New Contree: 2018 No 81
Contents
No. 81, December 2018
Articles
- “… in Johannesburg, baths are a necessity, not a luxury” the establishment of Johannesburg’s first municipal swimming bath, 1900s-1910s / Grundlingh, Louis
- Reconstructing Changamire’s family roots: new evidence from the Valoyi oral history / Mathebula, Mandla, & Mokgoatšana, Sekgothe
- The Reverend Kenneth Mosley Spooner: African-American missionary to the BaFokeng of Rustenburg district, South Africa, 1915-1937 / Mbenga, Bernard K
- Market and entrepreneurial vision: the case of two family businesses in South Africa / Van Eeden-Allen, Suzanne, & Verhoef, Grietjie
- An investigation into the historical context of graves exhumed on the farm Wemmershuis 379JT, Belfast / Van Vollenhoven, Anton C
- Decolonising urban space: observations from history in urban planning in Ruwa town, Zimbabwe, 1986-2015 / Muzorewa, Terence Tapiwa, & Nyawo, Vongai Z, & Nyandoro, Mark
- Economic nationalism amid ethnic disharmony in postcolonial Zimbabwe (1980-2013): a case of Matabeleland Provinces / Rwodzi, Aaron
- Kalanga culture and the nature of resistance against the Native Land Husbandry Act of 1951 in colonial Zimbabwe / Dube, Thembani
Book reviews
- Portraits of Colonial Natal / Masola, Athambile
- Writing the Ancestral River. A biography of the Kowie / Engelbrecht, Christo
- Wit Terroriste: Afrikaner-saboteurs in die Ossewabrandwagjare / La Grange, Anna
- Méér as ’n kroniek van ’n rebellie: Slagtersnek en sy mense / Van Rensburg, Christo
Editorial
Leisure, wellbeing and affective histories are historiographical spaces that South African historians of the early 21st century seem to continuously embrace. Louis Grundlingh’s emphasis on spaces of leisure by emphasising the early 20th century history of Johannesburg’s first municipal swimming bath is such an example. The conducive South African climate, the possible prestige it would bring to Johannesburg and a health investment were major arguments towards a proactive effort having a swimming bath. It was a popular place, but with limited profit, if any. It also in some way signalled later trends that places of leisure don’t necessarily produce in extensive profits but contribute to human wellbeing.
By utilising the newly discovered Valoyi oral memories, also related to the fifth Munhumutapa leader, Changamire’s, family history, Mandla Mathebula and Sekgothe Mokgoatšana in their discussion reconstructed and exposed some additional evidence for consideration to understand Changamire’s time of leadership. Two existing family perspectives (namely that of the Nembire and that of the Torwa) are debated against the newly obtained Valoyi oral memories.
Further to the south, and on South African soil again, Bernard Mbenga revisits the missionary and educational legacy of the African-American missionary, Reverend Kenneth Mosley Spooner. Spooner served the BaFokeng of Rustenburg district since the First World War years to the late 1930’s, and a respect for his legacy among the Phokeng is ongoing.
The emphasis on family doings remains with Suzanne van Eeden-Allen and Grietjie Verhoef ’s effort to understand the different levels of success in the entrepreneurial efforts of two family businesses in two different provinces of South Africa, and relating to the shoe industry. By reflecting both family business histories the authors conclude that organisational deficiencies, and limited international exposure determined their fate or success.
Anton van Vollenhoven shares with the reader valued snippets of archaeological history from the farm Wemmershuis 379JT, Belfast. This is based on research of graves “hindering” the South African National Road Agency Limited (SANRAL) in their effort to upgrade road R33. Though the human remains were reinterred on another part of Wemmershuis, the study pointed to other interesting family and local history in South African War times.
The shift in the discussions then returns to Southern Africa and in no less than three articles some colonial-related aspects of Zimbabwean history are covered. Terence Muzorewa, Mark Nyandoro and Vongai Nyawo provide a thorough discussion on the decolonising of urban space, with the Ruwa town as example in contemporary Zimbabwe. The authors provide to the readers a totally different experience of the colonial established towns as viewed by the local inhabitants. Another contemporary time discussion on Zimbabwe is that of Aaron Rwodzi on postcolonial economic nationalism within ethnic disharmony in the Matabeleland Provinces. By means of applying an ethnographic approach to the research Rwodzi determined, from the information obtained, that uneven economic development has contributed to the politicization of ethnicity in Matabeleland. Lastly, Thembani Dube revisits a time in colonial Zimbabwe in which several chiefs of the Kalanga, in different ways, expressed resistance against the Native Land Husbandry Act of 1951 (known as the amagandiya).
This New Contree issue also covers a diversity of book reviews on colonial time Natal (Duncan Du Bois); the Kovie River (Jacklyn Cock); on white terrorists during the years of the Oxwagon Sentinel Movement (Albert Blake) and Heese on other contexts surrounding the Slagtersnek Rebellion.
As always, readers of the New Contree are reminded that a request to lead a supplementary issue covering a specific theme and fitting in the vision of the Journal, is more than welcome and should be timely communicated with the Editorial Board.
Recent Submissions
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“… in Johannesburg, baths are a necessity, not a luxury” the establishment of Johannesburg’s first municipal swimming bath, 1900s-1910s
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2018)Following on the commitment of the Johannesburg Town Council and an increasing demand to provide facilities for exercise and relaxation, Johannesburg’s mayor opened the Town’s first public swimming bath on the 18th of ... -
Reconstructing Changamire’s family roots: new evidence from the Valoyi oral history
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2018)The Munhumutapa (or Monomotapa) empire became a major political entity in Southern Africa from around 1420 AD. Founded and ruled by the Nembire family, its territory covered areas in the present-day Zimbabwe and Mozambique. ... -
The Reverend Kenneth Mosley Spooner: African-American missionary to the BaFokeng of Rustenburg district, South Africa, 1915-1937
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2018)This article examines the missionary and educational work and impact of Kenneth Spooner, an African-American missionary among the BaFokeng African community in Rustenburg district, South Africa from 1915 to 1937. Originally ... -
Market and entrepreneurial vision: the case of two family businesses in South Africa
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2018)The question of “why do some family enterprises survive into successive generations, while other succumb to contextual constraints?” elicited different responses. Explanations vary from that it might be inherent to the ... -
Decolonising urban space: observations from history in urban planning in Ruwa town, Zimbabwe, 1986-2015
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2018)This article calls for a shift of attention from the colonial urban planning methods to a focus on the post-colonial planning methods being adopted in new towns such as Ruwa. The core of the studies on urban planning in ... -
Economic nationalism amid ethnic disharmony in postcolonial Zimbabwe (1980-2013): a case of Matabeleland Provinces
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2018)The colonial legacy of uneven economic development in Zimbabwe and the use of such constructs as ‘Mashonaland’, ‘Matabeleland’ and ‘Manicaland’ have remained substantially unaltered under the post-colonial government. Those ... -
Kalanga culture and the nature of resistance against the Native Land Husbandry Act of 1951 in colonial Zimbabwe
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2018)In this article the nature of resistance to the implementation of the Native Land Husbandry Act of 1951 (NLHA), popularly known as amagandiya in Bulilimamangwe, in colonial Zimbabwe is explored. It looks at two Kalanga ... -
An investigation into the historical context of graves exhumed on the farm Wemmershuis 379JT, Belfast
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2018)The South African National Road Agency Limited (SANRAL) requested Archaetnos to exhume historical graves on the farm Wemmershuis 379JT in the Belfast district, Mpumalanga Province, as the upgrade to the R33 road was impacting ... -
Du bois, D. 2017. Portraits of Colonial Natal [Book review]
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2018) -
Cock, J. 2018. Writing the Ancestral River. A biography of the Kowie [Book review]
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2018) -
Cock, J. 2018. Writing the Ancestral River. A biography of the Kowie
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2018) -
Blake, A. 2018. Wit Terroriste: Afrikaner-saboteurs in die Ossewabrandwagjare [Book review]
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2018) -
Heese, J.A.. 2016. Méér as ’n kroniek van ’n rebellie: Slagtersnek en sy mense [Book review]
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2018)