FOREWORD
T he region known as Ekurhuleni today, together with the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, may be but just over a decade old, but the history that lies behind the towns that make it up and the region dates back more than a century.
Ekurhuleni – The Making of an Urban Region was commissioned by the Metro a few years ago and put together, with dedication and passion, by Phil Bonner and Noor Nieftagodien of the History Workshop of the University of Witwatersrand. Writing a book that has historical significance and is accurate requires the following attributes: time, dedication and a love for history.
This history book takes you back to the late 1700s and shows just how the area of Ekurhuleni, or the East Rand as it developed into, came about. It is an overview on the area, and the influx of people due to the mining that took place. In addition it talks about the political and class struggle, insubordinate women during the period of 1918–1945, the industrialisation of Ekurhuleni – which the region still prides itself in.
It touches the history of informal settlements and the immigrant culture, politics, apartheid and the civil war in the region – and eventually the transformation within the country and, of course, our area of Ekurhuleni.
This historical oversight on our area will take you on a journey in time through the mid-1990s, just prior to when the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality was formed together with the region of Ekurhuleni.
History is something that is in the making all the time. Ekurhuleni has a history unique to its area and its people. This area has had some turbulent times, and violence has played a role in the eventual establishment of an area that has been baptised with a name that means ‘place of peace’ – Ekurhuleni.
Today Ekurhuleni may be a young area and metropolitan municipality, but we have come a long way and with our feet firmly on the ground we have a long way to go.
I trust and believe that Ekurhuleni – The Making of an Urban Region will be put to good use by students of history as well as to those who are a part of our area, those in transit, visitors and those who will always be a part of it.
Enjoy this great read.
Councillor Mondli Gungubele
Executive Mayor
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The proposal to write a book on the history of Ekurhuleni originated during conversations in 2005 between Duma Nkosi and Karuna Mohan, the Executive Mayor and Director of Local Economic Development of Ekurhuleni respectively, and members of the History Workshop. It was evident to all of us that, despite research previously undertaken by the History Workshop and others, there was a dearth of historical research on the region. This sense of neglect was compounded by the post-1994 proliferation of oral and liberation histories, as well as the burgeoning heritage sector, which seemed to have by-passed the former East Rand. We agreed to make efforts to publish histories on the constitutive towns and townships of the new Metropolitan City. And so began a seven year journey. The first phase of research and writing was completed at the end of 2008 at which point, however, it seemed the draft manuscript would disappear into a bureaucratic black hole. Fortunately, many people in the Ekurhuleni Metro were committed to seeing the project reach its conclusion and over a period of nearly three years supported initiatives to this end.
Duma Nkosi’s successors as mayors, Ntombi Mekgwe and Mondli Gungubele, gave their backing to our endeavours. The office of the City Manager also facilitated meetings at crucial times to clear logjams and to inject new energy into the process. Charles Mabaso, Ernest Sigasa, Elizabeth Gumbi and Malibongwe Kanjana made themselves available at different times to ensure progress was made. Viva Mokoena played a crucial role in co-ordinating all of these efforts and championed the proposed publication at the highest levels of the city. The Heritage Division of the Metro’s Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture was formally responsible for liaising with our research team. This was fortuitous, as the officials from
