KwaZulu-Natal’s vanishing heritage
South Africans had nothing to celebrate on Heritage Day 2021 given the destruction of heritage as reported in the Maritzburg Sun last week. The shocking neglect of heritage sites in Pietermaritzburg, once heralded as “the Heritage City” because of its fine Victorian/Edwardian buildings, is just the tip of the iceberg.
In Alexandra Park, the unique bandstand built in 1892 with public funding has disappeared. It commemorated the service of British regiments based in the city and its “chinoiserie” roof in the shape of a mandarin’s hat made it the only one of its kind in South Africa. This irreplaceable item of history was demolished in 2009 when a tree fell on it during a storm and, although the City Council of that period promised that it would be restored, its remains are still collecting dust in a municipal store.
Another Victorian attraction, the Macrorie House Museum, established many years ago by the Van der Stel Foundation, has closed. From 1869 to 1891 it was the home of Bishop William Macrorie, rival of Bishop John. W. Colenso, and contained furniture and relics of early British settlers.
In 2004, not only was the war memorial arch in Church Street badly vandalised but brass plaques denoting the city’s historic buildings were ripped off walls, gravestones in the pioneer cemetery alongside the original Grey’s Hospital were smashed and the once-charming lanes in the city centre became disgusting toilets for informal traders in the Church Street Mall.
With regard to the theft of copper sheeting from the city hall roof, questions should be asked about how the thieves managed to cut the roofing into manageable portions and sneak them past the guards. In such a complex operation an organised criminal element must have been involved.
In Howick, the Laager Wall, built by townspeople in 1879 when they feared an attack by Zulu impis after the defeat of the invading British force at Isandlwana, was demolished by uncaring workers on a building site in January 2019 and remains unrestored.
And who would have thought that the Midmar Historical Village, established by the Natal Parks Board in 1983, would disappear 25 years later?
Items generously donated by the public ensured that visitors watched a blacksmith working at his forge, enjoyed cream scones in a South African Railways restaurant carriage, marvelled at a fine collection of motor vehicles, steam locomotives and farm equipment, and inspected a tug that once nosed huge ships into dock in Durban harbour. Where are all these valuable items now?
Other reminders of the province’s pioneer heritage are also disappearing.
Once crammed with artefacts donated by the descendants of settlers and a display of Anglo-Zulu War badges and uniforms, Howick’s museum now features huge informative panels affixed to its bare walls. The name of a well-known 1890s local doctor is misspelt on one and another bizarrely focuses on life in the shack town encroaching on Howick Falls.
Heritage Day 2021 was a wake-up call for concerned citizens to demand that uncaring politicians cease this desecration.
Dick Jones (89), former Pietermaritzburg’s Director of Publicity from 1974 to 1995.