Abstract
Historical Research deals with the meaning of events, and it tries to make sense of an ever-flowing stream of events and continuing changes in human life and its institutions. Surveying activities in South Africa, sometimes by people with no survey-specific education, started in 1657.Early in the 19th century, disputes arose regarding the positions of boundary beacons and the incorrect diagrams representing them. In 1834, the Cape Colony government decreed that land surveyors should only be allowed to practise after completing a qualifying examination set by the Surveyor- General. Early land surveyors were expected to be competent in cadastral, engineering, topographical and mine surveying, and cartography.This paper will focus on the time period before the existing familiar Professional Degrees and National Diplomas were offered by Universities in South Africa. It will highlight the remarkable achievements of the early surveyors, some of whom were self-taught, and their mentors. It will investigate the first formal learning that surveyors had to undergo to acquire the competencies needed to practise as surveyors.Keywords: Universities, technikons, colleges, surveying, profession
Highlights
Historical Research deals with the meaning of events, and it tries to make sense of an everflowing stream of events and continuing changes in human life and its institutions
This paper will focus on the time period before the existing familiar Professional Degrees and National Diplomas were offered by Universities in South Africa
Communal land tenure systems form an integral part of any survey syllabus at universities today, which is a legacy of early land ownership under African communal tenure as experience by the early European settlers
Summary
“Education is a fundamental attribute of the professional surveyor. It is the foundation upon which the surveyor builds his/ her skills and his/ her experience. It is through education that the surveying profession adapts to changing conditions and changing attitudes within society” (Fisher, 1985). Professional education must address technical questions and must include a solid scientific and mathematical grounding, questions of ethics and values and the methodologies of decision making. To estimate the future of any profession it is necessary to look at its past. The survey profession in South Africa has performed a most vital technological service in the unlocking of a continent far indifferent to technology (Mallows, 1967)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
