CITICHAT 3/2002 - 25 January 2002
Chinatown; City Hall (Legislature)
Got a justifiable rap over the knuckles last week about my lack of historic accuracy: “Just a small quibble about your statement - ‘similar legislation aimed at ‘Asiatics’ by Paul Kruger’s ZAR Government in 1906 which sparked Mahatma Gandhi’s passive resistance campaign earning him incarceration in the Fort’ - the ZAR ceased to exist on 31 May 1902 when the Treaty of Vereeniging was signed at Melrose House in Pretoria. Until Union in 1910, the territory was known as the Transvaal Colony. Paul Kruger died in Clarens, Switzerland, on 14 July 1904, so there's no way either his government or the ZAR could have introduced the legislation!”
Absolutely right and my apologies, that was sheer carelessness. The legislation was introduced by the ZAR’s successor, the Government of the Transvaal Colony. Eric Itzkin in his inciteful book “Gandhi’s Johannesburg” records the following: “Large-scale Indian passive resistance was launched on 11 September 1906 at an angry mass meeting in Johannesburg’s old Empire Theatre. At least 3 000 Indians from all over the Transvaal protested against the Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance, a measure requiring ‘Asiatics’ to register their fingerprints and carry registration certificates…..Gandhi travelled to Britain to lobby against the Ordinance……..Within days, though, the Transvaal was granted responsible government and royal assent was no longer needed to pass its bills. The new parliament promptly confirmed the hated ordinance as one of its first bills in March 1907 and soon afterwards the bill became law as the Transvaal Asiatic Registration Act.”
Eric’s book also contains information about the “Cantonese Club” referred to last week and which is the oldest known Chinese organisation in Johannesburg dating from the 1890s. He points out that “The building which housed the Club stood in the heart of the Chinese district, The two-storey building included various games rooms and a large hall used for weddings, parties and funerals. Gandhi was quick to point out that similar accommodation was also needed in the Indian community. As he knew only too well, white hoteliers seldom welcomed non-white guests.”
Well, let’s return to a modern-day drama. Not between “Asiatic/White’ but between different levels of government. Way back in 1994 a business sector representative of our organisation, the Central Johannesburg Partnership (CJP), then structured trilaterally (business/council/community) suggested that we investigate the possibility of enticing the Transvaal Provincial Government (as it was then) from their traditional home in Pretoria to Johannesburg. Business representatives on the CJP were enthusiastic, Community were positive whilst the then City Council was rather diffident and non-committal. Tokyo Sexwale the Chairperson of the Transvaal ANC (and Premier in waiting) was not so reticent – he responded enthusiastically to our written proposal, embraced the idea and declared Johannesburg as ‘capital of Gauteng’ (the province or ‘state’ which was to supercede the previous Transvaal). All hell broke loose as the ANC had no status at Provincial level at the time, they were only ‘a government in waiting’. Sexwale bided his time and when he and his party were officially ensconced, announced that a democratic process for the choice of the Gauteng capital would be held. (The process was chaired by Benny Alexander who later changed his name to Koi sanX but later left the political stage.) The bid for Johannesburg was led by officials of the then City Council, who had now woken up to the positive ramifications of such a move, together with the CJP whose business members invested a great deal of money to ensure that Johannesburg’s case was presented adequately. Two other serious contenders amongst probably half a dozen proposals were Pretoria and Midrand, but the award ultimately went to Johannesburg.
One of the requirements of the move was the provision of a building to house the Provincial Legislature and the City Hall appeared to be an ideal venue. Designed by Sir Edward Luytens it was built by M C A Meishke who also built the Rissik Street Post Office and about whom I will recount some amusing stories in a future Citichat. It was first occupied in 1915 but the Council had generally vacated the building when the Civic Centre was completed in the early 1970s. All that was left was the Treasury Department and some small service departments all of whom could be quite easily moved. As an aside, I have always held that the city’s urban degeneration would have been less severe if Council had remained in the CBD itself. Perched on the hill in Braamfontein, very few of the senior officials or even councillors had much reason to drive through the CBD let alone visit it, so the problems were not as real to them as they should have been. Their absence from the City Hall itself was also a contributory factor in the lack of maintenance carried out on the building over many years, certainly since the bulk of Council had vacated the building. The legislature would be given the exclusive use of the second level of the adjacent Harry Hofmeyr Parking Garage for their parking needs. It had also been allowed to degenerate into a disgraceful condition. The parking garage of course is situated under the Beyers Naude Park, ex Library Gardens, which was itself extensively rebuilt in the early 1990s in a design that turned a potentially great public space into an introverted backyard. But back to the City Hall!
Johannesburg architect Marcus Holmes led the design team for the major refurbishment that was needed to accommodate the Legislature and did a superb job up to now largely hidden from the public’s view because of security restrictions – but that is to change. The Legislature would occupy only the eastern half of the building leaving the Hall itself, previously used for symphony and choral concerts, in the hands of Council. Council of course retained ownership of the whole building and the Legislature paid a rental for the facility. Thereby were the seeds of discontent sown! Legislatures, or Provincial Parliaments, are evidently bound by strict regulations, one of which being that they may not spend money on maintenance of buildings they do not own. Many parts of the building required ongoing maintenance which the landlord, the City, was not prepared to undertake. In fact the City had never even upgraded the building to the standards that it demands of modern buildings or even of old ones when they are refurbished. Thus the building even today has no smoke detection or fire-alarm system. It certainly raises the question as to why any level of Government should be exempt from the standards they set for private buildings, particularly those related to the safety of the occupants! Over the past few years the Legislature itself grew and required additional office space. The Speaker, Firoz Cachalia, proposed that the entire building could be more beneficially utilised to both from their own and the public’s advantage. Some of its original functions, such as the Concert Hall should be reinstated, enhanced and properly managed. Some of its public spaces could be used for exhibitions open to the public and particularly as a tourism attraction. The problem however was one of ownership. I understand that following many discussions a deal was struck between the two levels of Government and as from early this year ownership of the entire building will pass to the Legislature. But not just the entire building – the Harry Hofmeyer Parking Garage is evidently part of the deal which makes good sense as it impacts on the security of the City Hall building and because it has been mismanaged for many years. If my information is correct, the Legislature Precinct which can now be established will also include the Beyers Naude Park plus the surrounding and intersecting streets!
The sale price of the building from what I have heard, is unrealistically low. There will be some who will argue that the Council did not act in the best interests of the ratepayers of the city by literally giving away the building, ‘We are throwing away our crown jewels’ is one comment I have already heard. But overall the deal must be a good one for the city. The Legislature will now have a vested interest in taking care of the building and the surrounding area, a responsibility ignored by Council over the past decade or two. Already the Legislature is undertaking a study of public perceptions relative to the use of the building and also to that of the public area. The Harry Hofmeyer Parking Garage is undergoing a long overdue facelift by the new parking management company which leases the facility – which was an excellent initiative emanating from the Council last year. From dark, filthy cavernous basements, it has been transformed into a well lit and brightly painted facility, an asset to the city. But the big question mark in my mind relates to the public open space and what the Legislature’s intentions are for its future usage. Certainly its ‘illegal’ use, gatherings of strikers before and after marches through the city, must stop. There is in fact an agreement reached in the Inner City Committee that the area may not be used for such purposes. The Trade Unions, who are party to the Inner City Committee, take no notice of such agreements! But then neither does the Council who apparently continue to give permission for such gatherings to take place. The Inner City Committee has also been promoting an international design competition for the redevelopment of the area. Hopefully the Legislature will pick up that ball and run with it. What we do need is a more appropriately designed space which is subject to proper management. Watch this space!
Regards, neil.
Friday, January 25, 2002
Friday, January 18, 2002
Chinatown Citichat 18 January 2002
CITICHAT 2/2002 - 18 January 2002
Chinatown
Walter Pon was born and grew up in Johannesburg. He is the retail director of Sui Hing Hong, an import and wholesale business established by his parents in 1943 and still operating today from its premises on the western end of Commissioner Street. More pertinently, from the perspective of the city’s urban regeneration process, Walter has recently been elected Chairman of the recently established Johannesburg First Chinatown Association, established specifically to focus on the revitalisation of the city’s ‘Chinatown Precinct’. In that capacity, he convened a meeting last evening, Thursday, to investigate a way forward for the initiative. More accurately, he and Johannesburg architect Heather Dodd, convened the meeting. Heather has been quietly working for some years on promoting a fresh look at the Chinatown Precinct that would include a the construction of a 'Chinatown Gateway'. The current activities and those that are planned in adjacent Newtown, have provided fresh impetus to the need to address this area.
Many locals may be quite unaware of this relatively small Chinese precinct that exists on the western edge of the city. Historically this area in Ferreirastown, bounded by Commissioner, Marshall, Fox and Bezuidenhout Streets, was known as the ‘Cantonese Quarter’. It is adjacent to the proposed Johannesburg West City Initiative of which details and confirmation of a start date will, hopefully, shortly be made public. At its Western end is Johannesburg Central Police Station better known in its ignominious past as John Vorster Square whilst Newtown proper is to its North-West. For reasons unknown to me, the street grid to the north/north-west of the precinct is a real mess and one of the issues that must be on the agenda of any local regeneration initiative. The precinct is one of the oldest in Johannesburg and contains one of the oldest buildings, the Chinese Club Building, where our meeting took place. Adjacent to it is the United Chinese Club building designed by German architect, Pabst, which still attracts great interest from architectural students and others. Walk around the area and you find in addition to Walter Pon's business Sui Hing Hong, others such as Ho Sui - Chinese Provisions and Gifts; the Yung Chen Noodle Den; Canton Take Away and Potters Chinese Take Away; Chon Hing Chinese Restaurant; the Chinese Deli in Wolhuter Street; Lucky's Café; Jade Tours; and the well known Tong Lok and Swallows Chinese Restaurants.
Historically, the first Chinese arrived in the Cape in the 17th century as exiles and convicts, today the community includes immigrants from Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China. During 1904 to 1906 some 50 000 Chinese were brought into Johannesburg to work on the mines. The Government of the day imposed restrictions on them in that they would be limited to a three year indentureship, be confined to unskilled labour and be compulsorily repatriated. The opposition party to the British Government of the time declared in Westminster that the restrictions were “of an oppressive nature and smacked of slavery”. This provided the platform for Winston Churchill’s famous comment “It cannot, in the opinion of His Majesty’s Government, be classified as slavery in the extreme acceptance of the word, without some risk of terminological inexactitude.”
Ja, well, no fine (again)!
As an aside, in depth research into the historical background of the South African Chinese community by former journalist and author Melanie Yap and Dianne Man then a librarian at Wits University led to the publication of the book ‘Colour, Confusion and Concessions’ published in 1997. The book records discriminatory measures against the Chinese such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1904 that introduced a type of ‘pass’ for Chinese residents in the Cape and, of course, similar legislation aimed at ‘Asiatics’ by Paul Kruger’s ZAR Government in 1906 which sparked Mahatma Gandhi’s passive resistance campaign earning him incarceration in the “Fort”.
The precinct was the traditional centre of all Chinese activity, business, retail, restaurants, (gambling dare we say!) and was also the information hub (through the Chinese Club established in 1909) about what was happening back in China. Over the past few decades, as with other parts of the city, crime and general degradation led to many of the Chinese traders leaving the area and setting up businesses elsewhere such as in Cyrildene and Edenvale. There has also been a downturn in business at night in the precinct. Now, with the city’s urban regeneration programme becoming more and more visible and attracting more people into the city and into areas such as the adjacent Newtown, the stakeholders in the area are mobilising to be part of the action. The precinct has never formally been demarcated as “Chinatown” which is a great pity when one sees how such areas have added to the attractions and vibrancy of many great Western cities – New York, London, San Francisco, Vancouver and many others.
Heather Dodd has put forward a proposal for a Chinatown Gateway. She comments;
“The idea of a ‘gateway’ of traditional symbolic design, is proposed to mark the entrances to Chinatown. This would give identity to Chinatown as a precinct. The proposed positions of the gateway would be at Commissioner and West and at the Johannesburg Central Police Station end of Commissioner Street.” She goes on to succinctly summarise the larger project philosophy; “The idea of Chinatown as a distinct cultural precinct within the city is an important one. It reaffirms a sense of identity of the Chinese Community in the post-Apartheid city. It assumes an identity that can be more effectively marketed in terms of the tourist market. It allows the idea of a safe and secure precinct to be marketed with an upsurge in night-time activity.”
For me it’s exciting that, as the regeneration process gathers impetus, it gives rebirth to many small gems that, whilst currently somewhat withered and shrivelled, might have died and been lost completely to the newly emerging city if it weren’t for the care and concern of those such as Walter and Heather!
Have a great weekend, cheers, neil
Chinatown
Walter Pon was born and grew up in Johannesburg. He is the retail director of Sui Hing Hong, an import and wholesale business established by his parents in 1943 and still operating today from its premises on the western end of Commissioner Street. More pertinently, from the perspective of the city’s urban regeneration process, Walter has recently been elected Chairman of the recently established Johannesburg First Chinatown Association, established specifically to focus on the revitalisation of the city’s ‘Chinatown Precinct’. In that capacity, he convened a meeting last evening, Thursday, to investigate a way forward for the initiative. More accurately, he and Johannesburg architect Heather Dodd, convened the meeting. Heather has been quietly working for some years on promoting a fresh look at the Chinatown Precinct that would include a the construction of a 'Chinatown Gateway'. The current activities and those that are planned in adjacent Newtown, have provided fresh impetus to the need to address this area.
Many locals may be quite unaware of this relatively small Chinese precinct that exists on the western edge of the city. Historically this area in Ferreirastown, bounded by Commissioner, Marshall, Fox and Bezuidenhout Streets, was known as the ‘Cantonese Quarter’. It is adjacent to the proposed Johannesburg West City Initiative of which details and confirmation of a start date will, hopefully, shortly be made public. At its Western end is Johannesburg Central Police Station better known in its ignominious past as John Vorster Square whilst Newtown proper is to its North-West. For reasons unknown to me, the street grid to the north/north-west of the precinct is a real mess and one of the issues that must be on the agenda of any local regeneration initiative. The precinct is one of the oldest in Johannesburg and contains one of the oldest buildings, the Chinese Club Building, where our meeting took place. Adjacent to it is the United Chinese Club building designed by German architect, Pabst, which still attracts great interest from architectural students and others. Walk around the area and you find in addition to Walter Pon's business Sui Hing Hong, others such as Ho Sui - Chinese Provisions and Gifts; the Yung Chen Noodle Den; Canton Take Away and Potters Chinese Take Away; Chon Hing Chinese Restaurant; the Chinese Deli in Wolhuter Street; Lucky's Café; Jade Tours; and the well known Tong Lok and Swallows Chinese Restaurants.
Historically, the first Chinese arrived in the Cape in the 17th century as exiles and convicts, today the community includes immigrants from Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China. During 1904 to 1906 some 50 000 Chinese were brought into Johannesburg to work on the mines. The Government of the day imposed restrictions on them in that they would be limited to a three year indentureship, be confined to unskilled labour and be compulsorily repatriated. The opposition party to the British Government of the time declared in Westminster that the restrictions were “of an oppressive nature and smacked of slavery”. This provided the platform for Winston Churchill’s famous comment “It cannot, in the opinion of His Majesty’s Government, be classified as slavery in the extreme acceptance of the word, without some risk of terminological inexactitude.”
Ja, well, no fine (again)!
As an aside, in depth research into the historical background of the South African Chinese community by former journalist and author Melanie Yap and Dianne Man then a librarian at Wits University led to the publication of the book ‘Colour, Confusion and Concessions’ published in 1997. The book records discriminatory measures against the Chinese such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1904 that introduced a type of ‘pass’ for Chinese residents in the Cape and, of course, similar legislation aimed at ‘Asiatics’ by Paul Kruger’s ZAR Government in 1906 which sparked Mahatma Gandhi’s passive resistance campaign earning him incarceration in the “Fort”.
The precinct was the traditional centre of all Chinese activity, business, retail, restaurants, (gambling dare we say!) and was also the information hub (through the Chinese Club established in 1909) about what was happening back in China. Over the past few decades, as with other parts of the city, crime and general degradation led to many of the Chinese traders leaving the area and setting up businesses elsewhere such as in Cyrildene and Edenvale. There has also been a downturn in business at night in the precinct. Now, with the city’s urban regeneration programme becoming more and more visible and attracting more people into the city and into areas such as the adjacent Newtown, the stakeholders in the area are mobilising to be part of the action. The precinct has never formally been demarcated as “Chinatown” which is a great pity when one sees how such areas have added to the attractions and vibrancy of many great Western cities – New York, London, San Francisco, Vancouver and many others.
Heather Dodd has put forward a proposal for a Chinatown Gateway. She comments;
“The idea of a ‘gateway’ of traditional symbolic design, is proposed to mark the entrances to Chinatown. This would give identity to Chinatown as a precinct. The proposed positions of the gateway would be at Commissioner and West and at the Johannesburg Central Police Station end of Commissioner Street.” She goes on to succinctly summarise the larger project philosophy; “The idea of Chinatown as a distinct cultural precinct within the city is an important one. It reaffirms a sense of identity of the Chinese Community in the post-Apartheid city. It assumes an identity that can be more effectively marketed in terms of the tourist market. It allows the idea of a safe and secure precinct to be marketed with an upsurge in night-time activity.”
For me it’s exciting that, as the regeneration process gathers impetus, it gives rebirth to many small gems that, whilst currently somewhat withered and shrivelled, might have died and been lost completely to the newly emerging city if it weren’t for the care and concern of those such as Walter and Heather!
Have a great weekend, cheers, neil
Friday, January 11, 2002
Mary Fitzgerald Square; Apartheid Museum Citichat 11 January 2002
CITICHAT 1/2002 - 11 January 2002
Mary Fitzgerald Square; Apartheid Museum
Hi, and a happy and successful 2002 to y’all. May this new year be the “Year of the City”, not just for Johannesburg but for cities throughout the world and particularly for those in South Africa. As 2002 kicks into gear, I remain confident about ‘Joeys’ for we will continue to build off the real progress that took material form during 2001 - which in turn was rooted in the foundational work of the past five years.
December 2001 proved to be an exciting month (not just in terms of ‘more rand per pound’although that is more terrifying than exciting!) but with the opening of Mary Fitzgerald Square by President Thabo Mbeki as well as the Apartheid Museum at Gold Reef City. OK, the latter isn’t exactly in the city centre but is near enough to be viewed as a kissing cousin and certainly can become an important addition to the tourist trail. Plus, the announcement that the World Hockey championship will be staged in Randburg in February 2002 – the original venue was to have been Dubai and the move was occasioned for security reasons. Now there’s a first – Johannesburg chosen for its safety! Plus, the Earth Summit in September. This promises to be quite a year.
The Mary Fitzgerald opening was a fun event attracting a large, enthusiastic crowd and provided some great music, fireworks and the impressive lighting designed by French lighting expert Patrick Rimoux. The huge electronic - LED - screen was a practical addition and one looks forward to the building of the commemorative landmark tower and the final positioning of the screen. The occasion illustrated the potential that the area has for becoming a meaningful and well used urban space, a venue that will attract and enhance social interaction, something that the city greatly lacks. The criticism by the “artist, dramatist and town planner” in the Sunday Independent later that month (whom I think just also happened to be part of one of the unsuccessful design submissions!) under the banner “Tidy paving isn’t the heart of an ailing city” could have added to a useful debate if it wasn’t so pretentious! “The ‘science’ of removal and replacement has lodged itself arrogantly in our national pysche and seems to have led us, wittingly or unwittingly, to regard our cities as vacant lots for global prophylactics like the Victoria and Albert Waterfront.”
Ja, well, OK, fine!
As opposed to Mary Fitzgerald Square, a physical space to attract social interaction, The Apartheid Museum is a spiritual place aimed at creating a public memory of heinous crimes against humanity. It does so by telling a story which is forcefully conveyed to the viewer. Although there are numerous devices or imagery that are utilised to support the narrative, it was the black and white photography, particularly that of Ernest Cole, that I found chillingly emotive. The images hit me almost physically and one actually starts to feel quite numbed as one progresses through displays that illustrate fanatical implementation alongside determined and dramatic resistance. Unlike many such institutions, the museum building itself is part of the story. It is unostentatious and understated yet evocative and symbolic of the story it frames and the backdrops it provides. Pity then, that because it was a contractual obligation (it was a carrot offered to the authorities by the promoters of the now built adjacent casino!) it is situated where it is, what Alan Lipman described as “an inauspicious suburban, and architecturally crass, location.” It will clearly be on the tourist agenda, but it should be made compulsory viewing for locals.
Undoubtedly, two more assets adding to the progress, this is going to be a great year!
Mary Fitzgerald Square; Apartheid Museum
Hi, and a happy and successful 2002 to y’all. May this new year be the “Year of the City”, not just for Johannesburg but for cities throughout the world and particularly for those in South Africa. As 2002 kicks into gear, I remain confident about ‘Joeys’ for we will continue to build off the real progress that took material form during 2001 - which in turn was rooted in the foundational work of the past five years.
December 2001 proved to be an exciting month (not just in terms of ‘more rand per pound’although that is more terrifying than exciting!) but with the opening of Mary Fitzgerald Square by President Thabo Mbeki as well as the Apartheid Museum at Gold Reef City. OK, the latter isn’t exactly in the city centre but is near enough to be viewed as a kissing cousin and certainly can become an important addition to the tourist trail. Plus, the announcement that the World Hockey championship will be staged in Randburg in February 2002 – the original venue was to have been Dubai and the move was occasioned for security reasons. Now there’s a first – Johannesburg chosen for its safety! Plus, the Earth Summit in September. This promises to be quite a year.
The Mary Fitzgerald opening was a fun event attracting a large, enthusiastic crowd and provided some great music, fireworks and the impressive lighting designed by French lighting expert Patrick Rimoux. The huge electronic - LED - screen was a practical addition and one looks forward to the building of the commemorative landmark tower and the final positioning of the screen. The occasion illustrated the potential that the area has for becoming a meaningful and well used urban space, a venue that will attract and enhance social interaction, something that the city greatly lacks. The criticism by the “artist, dramatist and town planner” in the Sunday Independent later that month (whom I think just also happened to be part of one of the unsuccessful design submissions!) under the banner “Tidy paving isn’t the heart of an ailing city” could have added to a useful debate if it wasn’t so pretentious! “The ‘science’ of removal and replacement has lodged itself arrogantly in our national pysche and seems to have led us, wittingly or unwittingly, to regard our cities as vacant lots for global prophylactics like the Victoria and Albert Waterfront.”
Ja, well, OK, fine!
As opposed to Mary Fitzgerald Square, a physical space to attract social interaction, The Apartheid Museum is a spiritual place aimed at creating a public memory of heinous crimes against humanity. It does so by telling a story which is forcefully conveyed to the viewer. Although there are numerous devices or imagery that are utilised to support the narrative, it was the black and white photography, particularly that of Ernest Cole, that I found chillingly emotive. The images hit me almost physically and one actually starts to feel quite numbed as one progresses through displays that illustrate fanatical implementation alongside determined and dramatic resistance. Unlike many such institutions, the museum building itself is part of the story. It is unostentatious and understated yet evocative and symbolic of the story it frames and the backdrops it provides. Pity then, that because it was a contractual obligation (it was a carrot offered to the authorities by the promoters of the now built adjacent casino!) it is situated where it is, what Alan Lipman described as “an inauspicious suburban, and architecturally crass, location.” It will clearly be on the tourist agenda, but it should be made compulsory viewing for locals.
Undoubtedly, two more assets adding to the progress, this is going to be a great year!
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