Cape Town Cameos #2

Continuing our trip to the Mother City, we went to bed after a hectic day and woke up the next morning to ash in the doorway. Going up onto the rooftop deck, with its wonderful 360 degree views, we were greeted by the sad sight of Table mountain burning,

and the drone of helicopters shuttling back and forth with giant buckets of water to release on the flames.

The fire had burned all the way over the mountain from the Rhodes memorial side and was burning right down to the city limits.

However the sadness caused by that sight was lifted by a stunning sunrise over the City....

Even the ugly crane that that hovered over the Waterfront skyline took on a brief glorious etherial beauty

After a leisurely breakfast on the delightful little patio overlooking the street,

we went to town to stroll around and check out some art galleries. Being the oldest town in South Africa, Capetown has a delightful city centre, an ecclectic jumble of historic and new, with influences from many different cultures.

To just park the car and wander around soaking in the sights and sounds (not to mention the delicious aromas of coffee and Malay cooking wafting from corner cafes as you pass!) is a rare treat.

First stop on the gallery circuit was 34 Long St, an old building wedged between tall modern ones on either side,

but very contemporary inside!

Finally the coffee aromas got too much for us, and we ended up enjoying cappuchinos in a lovely Italian Cafe with an entire wall of driftwood encased between two sheets of glass.

We eventually ended up having lunch at a pavement cafe in Greenmarket Square,

being entertained by the Ganga Muffins, a jazz/blues duo with a distinctly Cape flavour to the music... it was such fun!

We then went for a drive around the mountain to check out some of the panoramic views from up there, before heading across to the back of the mountain for a bit of shopping in Newlands. From above Sea Point we got a view of the half finished Greenpoint Stadium,

and the infamous Robben Island with the Greenpoint lighthouse in the foreground.

We rushed back to change, then straight off to run the gauntlet of the rush hour traffic, and off to Camps Bay, for dinner and a show at the Theatre on the Bay. it started drizzling just as we arrived.

And then cleared a bit and rounded a perfect day off with this sunset from the theatre dining room.

The show was very good, an Italian called Ennio Marchetto who is uses origami in a very original way, to make costumes and change rapidly between characters. A good laugh, and then off for a well earned sleep..........

check out Ennio in action

DESTRUCTION OF HERITAGE

If you have spent any time on this blog, you will know that one of the hobby horses that I get a lot of exercise on is the issue of people who own heritage sites and then destroy them. In Port Elizabeth, our bete-noir is Irish Slum lord Ken Denton, who, in the eyes of many, is like a one man plague when it comes to heritage destruction.

Sadly, we are not alone. Last week a real treasure in Johannesburg was demolished, in blatant defiance of an order to protect the site. It was done by the company Imperial Holdings, and I want to appeal to all of you who read this and care about this issue to express solidarity with the people of Johannesburg by boycotting this company. I will do some research during the week and let you know what companies and products are involved.



I have already lodged a protest with Imperial Holdings, and sent letters to friends, MyPE chat forum and the local newspaper asking people to stand together and not allow this company to get away with such cynical and selfish actions. We need to send a strong message to all property developers that, no matter how big or rich they are, they cannot get away with robbing us of our heritage!



I received a fascinating newsletter today, written by Neil Fraser, and as he has put it all so eloquently, I am copying the letter here, rather than trying to rehash the facts.





"CITICHAT 3/2008

25 January 2008

Laundry Lamentations
At the end of the day what is it that makes some people care and others not give a damn? Why do some people thrill to experience examples of cultures and structures from a previous way of life whilst others see history and heritage as a stumbling block to their concept of progress? Why do we allow our lives to become so busy that in always focusing on the urgent, we forget about what is truly important?

Thousands of people a week must have driven past the Rand Steam Laundries buildings on the corner of Barry Hertzog Avenue and Napier Road without so much as a glance. With the actual laundry long since closed, some might have visited to do business with one of the small traders - blacksmiths, carpenters and furniture repairers - that operated from the site for the past 27 years. Few may have known the story behind the site and the buildings on it. Even fewer may have appreciated the sophistication of some aspects of the design and construction of the buildings to house what, in the early 1900s, was a new technology. Yet the complex encapsulated an amazing story that was part of the history of this crazy mining city. Now the buildings are gone, another example of man’s greed and of deliberate flouting the law of the land.

Charles van Onselen (“Studies in the Social and Economic History of the Witwatersrand 1886-1914 – ‘New Nineveh’) provides a fascinating history of the development of capitalism in Southern Africa. “The South African transition to capitalism – like that elsewhere - was fraught with contradictions and conflicts and its cities were thus capable of opening as well as closing economic avenues, and there certainly was always more than one route into or out of the working class”. One chapter that exemplifies this statement and provides amazing detail of this transition is that on the ‘AmaWasha’ – the Zulu washermen’s guild of the Witwatersrand.
The AmaWasha appeared to have emerged in the early 1870s in Natal through the lowly washermen’s caste of ‘Dhobis’ who had emigrated to Natal and started practicing their traditional profession – “the commercial washing of clothes”. Local Zulus were quick to recognise the opportunity to also earn an income from such work and even quicker to seize on the opportunity that the later discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand presented, accompanied as it was by rapid growth and services needs. By 1890, van Onselen records, there were already a couple of hundred AmaWasha, who had even adopted the ‘Dhobi’ turban, at work in the Braamfontein Spruit to the north of the mining camp. By 1896 there were over 1 200 washermen located at eight or more sites, the bulk of which appeared to have been concentrated in the Richmond area which was “by far the best developed of the sites….the owners provided eight wood and iron structures to accommodate some of the washermen and a small building in which the laundry could be safely stored overnight.” In October 1895, the washing sites were closed by health inspectors following a drought in that year that basically resulted in contamination of the work places. In 1896 a sub-committee of the Johannesburg Sanitary Board was, inevitably, appointed to examine longer-term solutions for public washing. As one would expect, the process provided an opportunity for capitalist connivance and corruption with vested interests trying to steer the process to their own interests even as far away as Witbank as well as to start mechanised processes in opposition to the labour intensive ‘AmaWasha’.
The first steam laundry was in fact founded before 1895/6 whilst the Auckland Park Steam Laundry Company was floated in June 1896 “with a registered capital of 12 500” (pounds Sterling). This was situated on the Richmond Estate, the centre of AmaWasha activities until they were forced to Witbank. There are still some rocks near the canalised stream on the site – the last exposed natural section of the Amawasha site.
The saga continued over a number of years; a return of some AmaWasha to the city, then their removal to Klipspruit, the growth of Chinese laundries and, of course, increasing technology. Of their removal to Klipspruit, van Onselen records that “the municipality was laying long-term plans to develop a permanently segregated community at Klipspruit” which would be both largely self-supporting bur possibly income generating. “The idea of segregation being paid for by the segregated held enormous appeal for white administrators. By 1906, an ironing room, a fenced in drying site and the first of one hundred specially designed concrete washtubs had been erected at Klipspruit. With blind ruthlessness and staggering cynicism the Council prepared to move the washermen for the last time – this time to an uneconomic washing site that shared its setting with the municipal sewerage works.”
History repeats itself! This time it is an aptly named corporation, Imperial, that‘with blind ruthlessness and staggering cynicism’ has destroyed not just one of the last local examples of steam driven industry, but crushed a place where South African history converged: the struggle of poor people to earn an honest living; colonial segregation; indifference; displacement; discrimination; lack of compassion and the eventual disintegration of the AmaWasha.
So how could this happen? After all we do have good legislation in the form of the National Heritage Resources Act of 1999, the Preamble to which contains, inter alia, these fine words: “This legislation aims to promote good management of the national estate, and to enable and encourage communities to nurture and conserve their legacy so that it may be bequeathed to future generations……our heritage is unique and precious and it cannot be renewed…..It helps us to define our cultural identity and therefore lies at the heart of our spiritual well-being and has the power to build our nation……it deepens our understanding of society…….”
Well, the story appears to be that the Imperial Group, through their property company, bought the site in March 2006 specifically for the construction of a showroom. The previous owners evidently warned them that this was a heritage site; the Parktown and Westcliff Heritage Trust (PWHT), knowing the importance of the site and what it represented, applied for the site to be ‘provisionally’ protected in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act of 1999 and the Provincial Heritage Resources Agency of Gauteng (PHRAG) gave notice to that effect in the Provincial Gazette of 20 September 2006. PWHT also lodged an objection to any rezoning of the site for motor showroom purposes. A reporter who covered the purchase at the time was told by someone from Imperial that they weren’t interested in keeping the old buildings – they would demolish first and risk the fine, “It’s only R10 000.” The company’s attorneys denied that this comment had been made, stating that their clients were fully aware of the National Heritage Resources Act and that they had no intention of doing anything that would contravene the Act!

On Wednesday 9th of January this year preparations for demolition were underway, the roof sheeting was being stripped. PW&HT’s Flo Bird spoke to the responsible Imperial executive pointing out that they were acting illegally – he claimed that they had a demolition permit from the Chief Building Inspector of Johannesburg. Flo pointed out that the City does not outrank the Province in such matters and requested that the demolisher be instructed to stop work, which was done. Apparently the Johannesburg building inspector had issued a Dilapidation Notice, but he had warned Imperial that they needed a permit from the Heritage Authority (PHRAG) before they could proceed with demolition.

On Thursday 10th the demolition work started again, but this time with a difference. In Flo’s words “There was a mechanical grab smashing the buildings to pieces. Several large laundry buildings, two of the oldest on the site, already lay in small pieces. The grab hauled the masonry smashed it to the ground and then drove back and forwards crushing it. Any metal piece that survived that treatment was lifted in the air and crashed down until it crumpled. It was horrifying. Clearly the instruction was to destroy the buildings completely.”

At 3.30pm a stop order was delivered by PHRAG. At that stage there were still a number of heritage buildings left standing including the picturesque cottages at the corner of Napier and Barry Hertzog. Ignoring the stop orders from both PHRAG and the City, Imperial demolished the cottages on Sunday.

So what sanction can now be applied? I would think that there must be parts of the Companies Act that have been transgressed as well as all kinds of issues related to King 2 on Corporate Governance (can corporations take decisions that, knowingly, are against the law of the land for their own ends, as seems to be the case here?). But the main legislation would be the National Heritage Resources Act of 1999. Section 27(18) of the Act states ““no person may destroy, damage, deface, excavate, alter, remove from its original position, subdivide or change the planning status of any heritage site without a permit issued by the heritage authorities authority responsible for the protection of such site.”

Section 51 (1) (a) that any person who contravenes the above “is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine or imprisonment or both such fine and imprisonment as set out in Item 1 of the Schedule.” Item 1 of the Schedule states “a fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or to both such fine and imprisonment.” In a previous case, the fine was R300 000-00 with a five year suspended sentence!

However, the Act goes further – in terms of 51(8) a court may also order the guilty party to ‘put right’ the result of their actions or order the party “to pay a sum equivalent to the cost of making good” AND in terms of 51 (9) an order can be served on the party that no development should take place on the site for a period of ten years except for making good the damage and maintaining the cultural value of the place.

Seems to me that a seemingly deliberate and premeditated breaking of the law needs the whole book thrown at it. The previous heritage structures must be rebuilt and the story of Amawasha and the mining town they serviced must be told and portrayed so that “it may be bequeathed to future generations” – the cottages can once again house the craftshops and the site should be turned into an active place for the community. The story of the perfidy of Imperial and the punishment meted out to them in terms of legislation should also be encapsulated so that everyone becomes aware of the law and the consequences of arrogance in disregarding it. Anything less would be a travesty.

London has the Imperial War Museum, at least we could have the Imperial Rand Steam Laundry Museum!

Cheers, neil

PS. Want to help? I had this message from Flo Bird:

“Please support us in pressing for the perpretrators to be brought to justice, for the land to be frozen for development for 10 years and for the reinstatement of the heritage buildings on the Rand Steam Laundries site.

They were not marble palaces, but simple industrial buildings built of wood and iron, bricks and plaster. Even Imperial should be capable of rebuilding those.

Please go to our website: http://www.parktownheritage.co.za/heritage.htm and press on the newsflash. If it doesn’t come up immediately you need to press the refresh button.

1. Please copy and paste the petition, filling in your name, and e-mail it back to us.

2. Please pass on to all people on your mailing list. "

Granny's little helper ....and the things bloggers will do...

OK, time to lighten up after the sombre posts of the last couple of days!

And what could be cuter or cheer one up more than having the little tiger over for the weekend? He spent the night on Friday, and all day Saturday, as there was hectic building going on at home that would have triggered his asthma. We had a lot of fun, including a water fight, and he was a great help with cleaning up.

We tidied my office/studio, and I immediately felt refreshed and inspired to get stuck into some new paintings. It is so strange how it works with me. I am a total dirtbag, really untidy, but when it reaches a certain pitch, I just can't stand it. If my workspace, pallette or desk are too cluttered, my creativity just seems to dry up, and I have to get my life back in order. Then a fresh flood of inspiration and creative energy gets triggered and off I go again, leaving another trail of chaos and snowdrifts of papers, until the next tidying blitz!

This morning, Max wanted to take pictures for his next couple of ABC Wednesday posts, so we trundled off to the old historic city centre. The things bloggers will endure .... here he runs the gauntlet of the building operations, and a nasty open sewerage manhole to get his shots of the library!

This part of town has that typical inner city vibe,

Urban decay being replaced by urban renewal, (as you can see, major work is in progress, the market square in fron of city hall is being remodelled, and the old main street is being turned into a pedestrian walkway.

delightful old buildings hemmed in by modern monsters,

I just love the details on those old buildings .....

In fact the main library was proudly wearing its badge from the architects, in honour of international architecture month in October, proclaiming "this is a good building". (I featured the building in some detail in a previous post.)

And as a bonus, it got darker and darker while we were there, and I got some cool shots for Skywatch Friday this week. The heavens opened as we got back to the car, so I also got this shot of Richmond Hill from the old Central area, enhanced by the lovely reflections on the wet roads, in fact, this one might well translate into a painting ...... cheers, off to prepare some canvasses!

interesting architecture #4

Well, since I seem to be on a roll with the photos of buildings, I thought I'd share a couple more from my trip from port Elizabeth to East London last week. But first I need to set some background.


When you travel between the two cities, you can be forgiven for thinking you have entered some sort of time warp.... half an hour's travel takes you from 21st century modern into semi-primitive rural. I often allude to the 1st world/3rd world mixture we have here, and the incredible diversity of lifestyle in this country, and it is nowhere more evident than in the Eastern Cape.


In the Apartheid era, one of the more insidious strategies to separate the races was the creation of 'independant homelands'. The purpose was to fool the detractors of Apartheid into believing that Black people did have the vote (in their own homeland) and were allowed to own land. What was not highlighted was that the homelands were not economically viable.

These were generally large, remote impoverished rural areas, inhabited largely by tribes people who still live very much as they have for centuries. Because there was little or no industry, many of the men ended up going to the cities to find work, ending up on the mines, in hostels, and sending what money they could back home to their wives and children, who mostly scratched a living from the poor un-irrigated soils.

Because, in African culture, a man's wealth is measured by the number of cattle he owns, the homelands became overgrazed. As modern culture and access to building materials has spread, the traditional 'kraal' or cattle pen, made of thorn bushes is becoming more and more rare, but on the hillsides of the former Ciskei and Transkei, there are a few left.

Here you see some typical mud huts with thatch roofs,

and as Western culture has infiltrated tribal life, there is an interesting style if house, which is still in the rondavel form of the traditional house, but with corrogated iron roofing sheets.

Efforts were made to boost the economy of these areas by offering incentives to businesses operating there. In the past, this place was a thriving carpet factory, and tourist shop. They made stunning hand knotted wool carpets of extremely high quality, and the shop offered a wide range of really good African products, as well as home made jams and goodies. it was always one of out favourite stops on the Coastal road to East London.

It seems it was never really viable running the business out in the middle of no-where, and they have gravitated towards the small towns along the main road. The sign speaks of the desperation as business dried up...... sadly it obviously didn't work, because I tried to heed the sign and stopped for breakfast, only to find the place closed... pity.


So there you have it, in 3 days, you have seen a tiny cross section of South African architecture and the differing lifestyles it reflects, this really is a fascinating place to live.

On an entirely different note, remember two days ago I was waxing lyrical about the EXPERIENCE of showering in the forest cottage. Well today I discovered that I can have an awesome showering experience literally in my own backyard! We have a little narrow private courtyard leading off from our bedroom, and last year when we were having some plumbing work done, I had a shower fitted out there. It is delightful showering outside in the fresh air on a warm day, standing on paving stones with rounded river pebbles around them, surrounded by plants and flowers.

Well the experience just got a whole lot better... my star jasmine has crept up the water pipes and is flowering at the moment, so the beautiful scent really adds to the ambience, it feels positively decadent showering out there!

anecdote and architecture.....

An Anecdote........
A post by David in Australia reminded me of an incident that happened near our smallholding a few years ago. Police were chasing a little VW Golf full of suspected stock thieves, and when they pulled them over, all but one fled into the surrounding bush. They thought at first the culprit must be drunk, just sitting there on the back seat, until they looked closer and saw that it was a sheep wearing a hat and coat. True story, gotta love Africa!

Inspiring Architecture #3

Ok now I want to introduce you to a gracious old city lady (in contrast to her rustic country cousin who you met yesterday.)

The Ann Bryant Art Gallery in East London started life as a gracious double-storey Victorian home in the centre of town. Just minutes away from the hustle and bustle of commerce is the tranquil tree-lined suburb of Southernwood, where the gallery is located.

The lovely old building, with its white walls and a green corrugated iron roof, is home to many of East London's famous works of art. Built in 1905 for Arthur Savage, the house was bought two years later by East London businessman, AE Bryant. He added land to his original purchase, so that the property covered a whole block from Belgrave Road to Oxford Street. Both Bryant and his wife, Ann, were art lovers and between them built up an enviable collection of mainly British or European artists from the 18th and 19th centuries.

In 1946 Ann Bryant donated the house, known as "The Gables", and her valuable art collection to the City of East London to be used as an art gallery. She asked the council not to change the house so that its Victorian style and elegance was retained. After her death, the gallery was renamed the Ann Bryant Art Gallery.

Alongside the main house is the Coach House, where visitors can buy light lunches and teas, sitting outside and enjoying the dappled sun through the magnificent trees in the well kept gardens. This building, originally stabling for the family's horses and coaches, now houses the more modern exhibitions. (This is where I am currently exhibiting, but more about that later.)

Look how stunning the jacarandas and lilies were last week. (Jacaranda is indigenous to South America, but graces many South African cities. As it flowers before the new leaves start to sprout, the effect of purple flowers against stark branches is breathtaking, as is the subtle honey scent. When the flowers drop, they form a sweet smelling purple carpet and walking on it is a heady experience!)

The scented and colourful gardens provided a very warm welcome into the entrance foyer of the coach house, so I continued the theme by making a big flower painting the first thing visitors would see.

I particularly love all the loving attention to detail that went into buildings like this... everywhere you looks, you see signs of the artistic pride that the builders took in their work. (The guys who sling up mushrooming low cost developments these days could really learn a thing or 2!)