A history of Africans in Pretoria with special reference to Marabastad, 1902-1923

Abstract

This dissertation examines the growth and development of an urban African population in Pretoria from 1902 to 1923. African urbanisation in Pretoria took place within the context of limited industrial development and gave rise to a distinc!ive population, with an important permanently settled component. This study charts the struggles that ensued between the Town Council and the African population. The responses of the urban African population took on two forms: informal, defensive strategies and formal political organisation. In the early twentieth century Pretoria formed the locus of regional African political activity. However, the attempts of formal organisations to challenge the state were essentially conservative. It was rather in the realm of working class culture that real challenges were made to the municipal authorities' vision of an ordered urban environment and a controlled African proletariat.