page_title: History of Johannesburg
section_title: 1910 to 1919
hierarchical_section_title: History of Johannesburg / Union of South Africa / Pre-1948 / 1910 to 1919
caption_attribution_description: This media shows a South African Protected Site with SAHRA file reference 9/2/228/0069.
context_page_description: Johannesburg is a large city in Gauteng Province of South Africa. It was established as a small village controlled by a Health Committee in 1886 with the discovery of an outcrop of a gold reef on the farm Langlaagte. The population of the city grew rapidly, becoming a municipality in 1897. In 1928 it became a city making Johannesburg the largest city in South Africa. In 2002 it joined ten other municipalities to form the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Today, it is a centre for learning and entertainment for all of South Africa. It is also the capital city of Gauteng.
context_section_description: The constitution of the Union of South Africa provided for a highly centralized Westminster-type union, modified by subservient provincial councils with limited powers. One of the powers delegated to provincial councils was control of municipal affairs. In 1912 the Transvaal Provincial Council approved a number of ordinances to control local government institutions in the province. These included the Local Government Ordinance (no. 9 of 1912), the Local Authorities Rating Ordinance (no. 6 of 1912) and the Municipal Elections Ordinance (no. 8 of 1912).
  There was a portion of the quitrent farm "Cyferfontien" No. 2 in the District of Johannesburg, transferred to Gert Pieter Johannes Labuschagne by deed dated 31 March 1875. In 1905 the portion known as Alexandra was transferred to Alexandra Township Ltd., the name "Alexandra" being that of King Edward VII's wife. On the property a township was laid out consisting of 388 lots, 2 parks and a square, in addition to streets. It was intended for occupation by white persons, but the lots were not sold and in 1912 the township company decided that properties in the township, to use the elegant language of the deed of transfer, "shall not be sold, leased or otherwise disposed of excepting to a native or person of colour, provided that an Asiatic shall not be included in the terms 'native or person of colour'." Although ordinarily an African could not purchase land outside certain scheduled areas, this prohibition did not apply in regard to a township established prior to the commencement of Act No 27 of 1913, and it was therefore lawful for Alexandra Township Ltd to sell lots to black persons. And thus black persons acquired the precious right of freehold title to land when they purchased lots in Alexandra Township. There were 2525 lots, nearly all of which had been sold in 1936 when the population in the area was about 16753.
  While a limited amount working-class housing existed within Johannesburg, the number of workers wanting to live in the city far exceeded the housing that was available and actually preferred the more expensive slum-yards than the workers' compounds. Segregationist laws like the Natives' Land Act of 1913, which defined less than 10% of South Africa as black "reserves" and prohibited the sale or lease of land to blacks outside of the reserves, sought to restrict Africans from access to cities and effectively prevented Africans from land ownership throughout the country. However, the labor needs of Johannesburg's growing manufacturing sector, especially in the wake of World War I, when increased industrialization also increased the need for African labor, meant that the Johannesburg municipal government ignored national policy and allowed racial mixing in these growing urban slums to occur. A municipal system of exemption certificates obtained through employers did exist to grant African workers the right to live in urban areas. However, disregard on the part of the employer's for filling out the paperwork meant that most Africans resided in the city illegally.
  Johannesburg City Hall was constructed in 1914 by the Hawkey and McKinley construction company. The plan for the building was drawn in 1910 and construction was started in 1913 and finished in 1914. The style is described as Edwardian Baroque with a portico of Ionic columns and tower with a half dome entrance described as neo-Renaissance. Florence Phillips, an art collector and the wife of mining magnate Lionel Phillips, established the first collection for the Johannesburg Art Gallery using funds donated by her husband. The architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens, came to South Africa in 1910 to examine the site and begin the designs, after Lady Florence Phillips had secured funding from the city for a purpose-built museum. The gallery was possibly Luytens's first public building in the Beaux Arts style. It was built with a south-facing entrance, but was not completed according to the architect's designs. It was opened to the public, without ceremony, in 1915, just after the start of the First World War.
  In 1919 the
caption: Johannesburg Art Gallery, completed in 1915.
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