Pretoria - The Jacaranda City

Only some forty miles separate Johannesburg from Pretoria, and yet it is difficult to conceive of two neighbours with such contrasting personalities. Johannesburg, a hub of mining, industrial and business enterprise, is a bustling metropolis. Pretoria is dignified. It has an air of maturity and many associations with South Africa's history.

It was named after Andries Pretorius, the hero of Blood River, by the founder, his son, M.W. Pretorius. Five years later, it became the capital of the Republic. In June, 1900, during the course of the South African War, it was surrendered to the British Forces.

In May, 1910, it was designated the Administrative Capital of the Union of South Africa. The centenary of the founding of the city was celebrated in 1955, one of the highlights being the unveiling of the two Pretorius statues in front of the City Hall.

The bronze statue of President Kruger, in the centre of Church Square, is a reminder of the days when this great man ruled the Transvaal Republic. His old home, an unpretentious dwelling, is now a national museum.

Of Pretoria's memorials, the most noteworthy is the well-known Voortrekker Monument which enshrines the memory of the Voortrekkers (pioneers) who travelled in the vanguard of white civilisation from the coast to the most distant corners of South Africa.

Pretoria is, too, the West Point of South Africa, the Military College being at Voortrekkerhoogte on the outskirts of the city. The city and its suburbs cover an area of some 70 square miles and the population numbers approximately 180,200 Europeans and 163,000 non-Europeans.

T.R.S…
Arrived early at Johannesburg, the city beautiful. Came into station through native slums, consisting of squatty hovels and narrow dirt streets, but even this section looks clean and orderly, reflecting a sort of dignified poverty that refuses to be sullied with filth. Neatly kept warehouses and factories line electrified railway lines. Station very busy with a constant flow of humanity.

Saw one native woman with a huge bundle on her head, child in a sling on her back, a basket in one hand and three-year old barefoot child hanging on the other, and quite conspicuous lump under her apron, she looked straight ahead and went about her business. To dress, most children simply gird themselves with a loin cloth and are all ready for the day's fun.

A fleet of autos awaited our party at the station and took us on tour of the city. Terrain is rolling like Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, or Kansas City. Fine downtown business buildings are of Dutch and English architecture, and sloping streets permit an observer to see a whole section at a glance.

The city is the centre of the fabulously rich Witwatersrand where much of the gold which eventually finds its way into the vaults of Fort Knox, is mined. South Africa produces nearly one-half of the entire world output of newly-mined gold and the total yield to date is valued at more than £3,630,000,000. Of this total, a large percentage has been earned by the mines of the Witwatersrand.

The gold mines have been responsible for attracting many secondary industries and, today, almost half of the entire secondary manufacturing industries of the country is centred on Johannesburg. The bulk of South Africa's diamond-cutting factories are situated in the city, and other thriving industries include engineering, building, textiles, printing, furniture, drugs, chemicals, leather and metal. Building progress in and around Johannesburg is phenomenal.

T.R.S…
Mostly modest but well-built houses of various shades of brown brick or stone, roofed with red tile. Hundreds of modern and well-designed apartment buildings, usually with balconies, and many attractively decorated with wrought-iron grill work. Not many venetian blinds are seen.

The preference is for French windows with pull curtains. Looked for and failed to see a single dwelling without a hedge or masonry wall around it. Driver said bricklayers in Jo-burg earn $45 a week and hundreds are busy at work year round. Houses of frame or wooden construction are forbidden by law.

City has many public parks, nice, wide and winding boulevards, double-decked buses; materials for buildings under construction are stacked in rear, while in front, lawns and flower beds are maintained. Streets torn up to repair water and sewer lines are surrounded with white picket fence sections to prevent unsightliness. My hat is off to Jo-burg, the most orderly and exquisitely beautiful city I have ever visited.

T.R.S…
Jo-burg, the nickname for this fine city, is the gold-mining centre of all Africa. Great mountains of tailings from which gold has been extracted are stacked high all about the city and resemble natural foothills to the more distant peaks. Mines are shored up with timbers to prevent caving and whole groves of eucalyptus trees are planted to provide timbers for this purpose.

Despite an apparent superficiality on the part of Johannesburg people - who always seem to be in a hurry - their hospitality and friendliness have become a tradition. The city's history may be brief, but it has been an hour of crowded life. Johannesburg looks back on the past with pride of achievement and to the future with unbounded confidence.