African settlements in the Johannesburg area, 1903-1923

Abstract

In 1886 Johannesburg was little more than a mining camp. By the end of the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), there hod token place a considerable influx of whites and Africans into Johannesburg. This research investigates responses to the growth and development of the Johannesburg area between 1903 and 1923 os a multi-racial entity. While much has been written about mines and formal organisations such as trade unions, little is known about the "'common people' in their local and mundane settings",^1^ and it is on this aspect that this study concentrates. It considers the roles of the local and the central authorities, as well as white and African communities themselves.