From the ‘Devil's Dorp’ to ‘Fair Dorp’: The Transformation of Krugersdorp from a Transient Mining Boomtown into a Stable Settler Town, 1887 to 1905

Abstract

ABSTRACT Mining towns constituted, during their embryonic stage, fragile urban environments that could deteriorate rapidly into oblivion as ‘ghost towns’ or, through a slower, cumulative process, develop into stable towns. The ‘tipping point’ was difficult to gauge with certainty, and many once-prosperous mining boomtowns became mere husks virtually overnight, while numerous unpromising mining towns somehow beat the odds and endured. There has, hitherto, been little investigation into the factors that determined these diametrically opposed destinies of mining towns on the Witwatersrand, and this study seeks to address this gap. This study goes beyond the usual political and economic factors to offer a socio-cultural explanation that draws upon semiotics to explain this enigmatic process, focusing on the town of Krugersdorp. A white middle-class professional and commercial elite that dominated the town achieved a sense of permanence through the building of churches and the resultant ‘spectacle’ was ‘read’ by the transient workers as a ‘message’ that eventually helped to inspire them to commit to the town. A range of municipal services also transformed Krugersdorp into a ‘Fair Dorp’ that was sufficiently appealing to entice white miners to commit to the town, thus ensuring its long-term survival.