Blogs from South Africa, Africa - page 684

Africa » South Africa » Northern Cape » Kimberley August 6th 1968

The LAGEOS group flew from Johannesburg to Kimberley in the Northern Cape Province to view the famous diamond mining operation. (Not that we saw any actual diamonds!) The first evidence of the mining operation is the "Big Hole" visible from the air. The Big Hole was an open-air diamond mine dug by hand to a depth of 747 feet (246 m). Excavation began in 1872, and the mine continued to yield until 1914. The Kimberley Mine’s headgear is set up as a museum. As was often the case with Valene’s trips in this era, Kimberley was a fly-in, fly-out stop. The group arrived by air from Johannesburg, toured the mine premises, and flew onward to Cape Town the same day.... read more

Pretoria and the Mine Dancers

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Pretoria August 4th 1968

Voortrekker Monument

AndrewHL

The major sight in Pretoria is the Voortrekker Monument on a hill overlooking the city. It was built in 1937-1949 to commemorate the Voortrekkers who left the Cape Colony between 1835 and 1854 to settle the interior of South Africa and escape British rule. It is something like a large temple, and I suppose that is what it was to the Afrikaners. The inside space is surrounded by a 27-panel marble frieze depicting the Great Trek. A cenotaph commemorates those who lost their lives during the Great Trek and settlement of the Boer republics. Another frieze on the wall outside depicts a covered wagon train. Pretoria is the administrative capital of South Africa, the seat of the President and the executive departments. (Bloemfontein is the judicial capital and Cape Town is the legislative capital.) The Union ... read more

Johannesburg and the Zulu Cultural Centre

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg August 2nd 1968

Johannesburg from Munro Drive.

AndrewHL

Arriving in South Africa from West Africa it was evident that an altogether different vibe was in operation. South Africa had instituted Apartheid in 1948 and it effects were fully in evidence in 1968. Coming from the segregated airport the driver murmured the most disgusting racial epithets about Black African passerby on the street. I'd never heard anything like it anywhere and it was truly shocking. Yet that was years before economic sanctions were applied to South Africa. American cars, manufactured in South Africa with right-hand drive, were the norm and a large billboard proclaimed "Alles is Beter mit Groot Groot Coke" in Afrikaans. Johannesburg was a modern city by then, but with several differences, notably Apartheid. There was no television broadcasting, only radio, television would have been dependent on external sources of programming. A department ... read more

Brief history of South Africa

After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjug...more history

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