Die Maleierkamp van Kimberley 1882 - 1957

[摘要] English: Shortly after the discovery of the dry diggings, the London and SouthAfrican Exploration Company was registered in order to acquire lands inSouth Africa for mining and exploring In March 1871, the London andSouth African Exploration Company and the Hopetown Diamond Companymerged into a limited liability company under the former title. Their headoffice was in London, with a local office in, Kimberley. J.B. Currey, thelocal manager, was responsible for reporting to the London Board ofDirectors, which formulated the company's policy. The property comprisedthe farms Bultfentel n, Dorstfontein and Alexanderfontei n. The townshipsof Beaconsfield and Newton formed part of the estate.By the issue of proclamation no. 71 of 1871, portions of the farmsVooruitzight, Bultfontein and Dorstfontein were declared public diggingsin October 1871.The influx of fortune-seekers and unskilled Iabourers resulted in a largecosmopolitan population arising on the diggings. The huge demand forlabour, and the comparatively high wages attracted thousands of migrantNatives.The accumulation of a large heterogeneous population led to the emergenceof a permanent proletariat. There was a marked increase in crime,and the maintenance of law and order placed high demands on the limitedpolice force. A band of exceptionally dedicated clergymen from variousdenominations grasped the opportunity to spread the Gospel amongst thediversified population.Since the inception of the diamond fields, the inhabitants occupied stands,erven and holdings at Bultfontein, Dorstfontein and Newton under leasehold,tenure or licences. Under this form of licence, the tenant had noproprietary right.The Malay Camp was entirely leasehold property. It was situated in theNewton township in the middle of the estate. The camp was started byMalay transport drivers who flocked to the diggings in search of work orin the hope of wealth. Originally the Malay Camp was more or less an exclusiveMuslim residential area. This was the best residential portion ofKimberley. Gradually Newton became occupied principally by colouredpeople and Mohammedans, both of Indian and Cape extraction. After 1880the Malay Camp developed into a densely populated racially mixed residentialarea.Even in the best of times, the Malay Camp was justly considered one ofthe worst slums in South Africa. The unfortunate poverty-stricken inhabitantswere forced to live in run-down hovels unfit for human habitation.The overcrowded, squalid neighbourhood was the most vulnerable intimes of epidemics.Gradually a growing consensus took root among whites regarding the removalof non-whites from the Malay Camp to municipal native locations andsegregated residential areas on the outskirts of Kimberley. The petitionerslodged complaints with the authorities about the lack of sanitaryfacilities, the appalling housing conditions and the fear for the outbreakand spreading of infectious diseases. Councillors and health officers wereresolute as to the removal and demolition of the dilapidated Malay Camp.On 22 September 1899, the De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. purchasedthe properties of their former landlords, the London and South AfricanExploration Company.By virtue of the Deed of Donation, the City council became the rightfulowner of the De Beers Estate. In terms of clauses 10 and 11 of the Deedof Donation the municipality undertook - and bound itself - to terminateand cancel all stand licences held by non-Europeans by 31 December 1953,without prior consultation or negotiations with the Malay Camp residents,and to demolish the area not later than 31 December 1959. The officialnotice to quit was strongly condemned by the standholders. The saidracial discriminatory clauses of the agreement were criticized by theperturbed community.The implementation of the Slum Act and the Group Areas Act precipitatedthe clearance and demolition of the Malay Camp. The slum clearancewhich was started in the 1940's, made way for the development of the newCïvic Centre. The centre was to provide a complex for Kimberley's social,cultural and administrative activities. It arose from the rubble wheresome five hundred decaying houses were occupied by the poorer non-Europeangroups for some eighty years, prior to the forced removal anddisintegration of a cosmopolitan society and the establishment of a municipaladministrative conglomerate.

[发布机构] University of the Free State