Vandals continue to strip the historic Red Location Cottages
South Africa, Republic of (Press Release) July 23, 2008 --
Vandals continue to strip the historic Red Location Cottages: one cottage is on the verge of collapsing and original doors, windows, floors and inner walls are gone.
Under apartheid, Black, Coloured, Indian and Chinese people were forbidden to visit museums, libraries, and other cultural buildings, except as employees, entering through the back door.
Even though the community favours the new Red Location Museum, old heritage sites such as the Red Location Cottages seems to prevail in having little positive resonance with them.
BACKGROUND
In 1902 an outbreak of Bubonic plague struck Port Elizabeth as a direct result of horse fodder imported for the British military. This led to the demolition of Port Elizabeth's old central locations, the evicted residents’ personal belongings destroyed, restrictions imposed upon their inter-town travel and being forcefully removed to a section of the Deal Party Estate.
Materials for the dwellings at Red Location came from the Uitenhage Concentration Camp as well as the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital at Deelfontein, De Aar (1st SA “Anglo Boer” War 1899 – 1902).
According to oral history the name "Red Location" (in Xhosa Elalini-Ebomvu) comes from the overall rusted red image that the galvanized iron homes had - apparently due to the colour of the anti-rust agents it was maintained with.
A visitor’s comment in 1988:
Struan Robertson visited Red Location during 1988 and commented: “Set out on barren beach-gravel, just west of the main railway line, were rows of small gable-ended houses, made of corrugated iron. Originally one of three camps (the other two being White and Blue Locations), it had been build at the turn of the Century as transit accommodation for British troops beings shipped to the Boer War. The salt air had got to work and now the houses were the rust-red colour of the hematite their iron sheets had been fashioned from. Gales had pulled off roof panels and salt had corroded holes in roofs and walls. Yet people were living there. We entered one house where the wind whistled through gaps and found eight people wrapped in blankets on four beds, two to a bed and all sick."
The anti-apartheid resistance:
Red Location became a “hotspot of struggle” against the former Apartheid Regime. A number of significant struggle events took place in Red Location. One outstanding event was the 1952 Defiance Campaign against the Pass Laws and was launched during 1952. The first arrests were done in Red Location. On 26 June at 05h00, after praying the whole night at the New Brighton Civic Centre, the first group of activists entered the “Europeans only” section of the New Brighton Station. They were arrested by 06h30.
Birth of Umkonto Wesizwe and the Mandela Plan
The implementation of the M-Plan (Mandela Plan - street and area committees) as well as the first cell of Umkonto Wesizwe originated from Red Location and underground operations often took place under floorboards of the Red Location Cottages
Under apartheid, Black, Coloured, Indian and Chinese people were forbidden to visit museums, libraries, and other cultural buildings, except as employees, entering through the back door.
Even though the community favours the new Red Location Museum, old heritage sites such as the Red Location Cottages seems to prevail in having little positive resonance with them.
BACKGROUND
In 1902 an outbreak of Bubonic plague struck Port Elizabeth as a direct result of horse fodder imported for the British military. This led to the demolition of Port Elizabeth's old central locations, the evicted residents’ personal belongings destroyed, restrictions imposed upon their inter-town travel and being forcefully removed to a section of the Deal Party Estate.
Materials for the dwellings at Red Location came from the Uitenhage Concentration Camp as well as the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital at Deelfontein, De Aar (1st SA “Anglo Boer” War 1899 – 1902).
According to oral history the name "Red Location" (in Xhosa Elalini-Ebomvu) comes from the overall rusted red image that the galvanized iron homes had - apparently due to the colour of the anti-rust agents it was maintained with.
A visitor’s comment in 1988:
Struan Robertson visited Red Location during 1988 and commented: “Set out on barren beach-gravel, just west of the main railway line, were rows of small gable-ended houses, made of corrugated iron. Originally one of three camps (the other two being White and Blue Locations), it had been build at the turn of the Century as transit accommodation for British troops beings shipped to the Boer War. The salt air had got to work and now the houses were the rust-red colour of the hematite their iron sheets had been fashioned from. Gales had pulled off roof panels and salt had corroded holes in roofs and walls. Yet people were living there. We entered one house where the wind whistled through gaps and found eight people wrapped in blankets on four beds, two to a bed and all sick."
The anti-apartheid resistance:
Red Location became a “hotspot of struggle” against the former Apartheid Regime. A number of significant struggle events took place in Red Location. One outstanding event was the 1952 Defiance Campaign against the Pass Laws and was launched during 1952. The first arrests were done in Red Location. On 26 June at 05h00, after praying the whole night at the New Brighton Civic Centre, the first group of activists entered the “Europeans only” section of the New Brighton Station. They were arrested by 06h30.
Birth of Umkonto Wesizwe and the Mandela Plan
The implementation of the M-Plan (Mandela Plan - street and area committees) as well as the first cell of Umkonto Wesizwe originated from Red Location and underground operations often took place under floorboards of the Red Location Cottages
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