Dorpsondernaam : 'n kultuurhistoriese ondersoek na die dambouersgemeenskap wat aan die einde van die 19de eeu op Tafelberg ontstaan het

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Table Mountain is one of the world's most well-known natural landmarks. For more than ahalf million years the mountain played a role in human cultural activities. The water flowingoff Table Mountain resulted in the establishment of Cape Town in 1652. During the first 240years of the city's existence until 1891, everything possible was employed to make the mostof the water cascading down the northern slopes of the mountain.In 1891, the city commenced with the utilising of the mountain's water running southwardsto waste. This course of action to maximise the supply of water from Table Mountain to thecity, extended over a period of more than seven decades and included the construction ofdams, tunnels and pipelines. Towards the end of the nineteenth century and at the beginningof the twentieth century, two dams were built in the Disa Stream to the east of KasteelsPoort's upper end. The construction work on the Woodhead Dam commenced in 1892 andcontinued until 1897. Building operations on the Hely-Hutchinson Dam started shortly afterthe completion of the Woodhead Dam and was concluded in 1904.The dam builders were settled as a community in the vicinity of the construction sites. Thehousing comprised permanent as well as temporary structures. The dwellings did not form aunit, but were scattered in the proximity of the construction terrains. The majority of thestructures were demolished after the completion of the work. Only four dwellings still existtoday. A feature of the accommodation was the separate housing for the white and blackworkers. The dam builders' backgrounds were very diverse. Some of them were highly skilledartisans from Britain whereas the majority of the untrained labourers were black people fromthe Eastern Cape. Also included in the work force, were people from Cape Town andenvirons. The number of workers on the mountain varied to a high degree. The largestnumber at any stage totaled 470.Information on the mountain dwellers' material culture, for example their clothing, foodstuffsand compensation, and spiritual life, for example religion, communication and leisure-timeactivities, is analysed in this study.Fragments of the dam builders' cultural heritage is preserved in the Waterworks Museumnext to the wall of the Hely-Hutchinson Dam. The exhibition of implements and equipment isdisorganised and neglected. The transfer of the museum to another more efficient building inthe area is vitally important in order that proper justice can be done to the dam builders whorendered an essential service to Cape Town in difficult circumstances.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University