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Self-Development in Native Housing in East London, Cape Province

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2012

D. G. Bettison
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Extract

East London is a rapidly growing port with a population of about 85,000 persons of all races, situated on the south-east coast of Africa. It is the city nearest to the largest Native Reserve in the Union, the Transkei, and hence uniquely situated in respect of its Native labour supply. It was a centre for the urban sociological studies of Professor Monica Wilson in her 1936 acculturation research, and more recently for a series of socio-economic studies by the author as an employee of the Municipality in 1949-50. An historical study of African settlement in the City, and of the relationship of Africans to the European controlled municipal council is presented here.

Résumé

LE DÉVELOPPEMENT DES LOGEMENTS POUR LES INDIGÈNES PAR EUX-MÊMES, DANS EAST LONDON, PROVINCE DU CAP

Cet article donne un exposé historique du développement des logements pour les Africains urbanisés dans East London, Province du Cap, Afrique du Sud. Des travailleurs africains sont venus s'installer dans la ville, à l'époque de sa fondation en 1848, lorsqu'ils étaient employés principalement aux travaux de construction du port. Au début, les Africains vivaient par groupes éparpillés sur la périphérie des quartiers d'habitation des Européens. Plus tard, ils furent concentrés dans des lotissements, divisés par le Conseil Municipal en parcelles de 40 pieds chacun, qui étaient loués aux Africains pour y bâtir leurs propres maisons. Tout d'abord, on a fait face à l'augmentation de la population en élargissant la superficie des lotissements, mais, plus tard, un surpeuplement considérable s'est produit et chaque maison logeait, en dehors du propriétaire et de sa famille, de nombreux parents et locataires. La location des chambres et le partage des pièces par un nombre de locataires était pécuniairement avantageux, tant pour les propriétaires que pour les locataires, qui, souvent, s'unissaient pour se soustraire aux règlements concernant le surpeuplement. Le système s'est maintenu, car les Africains urbanisés étaient disposés à accepter ces conditions et n'étaient pas préparés à dépenser plus qu'il n'était nécessaire pour leurs loyers. La plupart d'éntre eux etaient tenus d'envoyer de l'argent à leurs parents dans les réserves, ou de fournir un logement pour des parents. A partir de 1924, le Conseil Municipal s'est chargé, progressivement, de plus de responsabilité pour le logement des Africains; des plans furent élaborés en vue de démolir les vieilles maisons construites en bois et en fer et de déplacer la population africaine en l'établissant dans des maisons en briques d'une seule pièce, appartenant à la municipalité. Ces maisons étaient construites par des ouvriers européens et étudiées pour loger une seule famille par maison. Ce plan ne fut pas généralement acceptable aux Africains, qui se méfiaient d'un contrôle municipal plus rigoureux et d'un empietèment sur leur droit de louer des pièces à des locataires. La guerre a empêché la réalisation de ces plans, et, après la guerre, l'augmentation du prix de la construction a nécessité leur modification. Actuellement, la construction des maisons en briques par les maçons africains est en cours de développement, et ceci peut conduire à un système par lequel les Africains peuvent encore bâtir leurs maisons pour eux-mêmes et en devenir les propriétaires.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 23 , Issue 4 , October 1953 , pp. 324 - 330
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1953

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References

page 324 note 1 Hunter, M., Reaction to Conquest, Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

page 324 note 2 The detailed results are embodied in ‘A Socioeconomic Study of East London …’, A Master's thesis: Rhodes University, Grahamstown, C.P.Google Scholar

page 324 note 3 There are now three locations in East London, The West Bank Location, the first to be started, remains today as a community of about 350 houses. The Cambridge Location, of about 100 houses, was incorporated after the amalgamation of the city with the suburb of that name in 1942. The East Bank Location is the largest and is the centre of the present study.

page 324 note 4 In view of the interest shown in the recently introduced Group Areas Act, whereby each racial group is allotted its own particular area of residence and business, it is important to note that in East London the African people on the whole presented no problem to the group planners. The African area of settlement was determined as early as 1885 and, with the exception of a few wealthy and/or educated persons, all lived in those areas. East London's problem in terms of the Act was the allocation of areas for the Coloured, Indian, Malay, and Chinese peoples. These groups, as well as many Europeans, tended to live in the interstitial zone between the African location and the area wholely used by Europeans. This area is known as North End, is extensively built over, and might be described as ‘blighted’.

page 325 note 1 It must be borne in mind that the geographical position of East London made it an excellent place to work in for short periods. It was within a day's walking distance from a number of large, rural reserve areas. Costly train fares, such as those involved in going to the Kimberley diamond-mines, the Johannesburg gold-mines, or the sugar estates of Natal, were non-existent. Although wages in East London tended to be lower than elsewhere, the City was readily accessible to fill the gaps between work in the centres farther afield.

page 325 note 2 The incentive to review this matter was the increasing deficit on the Native Revenue Account.

page 325 note 3 Unfortunately this matter has not yet received the attention it deserves. What occurred, for example, when a polygynously married man brought all his wives to town is not known. In theory each wife would receive one room. But such instances must have been rare, as a man with a plurality of wives, implying a degree of wealth, would rarely come to town for anything but a short visit, in which case his wives would remain behind.

page 326 note 1 Room letting was a financially remunerative undertaking, and often enabled an owner to earn sufficient to save him from going out to work—an ambition of many an African.

page 327 note 1 Whereas it is true that the traditional South Nguni hut was round, it is false to assume that a family lived in only one house; in practice it had at least three or four. This European belief coincided with the contemporary belief in the irregular sex habits of the primitive.

page 328 note 1 Registering a house in the name of a woman may have resulted from the custom of the Southern Nguni whereby a woman was provided with a hut and land of her own and settled more or less as an independent economic unit vis à vis other wives in the polygynous household. A man in the habit of migrating regularly to East London may have taken a wife in town in addition to those in the country.

In such an event she would have been provided with a house of her own, which would at the same time make her economically independent. There is as yet no proof that this ever occurred.

page 328 note 2 Under the terms on which the loan was made, on a sub-economic basis, the City Council had to suffer a pro rata portion of the loss.