Joburg mirrors its pre-1900 history

AFTER Cor’s arrival in Johannesburg his first job was with the Cornucopia Gold Mining Company. It was one of several companies operating on the so-called Black Reef on the Roodekop far m, south of Elandsfontein (now Germiston) and southeast of Johannesburg.

Among other mines in the area were Minerva – an offshoot of the large Orion and Mulder’s Farm amalgamation – Golden Kopje, East Orion, South Orion and Pleiades Grosvenor. This area was situated about 10 kilometres south of the outcrop known as the Main Reef series, the discovery of which had triggered the gold rush. The name Cornucopia recalled the mountains in America where gold was first discovered in 1884 – and where today, in Nevada and Oregon, certain towns still bear this name.

On 26 March 1888 the Manager of Mines, Captain M Williams, who had just arrived on the Rand from California, declared after a survey of the Cornucopia terrain: “You have a bountiful supply of water for all the mills or machinery you may erect. I presume before 12 months of this date there will be 100 head of stampers working on your Black Reef Claims with fabulous results.”

The mine started off with capital of £100 000 – 100 000 shares worth £1 each – with its head office in Johannesburg and its bankers the Cape of Good Hope Bank Ltd.

According to Cornucopia’s 1890 prospectus, the purpose of the mining company was “acquiring the Lease, developing, and working a certain block of ground, with water-right, known as ‘The Cornucopia Block’, in extent about 50 acres, on the farm ‘Roodekop’ … on the well-known Black Reef, about eight miles from Johannesburg, Witwatersrand Gold Fields”. Adjacent to it, directly to the south of the demarcated area, were the Orion and Minerva mines.

The prospectus provided further information regarding the site of the mine: “A good Battery site exists in close proximity to the Spruit, enabling the engine to pump the required supply of water without much power being used, while at the same time there is a good fall to enable the tailings to run off … The quartz can be almost delivered from the mine on to the Battery platform. For economical working the position of the Mine and Battery is exceptionally favourable.”

A four-crusher battery with engine, pump and workshop had already been fitted, and in the same year, 1890, this was replaced by a 20crusher battery. This was typical of the kind of heavy machinery that Cor maintained and operated in the complex processing of quartz and gold.

The work was hard and strenuous, and Cor was on standby day and night in case repairs needed to be done to any of the crushers, pumps or other machinery. He experienced constant interruptions to his leisure time, even on Sundays – conditions that were far from conducive to corresponding with his family, causing him to take as long as three days to complete one letter.

The work was also extremely noisy, with the constant rinsing and crushing of the quartz. A visitor to City & Suburban Mine complained about the “deafening” noise in the crushing battery during the extraction process.

Cor was also part of a workforce that included large numbers of Africans, and he would have witnessed the disrespect with which they were treated by their white co-workers. There was a huge demand for labour, and – as is still the case today – most of the unskilled manual labour was done by Africans, who lived in appalling conditions near the mines.

Many of these workers were migrants – peasant farmers who had been forced into a wage economy by the imposition of the poll tax. But Africans did not only work as miners: they were employed in a range of lowly jobs in the burgeoning mining town, and many were servants. Cor employed a black man who did chores such as cooking, cleaning and stoking the fire.

One Sunday evening in February 1890, Cor wrote to his mother about problems being experienced in what he sceptically referred to as “Golden South Africa”. Not only was the mining industry in trouble, but there was also a raging flu epidemic – and the threat of snakes!

On a brighter note, he also mentioned his attempts to spruce up the spartan appearance of his room:

News here there is none, except that I fear that the CornuCopia G.M. Co will soon be bankrupt. The manager is leaving at the end of the month, in January only 260 ounces were produced. We are all worried about who is going to replace him.

The flu is present here as well. Until now I have been very healthy, almost all our boys have fever, however, also several whites, yet it is healthier here than in Joh’burg where at the moment it must be barren, while in Zoutpansberg there is no-one left to bury the dead or look after the dying. Golden South Africa!

Right in front of my door my boy yesterday killed a snake,I am enclosing a piece of the skin herewith.

Resuming his writing some days later, Cor apologised for the delay – it was not easy being on constant call to do repairs and maintenance:

Last Sunday I stopped writing so abruptly because I had to do repair work on the pump, which they called me to do.

Next month we will get a new manager, as the present one either asked for, or was given a dismissal; I hope that the new one will be good. There is no further news, as one day is the same as the other. There is a lot of work to be done here, but that does not make it more unpleasant.

You mention books and pictures. I have not received these, though I have a small hope that it will still be waiting for me in the post office in Johannesburg. Yesterday I sorted out my room neatly and with the Paris pictures on the wall and portraits and magazine pictures it looks much better now.

I have not yet gathered enough wood to complete the floor, but it is laid halfway; the other half is thickly covered with ash. My bed, or rather stretcher I should say, is primitive all right (my own creation). It consists of two long supports to which canvas is nailed, but I assure you I sleep very well on it. The woollen blanket and travel blanket are very useful. I advise everyone who comes here to take these two items along with them before anything else. Although it is warm during the day, the nights are cold – especially when there is bad weather with hail.

My work here suits me well, because I am almost totally my own boss, and because the manager does not know anything about machines.Yet I am concerned that this company like many others will be bankrupt soon, because not enough gold has been found to cover costs. As things stand now, prospects seem wretched.

The newspapers are criticising the Government sharply, and many editors have been arrested. If there is ever a war between England and the Boers again, it will run a very different course to what it did the last time.

In this last line, Cor is referring to the First Anglo-Boer War of 1880-81, in which Britain unsuccessfully attempted to annex the South African Republic and convert it into a British colony.

It was only the following week, on a Tuesday afternoon, that Cor found time to finish his letter:

This afternoon at 12 o’clock I came back from my shift and now before I go to sleep I will have a little chat with you. We are still under heavy pressure as our manager is leaving next Monday, and everything must be in place before his departure.Yet I am worried that this month we will produce very little gold. The scrapings are very few. It is certain that this company, like most in this area, is nothing but deceit on a large scale.

Johannesburg, I hear, is deteriorating as quickly as it grew; Klerksdorp is almost bankrupt. Hotel and shop owners are leaving the place, and for a whole month there was no activity on the stock market.

Yes, I foresee that the entire Goldfields will soon be exhausted, and where to then? I would most want to go to South America, but the future is not something I worry or think about, so let tomorrow look after itself.

In many respects the Johannesburg of pre-1900 differed little from today’s metropolis. The horse-drawn cabs were notorious for their reckless driving, and the town itself was overrun by illegal immigrants and organised gangsters.

Having sprung up almost overnight, and with no meaningful history of continuous settlement, Johannesburg soon reeked of corruption – and poor law enforcement did little to counter this.

As in Pretoria, the citizens were, for the most part, poorly educated rural folk – hence the need for “Kruger’s Hollanders”, who were specially recruited advisers and consultants from abroad.

Yes, I foresee that

the entire Goldfields will soon be exhausted