mall was built in 1993.

A very big beer hall and the brewery were also erected in 1956. Some distance down the wide curving main street is the huge Sinaba Stadium named after Councillor S Sinaba by the then Social Service Committee for his period of service, having served on the Apex Emergency Advisory Board before coming to Daveyton. The stadium was built in 1960. (1) Barclay's Bank and the Standard Bank, established branches in Daveyton in 1956, staffed by Black tellers. Nowadays with the erection of the Daveyton Mall all major banks have established branches in Daveyton, due to the growing demands of the mushrooming Daveyton township.

Table 8 below reflects the public buildings completed in Daveyton by 1961 and the cost of each building. It should be noted that all these buildings were built with departmental funds. In 1961 they were all completed. More funds became available with completion of the beer hall and brewery in 1961. 95

TA LE 8. PU LIC IJELDUNGS COMPLETED 1:: Y 19611 (R) Shops 71 200,00 Administrative Office 60 000,00 leer lEldill and i:, rewery 332 000,00 Clinic 50 000,00 Commercial Banks 40 000,00 0 SA Police Station, ..arracks and 78 000, till Magistrate's Court Post Office 211 000,111 Lionel Kent Centre 108 000,00 Nancy MacDowe1111 Crèche 52 000,00 A) Library 6 000,,11g1 k) Sportsgrounds 120 000,00 TOTAL 938 200,00 Source: Humpriss and D.G. Thomas: Benoni: Son of my Sorrow (1968:132). The buildings were further designed in such a manner and the area of the site made sufficiently large in order to permit its duplication. (2) The block of Administrative Offices were also erected in Daveyton in 1956 to accommodate other officials who would later be provided with their own separate building, e.g. the welfare officers were moved to the social centre, the technical staff to the workshops between the hostels. The medical staff were moved to the Clinic. When the new buildings were constructed in 1961 more office accommodation became available for the increasing administrative staff.

Dr. W.W.M. Eiselen, then Secretary of Native Affairs laid the foundation stone of the Daveyton Administrative Offices on 16 April 1955 on the occasion of the official opening of Daveyton Township. (3) The stone of the Daveyton Administrative Offices was officially unveiled by dr. H.F. Verwoerd, then Minister of Native Affairs, on

March 31 1956. (4) 96

Next to the civic centre the Department erected another large block of shops, for various types of trades, in order to ensure competition. In Daveyton the first portion of the central blocks of shops included two general dealers, one undertaker, one barber, one dairy, one butcher, a greengrocer and two consulting rooms for Black medical doctors in the same vicinity. This building was later extended to provide for a bicycle shop, a restaurant including fish and chips shop and rooms for a bottle store, watch repairs and tailor. As soon as the need arose and as other types of businesses were not adversely affected, more businesses were allowed, to ensure a healthy spirit of competition. (5)

Smaller blocks of shops were sited at convenient or strategic points throughout Daveyton, because the equitable division of the total turnover had to enable the business venture to operate on a profitable basis. If similar shops e.g. grocery shops are situated next to each other they don't generate profit as would be the case when situated far from each other in a township.

As the ownership of the land on which any building might be erected in a township remained vested in the local authorities (this having been laid out in the Bantu in European Areas Act of 1961), various Government Departments were hesitant to erect the buildings themselves. The procedure therefore was for the local authorities to undertake the construction and to lease the buildings on such conditions and terms as the Minister of Native Affairs would approve. 6

This was seen when the necessity of establishing commercial banking facilities came into effect in 1956. In Daveyton these were established by the Local Council and leased to the Banks, and these buildings were specially erected for the purpose.(') 97

The building of schools was required as an integral part of the Bantu Housing Scheme (in terms of section 1 of the Housing Act of 1920 (Act No. 35 of 1920) as amended). (8) Local authorities were responsible for the building of all the Lower Primary School buildings. With regard to the erection of Higher Primary as well as Post Primary School buildings, it was decided that the cost of these buildings would be subsidised by the Department of Native Affairs, more or less on a rand for rand basis. The community was thus expected to contribute its share towards the proposed buildings. When a community was deprived of a school building due to the removal of a Black residential area in the course of slum clearance, the Department of Native Affairs arranged for the provision of educational facilities in the new area at least equal to those which existed in the vacated area. (9)

Initially, Daveyton had twenty schools that were to be built and eventually occupied by pupils by 1957, but these have doubled in the 1980's because of the growing population. The original plan of Daveyton provided that where possible for every four hundred houses, a school was to be provided, i.e. 8 Lower Primary, 7 Higher Primary and 5 High Schools. Space was also provided for the erection of a Technical School, Technicon, a Teachers Training College and a University when the need arose. In 1980-81 a Technical School and a

Technicon were . erected respectively and in 1988 and 1989 a Teacher Training College and Vista University were established in Daveyton respectively. This was because of the need for tertiary education facilities resulting from the annual increase in the number of High School pupils.(1°) At present Daveyton has three officially recognised Pre-primary schools, thirty-three Primary Schools, twelve High Schools, and one Technical High School, one Technicon, one Teachers Training College and one satelite campus of a University. 98

The Government buildings, were completed in order of priority, for example, a Police Station, Post Office, Police barracks for single quarters, magistrates court and Native commissioner's courts. The financing of the buildings was by way of loans redeemable every twenty five years and the rentals were determined to cover repayments and interest.

Accommodation for the South African Police Services in Daveyton consisted of three basic elements namely, the Police Station, a Police barracks and a parade ground. The Police Station faces the central park, now converted to a taxi rank, with the barracks directly behind. The parade ground is sited between the two buildings, easily accessible from both and removed from the public eye. The main entrance of the building leads directly to the charge office which gives access through a closed corridor to the cell block. The cell block consists of six large cells for the temporary and separate detention of male and female prisoners. Various offices are provided for the Police, and provision was made for extensions to the building to accommodate any future requirements." 2) The Police Staff currently consists of over five hundred units. A new Police Station has been established in Etwatwa in 1981, which is another extension of Daveyton with a number of mobile Police Stations. The Post Office, like other buildings in the civic centre, was modern. The building was situated between the Police barracks, a commercial bank and the administrative building and a cluster of shops. It consisted of four main elements namely, the public section, postal section, the exchange and the staff rest and toilet rooms. The public section provided all the required facilities. The public had direct access to the Postmaster's Office which was so planned as to give excellent control over both the public and postal section. Telephone booths and 300 private post boxes were provided for the public under cover and next to the main entrance, and because of demand these were multiplied. Provision was made for future extention. 99

Due to the need for a more sophisticated facility and because of technological advancement, vandalism and burglaries, the Post-Office premises were moved to the new Daveyton Mall in 1993, which is well under surveillance for twenty four hours. The old Post-Office is now used for the sorting of the mail.

The Poly-clinic's main feature is the imposing entrance giving access to a large public hall from which all departments are accessible. The accommodation provided for a general office and record office, doctors' offices, dietetics' room, examination rooms, weighing and injection rooms, urine-testing rooms, dispensary, sterilizing and dressing room. In addition there is a dental section and offices of Health inspectors and staff. Adequate toilet facilities for staff and public were also provided. (13)

During 1959 the Town Council of Benoni, after and investigation, recognised a need for an own internal bus service in Daveyton. The need being mainly for transporting commuters from various points within Daveyton township, to the Daveyton railway station, to link up with train service to Benoni town and industries. 100

TA I,. LIE 9. INCOME AND EXPENDITURE OF THE DAVEYTON US SERVICES, 11987 FINANCIAL INCOME EXPENDITURE PROFIT LOSS YEAR 1973/74 278 645 164 019 14 536 1974/75 229 311 269 507 40 196

1975/76 264 683 398 850 134 167

1976/77 270 562 528 818 257 619

1977/78 304 003 687 610 383 607

1978/79 3311 106 752 840 421 734 1979/80 750 3411 1 038 375 288 034

1980/81 11 038 920 1 000 332 38 558

1981/82 1 083 574 1 190 769 107 195 Source: Memorandum: Establishment of a Local Authority: Daveyton, Annexure 5, 1987. The bus service in Daveyton belonged to the Daveyton Town Council and generally the services were provided at a loss in order not to raise the transport fees to the residents. These losses were absorbed by the Council, as it profited from household rental as well as rental of the Council's buildings. These losses are reflected in the years 1975 to 1980 as well as 1981/82. In the budget year of 1973/74 a small profit is reflected as well as in 1980/81 when new tarifs were introduced and there was less expenditure. The Council also received a large subsidy from the Native Services Levy which played an important role in financing the development of Daveyton, chiefly as a source of capital funds and a means of reducing annual costs. The sale of traditional beer also added to the coffers of the Council.

The bus service operated on a 22 hour basis daily, and the following number of commuters were transported on a daily basis. Average number of commuters per day: 32 000 Peak hours: mornings (Average per day): 14 000 101

Peak hours: Afternoon (Average per day): 12 600 Average number of commuters per day: 736 000

Average kilometres travelled per month: 90 000 (14)

The Daveyton Community Council had since its inception in 1978, maintained a strong view that the bus service should be retained, and took positive steps to regulate fare increases, revision of bus routes, replacement of absolete buses to ensure the smooth running of the service. Due to increasing costs of fuel, maintenance and other related components such as riots, boycotts and the pressure and threats from taxi organisations, the Daveyton bus service was discontinued in 1989.

It should be noted that these buildings as earlier mentioned, were built by the Department of Native Affairs from the 1955/56 financial year budget until they were completed and in full operation by 1961. All these buildings are still fully operational with the exception of the bus shed and the inhabitants of Daveyton are still utilising them.

5.2 T E A MINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT OF AVEYT SN The first Advisory Committee for Daveyton was established during 1955. The Daveyton Advisory Committee was a body which represented the residents of Daveyton during the year 1955 to1963. (15) The functions and duties of the Advisory Committee were fully defined in the Administrators Notice, which was also in line with the stipulations of the natives (Urban areas) Amendment Act of 1955. (16)

In Daveyton each ward was divided into not less than six blocks, from each of which male registered tenants were appointed by members of the ward to represent. The residents of that block were elected to a ward committee, the chairman of which became Daveyton Advisory Committee member. They were elected from their wards. The 102

Daveyton Advisory Committee consisted of six Black representatives from the community of Daveyton, notable first members were mr. H.B. Nyathi after which one secondary school was named, and mr. P. Dubaca who was the first Secretary of the Daveyton Advisory Council. The rest of the members were White officials who were seconded by the Department of Native Affairs, notable amongst them were Messrs. E. Mathewson, L. Kent, D. Henwood, C.A. Heald, W.A. Davey, W.C. Mocke and mrs. N. McDowell. The Daveyton Advisory Committee/Board functioned from 1955 to 1963 when the first Urban Bantu Council for Daveyton was established. (17)

The Urban Bantu Council Act, No. 70 of 1961, provided for the establishment of Urban Bantu Councils. This was also in line with the Bantu in Europeans Areas Bill of 1960 18) The total number of people or residents of Daveyton as at 31 January 1961, was 49 615. (19)

The first Urban Bantu Council for Daveyton was established during 1963. The functions of the Urban Bantu Council were fully defined in the Act mentioned. The Urban Bantu Council was given the task of ensuring sound administration of services and efficient financial administration. They were also to execute engineering services to the community, promote a sound community development and provide health services to the inhabitants of Daveyton. (20) The Daveyton Urban Bantu Council contributed towards the development of a Black Local Authority of Daveyton for a period of fifteen years from 1963 to 1978.

When the Urban Councils were established countrywide, the Government's intention to train Black community leaders to administer their own townships so that when the time came the White officials would be relieved of their duties in Black Townships and the reigns given to Black leaders. This happened in 1978 with the introduction of 103

the Community Councils country wide, which were administered by local leaders of the Black community. (21)

The basic function of the Urban Coucil was amongst others to allocate trading sites and to maintain essential services such as water supply, refuse removal, sewerage and roads within the township. There were important limits in practice to the Urban Council's power e.g. the White Advisory Board members retained much of their authority, whether within the Boards or seconded to the new councils. Many of these officials were opposed to the reforms. (22) More important the Councils controlled too few resources to be able to make the more important decisions.

A major reason for this was the financial position of the Council. The central state continued indirect control over revenue. This gave rise to widespread discontent among councillors. The Council's powerlessness with regard to substantial resources, was the result of the marked lack of reform when the Community Councils started to operate. Some councillors especially S. Sinaba described the Community Council in Daveyton as powerless and toothless. (23)

The Community Council's Act, Act no. 125 of 1977, made provision for the granting of various powers and duties to community councils. Therefore the Daveyton Urban Bantu Council was replaced by the Daveyton Community Council on 25 May 1978 in terms of the said Act, and this body was granted powers and duties defined in section 5(1) (a) of the Act. (24) The Community Councils Act of 1977 was the next constitutional step in the direction of Urban Bantu Councils. Once again it was an attempt to provide Black communities with a greater extent of self-management. Where Community Councils were established like in the case of Daveyton, they replaced advisory committees and Urban Bantu Councils. Community Councils were 104

vested with specific powers, while extended powers could be added by the responsible Minister. Among others, these powers included community guards (the predecessor of municipal police), the development of sport amenities at schools and the like. Of the powers that could be added by the Minister were e.g. the prevention and combating of the illegal occupation of land and buildings and the maintenance of services. (25)

The attitude of the Black population for whom this system was intended, however, created problems for the government. Already before the effecting of the system of Community Councils, it was rejected by many residents of Daveyton and other communities. This resulted in the destruction of a Council building by arson and rent boycotts. In Daveyton the champion of that rejection and protest was Mr. Shadrack Sinaba who was also a councillor of Daveyton. He saw the Council as having no powers. He wanted the Council to have controlling powers to administer the township.

In 1978 the establishment of the Community Council in Daveyton provided Sinaba with another forum for political involvement. He became a constant thorn in the Daveyton Council and the East Rand Administration Board (ERAB) established in 1974. He championed the claims of squatters and backyard shack residents, vocally condemning local state policies, and led opposition to rent increases. He gained

substantial local support. (26)

Residents in Daveyton could distinguish between councils' policies and action and the responsibility of individual councillors, and demanded a change of leadership rather than the abolition of the Council, on the assumption that new leaders could resolve residents' problems. 105

In 1978 to 1984 the Daveyton Council experienced rising unpopularity for rent increases and eviction of rent defaulters and squatters, whilst not providing sufficient new housing and services. In 1984 a local civic association took over the grievances of the community and this resulted in the residents of Daveyton paying a flat rate of R70,00 for services rendered. The leader of the civic was Mr. James Ngubo. (27)

The Daveyton Council and the East Rand Administration Boards policy of demolishing shacks and prosecuting their occupants without providing promised new housing schemes gave rise to a range of protests between 1979 and 1981. These protests seemed to subside in 1981 with the Council and the ERAB's agreement to be tolerant of backyard shacks and erecting new houses in Daveyton Extention one, with three sections locally known as Phumlamqashi, Sgodi and Swazi. These housing schemes were started in 1979 and completed in 1981, but provided very little new houses. Completed houses numbered 358.(28) Further protests were averted by the combination of the prospect of the further expansion of Daveyton and the continued tolerance of backyard shacks. (29)

At a social meeting held on 24 May 1983 the Daveyton Community Council resolved that: The Minister be requested to dissolve the Community Council of Daveyton in terms of Section 4 (1) of the Black Local Authorities Act (Act 102/82) and That the minister be requested to establish a Town Council for Daveyton in terms of Section 2 (1) (a) of the Black Local Authorities Act. (Act 102/82). (3°)

This was granted the very same year in 1983, and Councillor S.T. Boya was elected to lead the Daveyton Town Council. When the Daveyton Town Council was formally inaugurated in January 1984, its Chairman 106

Tom Boya said that without state subsidies the Black Local Authorities Act was incomplete. (31)

The Daveyton Council adopted a populist stance on some issues under the leadership of Tom Boya in the 1980's, and at local level he strongly criticised the ERAB over Township Councils powers and resources, but the perceived responsibility of Boya and the councillors for unpopular policies and the unresolved housing shortage, provided Sinaba with an opportunity to strengthen his political position in the township. Boya eventually resigned in 1988 after pressure from the local Civic Association.

Sinaba protested vigorously in the Daveyton Council and was very critical of the ERAB and the central government. The Sinaba Party organised opposition in the township, and his supporters, including many women from homeless families, engaged in direct protest action. Families erected shacks either in backyards or on the boundaries of the township. They also protested at the township Council Chambers, in response to shack demolition or the threat thereof. Sometimes they marched and chanted outside the chambers, and at times they invaded the Chambers themselves and sat in on meetings, usually ending up disrupting them. (32) The new impoverished people believed that incompetent councillors should be replaced but when the Civic Association started to function in 1984, most of the residents of Daveyton saw it as a saviour.

Sinaba's support was largely limited to squatters and the poorer or more overcrowded sections of Daveyton. This support waned during the early 1980's, as residents became more aware of the tight constraints on councillors' powers. When acute grievances arose in the newly-built Daveyton extention in 1982, Sinaba was excluded from the 107 emergent civic organisation. He therefore remained isolated in opposition. (")

The original plan for Daveyton provided for 13 000 residential sites to be developed and cater for a population of 80 000, but due to lack of finance from the central government there was a backlog in the late 1970's and housing could not be provided, hence the mushrooming of squatters and backyard shacks.

As earlier mentioned the Daveyton Council adopted a populist stance in the 1980's. They succeeded in averting more crises in housing by providing sites to people and private companies to develop. Under the leadership of Tom Boya about 11 260 residential sites had been developed nearly reaching the target of 13 000 sites, but these were insufficient as the population of Daveyton had increased in excess of the 80 000 earlier envisaged. In 1983 the population of Daveyton was officially reported to be 95 890, which implicated a grave shortage of houses. Mr. Heunis, then Minister of Constitutional Development and Planning, estimated the township's population as at 31 December 1987 at (a total of) 150 000 men, 39 000 women and 72 000 children. (34)

Daveyton extention 2 and 3 was then developed since 1983, which provided subsided houses for the middle and high income groups. These were teachers, police, nurses, doctors, lawyers and businessmen. This did not provide for the lower income group and the poor. As a result squatter camps started to mushroom in Daveyton in places like Etwatwa. To alleviate this problem the Daveyton Council under the leadership of Boya provided land to the low income group at Etwatwa where sites were given to them to develop on their own. The Council provided rudimentary infra-structure and private companies were invited to develop the area for their workers. 108

This era also saw the building of a number of schools because the Council also provided land for school buildings as well as that of a Teachers Training College and a University. Boya resigned in 1988 because of the unpopular policies of the Councillor and their limited powers.(35)

The official population statistics provided by the Daveyton Town Council in 1983 was 95,890 way beyond the envisaged population of 80 000, explaining the grave shortage of housing. Information received from the Human Science Research Council put the total number of Daveyton residents in 1991 at 151 658, the number of formal housing units at 15 589 and informal housing units at 13 938. This also reveals a shortage of housing that will take long to be addressed. (36)

Unofficial statistics of Daveyton total population for 1997 received from the Benoni Publicity Association is that Daveyton currently has 394 431 inhabitants, including the Etwatwa area. (")

5.2.1 Recreational Facillities The most popular sporting activities in Daveyton are soccer, athletics, cricket and softball. These sporting activities have huge following. Normally these activities take place in the local stadium which has a capacity of 13 000 spectators. Due to vandalism and lack of service, the field is no longer playable. A security fence has been erected around the stadium recently and renovations are expected to start soon. There are two more fields located outside the stadium, and eight more located in the residential areas and some on school grounds.

In Daveyton there are other sporting activities which are also catered for in the township and have a following. These include netball, basketball, which are exclusively female sports and 109

American Basketball and volleyball which have mixed participants and following. These are popular among school going pupils and students, and as a result they are played more on school grounds. Tennis is also available although the courts and club house need major renovations.

Various indoor games are also available in Daveyton, like table tennis, judo, karate, bodybuilding and weightlifting. At present the Community hall and the Community Centre are used for training as well as for tournaments. On the other hand, there is golf and swimming. Daveyton has its own 18 hole golf course, but as it is not fenced, the public has free access to it, which has resulted in the deterioration of the course. Because of the poor condition of the course, quite a number of players use golf courses in the White areas. Swimming is limited to the summer season, but the fact that the whole township has one swimming pool for its residents, puts a damper on its use. (38)

5.3 P 0 LEMS AN FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS The community of Daveyton is faced, like townships in the East Rand, by a high rate of unemployment. The factors that contribute to this is illiteracy and unskilled community members. Coupled with this problem, is the shortage of proper housing and crime, which can be attributed to unemployment. Due to the high rate of unemployment, poverty is prevalent in Daveyton and has become a serious crisis. (39)

The Community of Daveyton is constantly growing and as a result a number of extentions were established. This was also coupled by the mushrooming of squatter camps without adequate facilities to cater for the population. The squatter areas like Emaphupheni and Chris Hani, to mention few, are underdeveloped, because these people are unemployed and cannot afford proper houses. The Masakhane building 110

scheme has yet to find its footing but the Daveyton Town Council tried its best to provide essential services to the community before it was integrated into Greater Benoni by the Proclamation of Greater Benoni in December 1995. This has not yet delivered the expected housing and services to the people of Daveyton, the reason being that areas for future development were invaded by unplanned squatter camps. Before any visible development can take place, the squatter areas have to be developed by providing proper housing and services to the inhabitants. So far no housing scheme is underway, hence there is no delivery of housing that is awaited by the community.

Concerning educational facilities about 28 new schools have been built, but these have proven to be insufficient. More schools are needed for the growing number of children of school going age.

The expansion of the original Daveyton resulted in the development of extention 1, 2 and 3, which are Boya's view, Sgodi, Phumlamqashi, Swazi, Turton and Gumbi. Extention 1 is known as Sgodi, Phumlamqashi and Swazi; Extention 2 is known as Boya's view and extension 3 as Turton and Gumbi. The low income groups were accommodated by establishing Etwatwa West. The method employed to house people in the extentions was that of making a site available to a person. That person is expected to put up a structure which he/she could afford. Services were provided in a piecemeal fashion. Private contractors and developers were also allocated sites for private development to people who could afford a bank loan, but the forceful invasion of land and low payments hampered that process. (4°)

In an attempt to solve some of the problems, certain projects have been put in place in the more disadvantaged areas in Daveyton, for instance in the squatter areas. These are under the umbrella of Operation Masakhane which is monitored by the Community leaders. 111

These projects are aimed at encouraging residents to become actively involved in community projects that will help them in return, that is: to train residents in certain skills that they have to use in their community projects and in turn help them to get money to finance their own projects that will provide them with a living. Females are trained in knitting, sewing, baking, interior decoration, etc. Males are trained to acquire skills like building, welding, carpentry, upholstery, to mention a few.

Particulars of future extentions stand as follows: vacant usable land of 1 042 hectares, was available for development at 1 042 hectares. Land is also available for hostel family units of 46 hectares, which is subject to government approval The housing shortage stands at 5 539 houses, but because of the backlog, the number is increasing. It is nevertheless believed that sufficient land is available, until the year 2002, for the expansion and development of Daveyton. (41)

It should be noted that the new dispensation of Greater Benoni has temporarily halted development in Daveyton until the question of forceful land invasion has been addressed. Presently Daveyton has nine filling stations which supply fuel to the local and outside residents, and the new Daveyton Shopping Mall which has well developed office complexes and shopping areas, covering an area of 20584m 2 is the most recent development in Daveyton and is one of the most upmarket shopping malls in Greater Benoni. (42) This mall has about 66 shops including offices. This has brought relief to the Daveyton residents who had to travel 12 km's to Benoni to buy household necessities. Now they can buy them within Daveyton in the Daveyton mall, which has more or less all the shops found in town, including a Pick 'n Pay Hypermarket. This in turn alleviates the problem of transport cost, because residents can walk to the Mall. 112

This chapter has dealt with the developments that have taken place since the establishment of Daveyton in 1955. Focus has been on buildings and population. Future developments will take place once the question of forceful land invasion has been addressed by the Greater Benoni City Council.

The next chapter will focus on development of Black residents, permanent rights in urban areas, especially Daveyton, and the response of the Daveyton residents when they were resettled in Daveyton. 113

5.4 PHYSICAL LAYOUT OF DAVEYTON

The Aerial view of Daveyton in 1996. 114

REFERENCES Chapter 5 1 Town Council of Benoni: Non-European Affairs Minutes., NE 25/3/21/8/1900. J.E. Mathewson: The establishment of an urban Bantu Township, p. 81. and Ibid., NE 39/3/11/4/1957. Town Council of Benoni: Non European Affaris Minutes. Ibid., NE 25/12/7/1956. Town Council of Benoni: Non European Affaris Minutes. Ibid., NE 39/3/10/1957. Town Council of Benoni: Non European Affaris Minutes. Ibid., NE 23/4/2 and NE 45/4/4/2/1959. Town Council of Benoni: Non European Affaris Minutes. Ibid., NE 8/3/15/1961. Town Council of Benoni: Non European Affaris Minutes. Ibid., NE 24/17/1957 and NE 8/3/15/1961. Town Council of Benoni: Non European Affaris Minutes. Bantu Educational Journal., p. 360. Ibid. H. Mashabela: Townships of the PWV, p. 51 and The Star 5/11/87. J.E. Mathewson: The establishment of ..., p. 360. Town Council of Benoni: Non European Affaris Minutes NE 23/4/2 and NE 45/4/4/2/1959. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. NE 8/3/1/1955, Town Council of Benoni: Non European Affaris Minutes. Ibid. J.E. Mathewson: The establishment of .., p. 134 8/3/15/1961, Town Council of Benoni: Non European Affaris Minutes. Ibid., NE 41/3/1 and 41/3/2/1961. Memorandum: Daveyton Community Council, p. 18. Interview: S. Sinba, Daveyton, 27/6/97 115

Ibid. Ibid. Memorandum: Daveyton Community Council, p. 18. J. de Beers and L. Lourens: Local Government: The road to democracy., p. .33. J.F. Seeking: Quiescence and the transition to confrontation: South African Townships 1978 - 1984., p. 113. Interview: S. Sinaba, Daveyton 27/6/1997. Interview: Mr. Talane, Greater Benoni Council, 23/05/97. Interview: S. Sinaba, Daveyton, 27/06/97. Memorandum: Daveyton Community Council, p.2. J.F. Seeking: Quiescence and the..., p. 91. Interview: S. Sinaba, Daveyton, 27/6/1997. J.F. Seeking: Quiescence and the..., p. 115. H. Mashabela: Townships of.., p. 49. J.F. Seeking: Quiescence and the..., p. 93. Human Science Research Council, 1997. Benoni Publicity Association, 1997. Memorandum: Daveyton Community Council, pp. 4-6. H. Mashabela: The Townships of.., p. 53 Interview: Mr. Talane, Benoni, 24/5/1997. Memorandum: Daveyton Community Council, p. 10. Greater Benoni: Official Publication, 1996 p. 34 116

CIFEAPTER 6

6.1 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

In Daveyton the popular method employed to provide housing for Blacks was the site and service scheme, a concept devised by the Department of Native Affairs as an adjunct to normal housing schemes, in order to solve the Black housing problem as economically and speedily as possible. Briefly, it involved the idea that the limited capital available in the housing loan funds, together with the money collected from employers in the Native Services Levy Fund, should as far as possible be reserved for the acquisition of land on which sites could be laid out in accordance with proper planning criteria and provided with temporary, basic services such as communal water points and a bucket sewerage disposal system. Temporary dwellings could then be erected on the sites until such time as it became possible to replace them with conventional houses, either through the occupants own efforts or as part of a local authority housing scheme. This scheme was a welcome relief to the Apex squatter residents who were moved to Daveyton, although the distance from town and place of work remained an inconvenience. This was an issue the inhabitants were always complaining and are still complaining about.

Some local authorities, particularly the Johannesburg City Council, continued to remain strongly hostile to the idea of temporary housing and services, claiming that the provision and maintenance of temporary services, even at the very basic levels, demanded by the Department of Native Affairs, would in the long run prove to be a false economy in relation to the immediate provision of complete, permanent services." )

Responding to attacks from various quarters that the scheme was the creation of a larger number of squatter areas, the then Minister of Native Affairs, dr. HF Verwoerd, confirmed that he regarded the scheme as the only method of facing the housing problem squarely instead of turning their backs on it. Those in 117

need of homes, were given the first essential, that is a serviced plot, and could then systematically, although gradually, improve their position under supervision and mostly with further assistance. (2)

His reply clearly indicated that the Government was in no way going to divulge from its position of providing and creating separate residential areas for the different population groups. The pressure of the Government to force local authorities to accept the scheme became apparent in 1954 when the Johannesburg City Council, after objecting to the scheme, finally gave in after being threatened by the Minister that all further access to housing funds, would be cut off.

Eventually, some 35 000 sites were laid out and serviced, and by the beginning of 1962, the last shacks in what was about to become Soweto, had disappeared, replaced by the standard type NE51/6 houses, built by the Council's direct labour teams. (3) Other local authorities were forced to accept the scheme. The Benoni Town Council could not do otherwise but to follow the big cities, since Benoni was confronted with the problem of providing housing to the Apex squatter camp residents. The latter could not be evicted from the proposed industrial area without providing them with alternative housing, hence the establishment of Daveyton, which was a welcome relief to the Apex residents.

This therefore meant that a resolution of the crisis which had for so long dominated the official consciousness of the Government of providing separated residential areas to the population of South Africa, was finally achieved. The legacy of a group or a number of like islands, poverty-stricken townships which sprawled over greater and smaller areas of the least desirable land on the fringes of every South African city or town, remained. For decades it has constituted, and continued to constitute, the basic, constant and widespread fact in the daily lives of a large proportion of South Africa's population. 118

When the residents of Apex were finally settled in Daveyton, the reality finally emerged in terms of rising rents and transport costs that they had to face. Through the 1950s and after the government instituted what was known as "Urban management-reproduction policy", the townships were expected to generate income to sustain themselves, with less input from the government. The money from the government was that which came from the Native Service Levy Account. (4) In new locations like Daveyton, the residents were expected to generate income for developments in the township and this took the form of taxes that the residents had to pay.

The inhabitants of Daveyton and other townships that had emerged, were not satisfied with these conditions. Direct management of the township was still vested in the hands of White municipalities or local authorities which were controlled by Whites, with only a few Blacks involved. This could be seen in some ways as a deflection strategy by the state. The municipal Non-European Affairs Departments often attempted to portray themselves as somehow more human and less repressive than the central government, but the fact was that objectively their interests were largely very similar, that is, to promote separate residential areas at lower cost.

Rising rents and transport costs, maladministration and a lack of control were still major grievances. There was widespread grassroots mobilisation on these issues. The stabilisation of the Black urban population in the new urban townships that began to arise around the Rand, like Daveyton, had a generally levelling and homogenising effect on the Black population. Whereas previously they had been scattered and often, resided in the backyard of White householders in smallholdings surrounding the towns or in congested yards of African stand holders in the old locations, they were now brought together in a single area, Daveyton, under a common administration and sharing similar conditions of life. 119

Towards the end of 1956 the Minister of Native Affairs, dr. H.F. Verwoerd imposed economic rentals on all municipal housing, causing rentals to rocket up to 75% of their previous level, this in Daveyton was 15 cents per month. (5) Since the cost of transport to work had also doubled or trebled as a result of the distance of the new township from places of employment, residents began to experience an intense common economic squeeze. This bred a sense of collective deprivation and common purpose among urban Black communities along the Reef and particularly among its growing second generation population, which by the late 1950s began to manifest itself in bus boycotts and the quest to administer themselves in local councils. (6)

The Group Areas Act of 1950, required strict segregation of the four race groups recognised in terms of the Population Registration Act of 1950 (White, Coloured, Asian, Black). Within towns and cities, separate residential and commercial districts were demarcated, and ownership and occupation of property was restricted to members of the race groups to which the district had been assigned.(') Black South Africans were denied ownership rights in White areas completely, and were required to live in townships like Daveyton which were owned and administered by local agencies of the Central Government. Blacks had no representation on Town or City Councils and their political rights were restricted to advisory roles in respect of township administration. (8) The Urban Bantu Council established for the township, had little control over planning, services or rental levels within the township which was'determined by White administrators.

In Daveyton, from the late fifties to the eighties, people like S. Sinaba questioned and challenged the wisdom behind the omission of Black leaders in the total running of Daveyton. (9)

When faced with opposition to rent increases and the like, some municipalities would defend themselves by claiming to be opposed to the state financial segregation policies. They would cite the large amounts they subsidised the 120

Native Revenue Account every year. This was evident in Benoni when the Council justified its increases of rents by putting up a sum of R633 264,00 to subsidise water supply, access roads and the provision of electricity in Daveyton from the year 1955 to 1961. ('°) It should be noted that the bulk of the subsidy funds came from the Native Beer Account, from the sale of traditional beer in the township. This meant that the inhabitants of Daveyton were subsidising themselves by consuming more traditional beer.

The inhabitants of townships contributed the most towards the cost of their own development through the Native Revenue Accounts comprising fines, passes, labour registration fees and rents and beer profits which were all cause for concern. All housing costs for example were paid back eventually, but beer profits continued to be vital in subsidising developments. After 1952 the state extended the liquor revenue by ending prohibition in the townships. European liquor could then be sold under municipal monopoly, but 80% of the profits reduced to 20%, twenty years later in 1972, were paid to the Department of Native Affairs for use in the Reserves or Bantusstans and not the townships." This was also met with opposition from the Black community as this was interpreted as the government consolidating its segregation policy at their expense.

The state and municipal fiscal policies were seen as providing for, together with influx control and the homeland policies, the management and control of the labour force at the lowest possible cost to the dominant classes. An amendment to the Urban Areas Act in 1957 gave the Minister the right to approve each municipal Native Revenue Account and make expenditure subject to such provisions as he deemed fit. This could be seen as further allowing for this, as well as the growing insistence that these accounts be self balancing. This meant that the Native Revenue Accounts should balance itself by raising money out of fines, passes, labour registration fees, rents and the sale of traditional beer by the local government. 121

In the eyes of the opponents of the government, the large-scale construction of new townships or housing, was seen as part of the State's policies to eradicate remaining freehold rights. For instance the Bantu Resettlement Act of 1954 set up a Resettlement Board, empowered to buy, sell and expropriate property in a given area, to plan townships and build houses and if directed by the Minister, to become a local authority itself for African Administration. In terms of that Act, the Western Areas Removal scheme was carried out. In spite of an African National Congress (ANC) organised resistance campaign, Blacks were removed from freehold areas of the old Benoni location to Daveyton, Sophiatown, Martindale, Newclare and Pageview to Diepkloof and Meadowlands to mention a few, in the period 1955 to 1968. (12)

Seen from the view of the government, the freehold townships were difficult to control, so they had to be replaced. (13) This measure was seen by Blacks together with others to protect the interests of the White petty bourgeoisie by undermining the position of the Black petty bourgeoisie in that period. (14) The Group Areas Act diminished the business opportunities of Indians placed on the activities of African Traders in 1958 to 1959. Their facilities had to be leased from the council and their right to trade in urban areas were seen as temporary. The homelands were increasingly seen as their business home. Ethnic segregation, was increasingly applied to the siting of business premises. The number of the African petty bourgeoisie actually dropped in the 1950s. (15) Daveyton was therefore an ideal fertile ground for Black business ventures.

Maylam rejected the perception that the National Party government reversed the liberalising urban policy of the United Party. In fact he argued that the United Party was the one that was implementing residential segregation. (16)

There is ample evidence to show that the Group Areas Act was very much in line with the earlier plans and practices of the United Party policy makers. Many cities like Durban, Pietermaritzburg and East London among others were known to have been thoroughly segregated by 1950. Cape Town, often 122 projected as the "liberal city", had a tradition of segregation. United Party controlled councils had envisaged and planned the destruction of Black urban communities such as Johannesburg's Western Areas, long before it was eventually carried through by the National Party Government.

Influx control in the 1950s and 1960s represented a tightening of pre-existing measures rather than a significant new policy departure. All this tended to be concealed in the liberal mythology, which has tried to cover up the harshness of pre-1948 segregationism by pinning the severities of urban apartheid onto Afrikaner Nationalism. It is proper to conclude that the National Party continued and expanded where the United Party left off.

The forces that led to the creation and establishment of Black townships in South Africa could be traced to the year 1948 when the National Party came to power. The National Party implemented an urbanisation policy, based on the recommendations of the Sauer report. The Sauer report had called for measures which would slow down and eventually reverse the movement of Blacks into the White controlled urban areas. (17) The Sauer report to the National Party took note of the danger of the flood of Blacks moving to the cities and asserted that influx to the cities must be subject to every possible restriction. It recommended a national system of labour regulation and labour control, that would retard rural to urban migration, and which would allocate Black labour between agriculture, mines and towns. (18)

Prior to the 1948 general election the Sauer Commission of the National Party stated that the fundamental basis of the Party's policy was the maintenance and protection of the White race. In its report before the elections the Commission introduced the term "Apartheid" to popular political discussing and presented a blueprint for the implementation of apartheid policies after the party's electoral victory.(19) A year later the Department of Native Affairs described Black urbanisation as threatening because it promised unrest and general disorder. According to dr. Verwoerd it was not safe to allow the free movement of 123

Natives over the whole of South Africa and therefore wanted planning to keep South Africa "white". (20)

The long term aim was to settle all Africans in territorially segregated areas on an ethnic basis, which was successfully implemented in Daveyton and other townships. These townships were ultimately to be developed into economically and politically independent units. However, in the transition period to full territorial apartheid, urbanised Africans would be given temporary residence, rights and preferential access to urban jobs, on condition that they remained economically active by being capable to work and did not fall into idleness. While in town their legal status was to be that of politically rightless temporary visitors.(21)

The establishment of Daveyton in 1955 was an attempt by the Government to face the housing problem by providing housing to the needy by means of the "site and service" scheme. This was a welcome relief to the people from Apex who were in need of housing. Daveyton was therefore established as a model township where the government showed off its willingness and intention of providing houses to Blacks.

These were however to be provided in accordance to the policies of the government of racially segregated residential areas, which was part of the government's aim of keeping South Africa safe for the Whites. This was dr. Verwoerd's grand geopolitical vision to the policy framework which was founded upon two major politico-geographic concepts: (a) a group areas concept applicable to residence trading and related local political rights in "White" South Africa and (b) a homelands concept applicable to the separate political and economic development of Blacks outside of "White" South Africa. A township like Daveyton was established far away from Benoni so that it could easily be integrated into a homeland should the necessity arise. (22) 124

In a township like Daveyton, the housing shortage became acute, the major reason being the government's long standing policy of regarding Blacks in White South Africa as temporary sojourners, and because in 1968 the government placed a halt on the building of African housing in metropolitan or prescribed areas. From the late 1960s new commuter townships were erected only within the Bantustans in locations lying near the White cities. In some cases existing Black townships were simply incorporated into the Bantustans by redefining political boundaries, in other cases there was a physical relocation, involving the demolition of existing townships and forced resettlement to the homelands. The effect of these moves was to bring into being a new official category of Black labour, the so-called cross-border commuter. (2"

To complement the policy of population relocation, a vigorous policy of industrial decentralisation to the borders between the Bantustans and White areas was implemented, especially from the late 1960s onwards. Cross border commuting was a compromise between the aim of securing the economic and political independence of the homelands, and the demands of industry and commerce in the White controlled urban areas for an expanding African work force. Restricting political rights to the homelands was justified by the state in terms of the fact that Africans were domiciled there. (24)

The housing relocation and industrial decentralisation policies of the late 1960s marked an important change in the means of regulating Black urbanisation, that is, from direct controls over presence, employment and residence of individuals and their families within urban areas to indirect measures aimed at generating employment and housing away from these areas. The relocation of housing and employment in and near the Homelands was intended to attract Blacks away from the prescribed urban areas. Whereas pass and influx controls had sought to prevent them from staying, by imposing penal sanctions on illegal presence. In practice though, the impact of industrial decentralisation on 125 employment location was at first only slight. (25) The State continued to rely on direct coercion to achieve the aims of territorial racial separation.

In the late 1970s through pressure from the urban Black communities who demanded houses, the policy was partially revised as the Government prepared to incorporate a more stabilised and privileged Black middle class working in urban areas. Hence in Daveyton new extentions like Boya's view, Turton and Gumbi came into being where mostly civil servants were housed. Yet the number of new housing units built since 1976 did not keep pace with the demand, and housing became too costly for the vast majority of Blacks. The results in Daveyton was the mushrooming of squatter areas like Etwatwa with a number of extentions and Emaphupheni, Chris Hani, Zenzele to mention a few. These specifically accommodated the unemployed residents of Daveyton.

The Masakhane project, which is aimed at providing housing to the low income group by the Government of national unity, has still to find its footing in Daveyton. The delay is caused by the fact that before new houses can be built, the squatter camps in Daveyton have to be upgraded and serviced to provide proper accommodation to the inhabitants , only then new houses can be built.

Information from the Greater Benoni Council to the Department of Town Planning is that new developments in Daveyton are still on hold as the projects that are now in progress are those of upgrading the squatter areas around Daveyton. Phase 2 which is a project aiming at upgrading roads and stormwater pipes is still underway in Daveyton at a cost of R4 275 000,00. This project is financed by the East Rand Regional Services Council.

On the question of whether the resettlement was voluntary or forced, the majority of respondents said that the movement was voluntary. According to them, they wanted proper houses, and the Daveyton was a relief to them because in Apex they lived in shacks without proper facilities. Daveyton provided them with proper essential services and amenities that were not 126

available in Apex. Ninety five percent responded that movement was voluntary as some of them did not even wait for the Council's transport. They organised their own to speed up the movement.

Five percent of the respondents complained that distance was their problem and they would have preferred a township situated nearer to Benoni to reduce transport costs. They said they were reluctant to move to Daveyton, but because Daveyton was their only hope of being housed properly, they then opted to move to Daveyton.

On the question of the allocation of houses according to their ethnic groups, the response revealed that people had mixed feelings: 58% of the residents said they were happy, 29% was unhappy because they saw this as a means by the Government to separate them ethnically, thus causing division amongst them. Most of them pointed out that they could not object, for fear of loosing stands and houses allocated to them. Thirteen percent of the respondents said that their only concern was to get proper houses. The question of ethnic division was not a thorn to them, they were willing to accept what was offered to them, as they were desperate to have houses of their own.

On the question of what improvements or developments they would like to see in Daveyton, the response is more or less the same. They all want better and more facilities like schools, recreational facilities, more tarred roads and more houses to cater for the growing population of Daveyton. According to information received from the Benoni/Brakpan Education District, Daveyton has a population of 44 859 school going pupils who are accommodated in 46 schools. The majority of respondents were concerned about crime. They wanted more police stations, more police and an improvement of street lights as most crimes are committed in the evening.

Therefore it may be concluded, that generally people were happy to move to Daveyton and that the movement was voluntary. The creation and 127

establishment of townships like Daveyton, emerged from the seeds of urban segregation or apartheid that had originally been sown in the pre-Union British colonies as well as in the two independent Boer Republics. The continued existence of the freehold Black townships and the squatters were indicative of the inability of the municipal authorities to provide the necessary alternative residential units. This was in turn related to the lack of municipal funds and the reluctance of the White rate payers to contribute towards the cost of housing of Black labourers, at distances that made access to their workplace difficult and more expensive. It was only through increasing controls under the direction of the central government that Black townships, including Daveyton, began to grow apace.

By the time of the 1948 National Party electoral victory, the necessity to accommodate people designated as Natives, in massive but segregated housing estates in the White urban areas, had been accepted in official circles. By the 1950s a coherent two phase strategy had been formulated to enable the state housing apparatus to approach its task systematically.

In the first phase, the squatter problem was to be brought under control as quickly as possible though the extensive application of site-and-service schemes, and in the second phase, the temporary dwellings in the site-and- service schemes were to be gradually replaced by permanent conventionally built houses, either through self help efforts of the inhabitants themselves or through the intervention of the local authorities at minimum cost. (26)

The conclusion therefore is that the state built houses in the black townships on the Witwatersrand and elsewhere in order to accommodate the labour power required and at the same time reasserting the control of the dominant social classes over the mass of urban Black workers. The urban housing policy was based on the principle of racial segregation enshrined in the National Party's apartheid prograrnme.(27) 128

REFERENCES Chapter 6

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Van Tonder, D.: Boycotts, unrest and the Western Areas removal scheme 1949-1952. Journal of Urban History, Vol. 20, No. 1, 1993. Van Tonder, D.: Gangs, councillors and the apartheid state: The Newclare squatter movement of 1952. South African Historical Journal, Vol. 22, 1990.

OFFI[CIAL LICATIONS Bantu Journal: Western Areas Resettlement Scheme. Vol. 2, No. 11, November 1954. Bantu Journal: Some aspects experienced in establishing a large Bantu township. Vol. 1, No. 4, April 1955. Bantu Journal: Spotlight on housing. Vol. 2, No. 7, July 1955. Bantu Journal: The realistic approach towards resolving the Bantu housing backlog. Vol. 2, No. 9, September 1955. Bantu Journal: Urban Development in Bantu areas. Vol. 2, No. 12, December 1955 Bantu Journal: Native Services Levy Act No. 64 of 1952. Vol. 2, No. 2, February 1956. Bantu Journal: Recent Developments in urban Native Administration Part I. Vol. 2, No. 3, March 1956. Bantu Journal: Recent developments in urban Native Administration Part II. Vol. 3, No. 4, April 1956. Bantu Journal: Recent developments in urban native Administration Part III. Vol. 2, No. 5, May 1956. Bantu Journal: Urban Bantu Housing. Vol. 3, No. 6, June 1956. Bantu Journal: Bantu housing with special reference to Site-and-Service Schemes. Vol. 3, No. 6, June 1956. Bantu Journal: 4000th house opened at Daveyton. Vol. 3, No. 7, July 1956. Bantu Journal: Daveyton: Adequate transport facilities, Vol. 3, No. 8, August 1956. Bantu Journal: The new approach in Bantu Areas. Vol. 4, No. 12, December 1957. Bantu Journal: Planning of modern Bantu townships. Vol. 11, No. 2, February 1960. Heald, C.: "Urban Bantu Housing". Bantu Journal, Vol. 3, No. 6, June 1956. Mathewson, J.E.: "Recent developments in urban Native administration, Part II", Bantu Journal, Vol. 3, No. 4, April 1956. 137

Mocke, W.C.: "Bantu housing with special reference to Site and Service Schemes". Bantu Journal, Vol. 3, No. 6, June 1956. Mocke, W.C.: "Planning of modern Bantu Township", Bantu Journal, Vol. 11, No. 2, February 1960. Mocke, W.C.: "Western Areas Resettlement Scheme". Bantu Journal, Vol. 2, No. 11, November 1954. Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs, July-December 1953. Town Council of Benoni, Minutes of the Non European Affairs Committee Meetings, Benoni: Geo-constable (Pty) Ltd. File: 1/4/20. Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs. January-June 1954. Town Council of Benoni. Minutes of the Non European Affairs Committee Meetings. Benoni, Geo-Constable (Pty) Ltd. File 1/4/21. Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs. July-December 1954. Benoni Town Council, Minutes of the Non European Affairs Meetings, Benoni: Geo- Constable (Pty) Ltd. File 1/4/22. Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs. January-June 1955. Benoni Town Council Minutes of the Non-European Affairs Meetings, Benoni: Geo-Constable (Pty) Ltd. File 1/4/23. Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs. July-December 1955. Benoni Town Council, Minutes of the Non European Affairs Meetings, Benoni: Geo- Constable (Pty) Ltd. File 1/4/24. Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs. January-June 1956. Benoni Town Council, Minutes of the Non European Affairs Meetings, Benoni: Geo- Constable (Pty) Ltd. File 1/4/25. Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs. July-December 1956. Benoni Town Council, Minutes of the Non European Affairs Meetings, Benoni: Geo- Constable (Pty) Ltd. File 1/4/25. Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs. July-December 1956. Benoni Town Council, Minutes of the Non European Affairs Meetings, Benoni: Geo- Constable (Pty) Ltd. File 1/4/26. 138

Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs. January-June 1957. Benoni Town Council, Minutes of the Non European Affairs Meetings, Benoni: Geo- Constable (Pty) Ltd. File 1/4/27. Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs. July-December, 1957. Benoni Town Council, Minutes of the Non European Affairs Meetings, Benoni: Geo- Constable (Pty) Ltd. File 1/4/28. Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs. January-June, 1958. Benoni Town Council, Minutes of the Non European Affairs Meetings, Benoni: Geo- Constable (Pty) Ltd. File 1/4/29. Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs. July-December 1958. Benoni Town Council, Minutes of the Non European Affairs Meetings, Benoni: Geo- Constable (Pty) Ltd. File 1/4/30. Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs. January-June 1959. Benoni Town Council, Minutes of the Non European Affairs Meetings, Benoni: Geo- Constable (Pty) Ltd. File 1/4/31. Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs. July-December 1959. Benoni Town Council, Minutes of the Non European Affairs Meetings, Benoni: Geo- Constable (Pty) Ltd. File 1/4/32. Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs. January-June, 1960. Benoni Town Council, Minutes of the Non European Affairs Meetings, Benoni: Geo- Constable (Pty) Ltd. File 1/4/33. Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs. July-December 1960. Benoni Town Council, Minutes of the Non European Affairs Meetings, Benoni: Geo- Constable (Pty) Ltd. File 1/4/34. Government Archives: Department of Native Affairs. January-February, 1961. Benoni Town Council, Minutes of the Non European Affairs Meetings, Benoni: Geo- Constable (Pty) Ltd. File 1/4/35. Daveyton Community Council, 1982. Memorandum: Daveyton. Daveyton Community Council, 1982. Daveyton, East Rand Administration Board, Germiston. Greater Benoni City Council, 1996, Greater Benoni, Benoni Publicity Association, Benoni. 139

Interviews Interview: S. Sinaba, Daveyton. 27-06-97. Interview: Mr. Talane, Benoni Council Offices, 23-05-97. Interview: S. Sinaba, Daveyton, 13-07-97. 140

APPENDIN A

QUESTIONNAIRE: RESETTLEMENT OF PEOPLE FROM APEX AND BENONI OLD LOCATION TO DAVEYTON The purpose of this questionnaire is to gather information from the residents of Daveyton who were, resettled to Daveyton from Apex Squatter Camp and Benoni Old Location from 1st April 1955 onwards. The information received will be used to study only. It would therefore be appreciated if you could take a few moments of your time to answer the questions below. Where did you stay before moving to Daveyton? ( ) Apex ( ) Benoni Old Location ( ) Other Were you part of the resettlement to Daveyton? ( ) Yes ( ) No ( ) Other explain Was the movement to Daveyton voluntary or forced? ( ) Voluntary ( ) Forced ( ) Other explain How did you react or feel about the movement to Daveyton? ( ) Happy ( ) Unhappy ( ) Or explain What was the general reaction or feeling of the people towards the movement to Daveyton? ( ) FUMY ( ) Unhappy ( ) Or explain How was the allocation of houses in Daveyton? ( ) Fair ( ) Unfair ( ) Or explain Were you happy or unhappy about the allocation of houses according to ethnic groups? ( ) Happy ( ) Unhappy ( ) Or explain 141

Were the residents of Daveyton happy or unhappy about the allocation of houses according to ethnic groups? ( ) Happy ( ) Unhappy ( ) Or explain How did you find living in conditions in Daveyton? ( ) Excellent ( ) Good ( ) Sufficient ( ) Poor ( ) Very Poor How was the provision of essential services like roads, water, electricity, and schools in Daveyton? ( ) Excellent ( ) Good ( ) Sufficient ( ) Poor ( ) Very Poor How was the provision amenities like sportsgrounds, halls, parks, etc. in Daveyton?

( ) Sufficient

( ) Insufficient ( ) Or explain What is the present condition of essential services and amenities in Daveyton? ( ) Excellent ( ) Good ( ) Sufficient ( ) Poor ( ) Vet), Poor ( ) Or explain What improvements or developments would you like to see in Daveyton?

Name: Residential Address: Tel. number: