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Rand Rebellion
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Also known as the Rand Revolt; Red Revolt; Red Revolution; 1922 Miners' Strike
The following account is Alistaire Macmillan's (1933:118-123) for Benoni:
THE RED REVOLUTION.
Towards the close of 1921 the threatening clouds of industrial trouble again began to bank up in the East, and these heralded the most exciting period Benoni has so far experienced. Previous industrial struggles had caused a great dislocation in the activities of the area, but they were as nothing to what became known as the Red Revolution.
The trouble originated over the wage question in the coal mines, but soon ·spread to the gold industry. One of the leaders of the men, in a speech made at the time, put the issue as follows:
The miners have only received 40 percent increase during the war, although the increase in the cost of living has risen to 83 per cent. The cost of living now is 53.5 percent above the pre-war level, and the miners are only receiving 25 percent to meet it.
The Benoni Town Council almost alone amongst representative bodies realised the grave possibilities involved, largely because of the experiences of the town in the 1913-1914 strikes. On December 28th, 1921, they passed a resolution:
That this Council calls upon the Union Government to take such steps as will lead to arbitration in the disputes now in progress between employers and employees in South Africa, and that Mr. W. B . Madeley , M.I.A. be asked to bring this resolution to the notice of the Government.
In support of the motion the then Mayor, Mr. W. T. O'Reilly Merry, stated they should call on the Government to prevent what might be the biggest outbreak in the history of the country. The issue, as it appeared at that time, was summed up in a leading article in the Benoni City Times (the local newspaper) of January 7th, 1922, as follows:
The Chamber of Mines contends that the reductions are absolutely necessary if a large number of the low-grade mines are to continue working. The mine workers, on the other hand, claim that it is an attempt to eliminate the white worker and replace him with cheap coloured labour. … In view of the gravity of the situation we think the Government should immediately intervene and appoint an Arbitration Board.
Unfortunately the warnings of the Council and Government officials bore no fruit. The rift became wider, and on the morning of Tuesday, January 10th, 1922, began the greatest industrial struggle in the history of South Africa, a struggle which before its close was to claim the lives of 240 men and women.
For the next three months Benoni experienced all the thrills of a besieged city. The Mine Workers' Hall, now the Lido Theatre, became the headquarters of the strikers. From the offices of the Union, situated on the first floor, the fortunes or rather misfortunes of the strikers were directed. Every mine came out and the streets were thronged with the mine employees and their friends.
At first no one anticipated a prolonged struggle. The Trades Unions believed that the Chamber of Mines would climb down at so extraordinary a demonstration of solidarity and the continued loss of profits. The mine owners believed that when the men found they were unyielding and the wives and children of the strikers were suffering privation, they would be forced to throw up the sponge. Each party to the struggle thought the Government would be forced to intervene.
What actually happened was neither of these things: the battle was fought to the bitter end. In the second week of the strike all the 'Workers in the Kleinfontein Power Station, which supplied the town with light and power, were called out, and after dark the only way to traverse the streets was with a lantern. A mass meeting of strikers called on the Government to take over and run the mines; but nothing was done, and the next move was a proposal to form a National Board to take over the industries. The struggle increased in bitterness, and anyone suspected of sympathy with the mines ran a great risk of injury to life and property. Great processions of miners were formed, and drilling under ex-army non-commissioned officers went on, sticks being used instead of rifles. A mass meeting of nearly ten thousand people was held on February 17th, at which the Women's Commando, which was later to figure very prominently in the trouble, made its first appearance. From this date the strikers more and more assumed control of the town. Bonfires were made of the furniture of suspects; alleged 'scab' were beaten up; detectives were captured and held in custody at the Trades Hall; and the armed Police dared not move about save in small bodies. By this time the citizens were thoroughly alarmed, and feeling that the Government was powerless to protect them, riot risk insurance was heavily written. Women and children were sent off to the coast to be out of the danger zone; but the trains could not carry all who desired to go.
The climax came in the second week of March, when the Syndicalists declared 'a general strike.' By Wednesday, March 8th, every shop was closed and every bakery shut up. A big commando marched to the Railway Station to pull out the railwaymen. The citizens were awakened on Friday morning, March 10th , by the sound of heavy rifle firing. Bullets were flying all over the centre of the town in a street battle between the strikers, who were armed, and the Police. The first intimation the Police had was when the Reds opened fire on the Police Camp and a native constable, Leonard Sizaza, limped into the barracks shot through the leg but proudly holding a gun he had wrested from one of his assailants.
By 4.45 a.m. a heavy fire was being poured i1to the camp from the Plantation , and Sergeant-Major Notman attempted to silence it by machine gun fire from the dump. He was shot through the head.
Then the S.A.M.R. Artillery, under Major Wolmar ans, took up a position on the dump and engaged the Reds. It was during this operation that Lieut. Gordon Gray, D.S.O., M.C., was shot through the body, later dying from his wounds.
Lieut. Walker was shot in the neck at the Post Office. The Court House was defended by Capt. Cornwall and a number of Police. Situated in Market Avenue, it was open to attack from three sides, and a hail of bullets fell on the building.
Constable Hannant was the first to be killed, then Constable Howe fell, shot through the head, near the Bedford Hotel. He was dragged into the hotel by Mr. Clark, who, however, had a revolver put at his head and was compelled to hand over the dead man's rifle and bandolier.
The defenders of the Court House operated a Lewis gun against the Workers Hall; but those serving it were a target for the revolutionaries, and both Staff Sergt. Breytenbach and Staff Sergt. van der Westhuisen were wounded.
The garrison of the Court House was not prepared for a siege, and subsisted all day on a few sandwiches and some tea commandeered in the typists' office. While the light lasted they could not leave the building.
Sub-Inspector Walker, who was watching at the corner of Market Avenue and Horsfall Street, falling to the ground, wounded, tried to roll himself out of ·danger. Constable Kruger gallantly went to his assistance and was instantaneously killed with a bullet in the head.
Military aeroplanes arrived, and in one of them, piloted by Sir Pierre van Ryneveld, the observer, Capt. Carey Thomas, was shot through the heart.
In the afternoon firing slackened in the centre of the town, but the sound of a heavy engagement came from the Western Extension of Benoni. Here a detachment of the Transvaal Scottish Regiment, rushed out by train to quell the revolutionary forces, were met, on alighting near the Standard Brass Foundry, by a heavy fire from Reds concealed in the gardens and orchards south of the railway line. Many of the Transvaal Scottish were lads with fathers or brothers amongst the strikers. The casualty list of the Transvaal Scottish totalled 11 killed and 32 wounded.
Benoni was bombed from the air by Union Air Force planes. The objective was apparently the Workers' Hall, but the bombs were distributed over a considerable area. Panicstricken citizens fled from the danger zone; mothers with little children clinging to their skirts running for shelter in a frenzy of fright. The noise as the bombs burst was appalling, while the flying fragments of shell and debris worked havoc. At 8 a.m. a bomb fell on the Park Cafe and wrecked it, while a white woman living next door was killed. Another bomb went through the roof of the Workers' Hall, a third , 12 inches long and 8 inches in diameter, fell close to the Municipal offices, but fortunately for the offices did not explode; while a fourth struck the Court House, which had been evacuated by the Police during the night.
To heighten the excitement the Reds con tinued desultory firing, while burning buildings , including Major Rennie's beautiful residence, sent up masses of dense smoke. At intervals heavy dynamite explosions were heard as the revolutionaries wreaked vengeance on the homes of their enemies.
The unfortunate citizens dared not leave their houses. Cut off from all supplies of food, and not daring to venture into the streets for fear of being shot in the warfare between the Government forces and the revolutionaries, their lot was unhappy in the extreme. If they went out a stray bullet might find its billet in their hearts. A local butcher in the early stages of the fighting was actually killed in the doorway of his own shop. If they stayed in doors the explosions caused by falling bombs made them wonder when their turn would come, the flimsy galvanised iron roofs affording little protection.
They did not look to the sky for relief, yet it was from the sky that the people of Benoni received the first information of what was going on in the outside world. The whirring of an aeroplane was heard and everyone prepared to seek shelter. But instead of seeing the green light followed by red lights which heralded the bombs of the military planes, a light passenger plane was observed in the sky, and a shower of small newspapers commenced to fall in the streets.
Copies were eagerly secured and for the first time for three days the citizens learnt from the special edition of The Star what was happening outside the East Rand, which was completely isolated from the rest of the Transvaal.
Perhaps the most welcome piece of intelligence to those who had taken no active part in the struggle was the news that the Government forces were coming to the relief of Benoni, and that the situation in Johannesburg was well in hand.
· Sunday marked the final stand of the revolutionists, the scene of the fighting being that section of the Main Reef Road between Russell Street in the Western Extension and Dunswart Railway Station.
Sniping proceeded up all the avenues and houses in the Western Extension. The sound of heavy artillery fire came from the neighbourhood of the iron works, where the revolutionists were entrenched. The Government forces, under Lieut.-General van Deventer, shelled the position heavily, and under cover of the barrage the commandoes, mounted and foot, advanced to the attack. The revolutionary forces did not wait, and when the burghers arrived, had apparently evaporated seeking their homes in the town and throwing away their rifles. On Monday the Government forces occupied the town, and the authorities assumed control again. General van Deventer's first act was to proclaim Martial Law. This historic proclama tion , which was in both Afrikaans and English , comm enced as follows:
MARTIAL LAW.
MOVEMENTS OF PERSONS BY MEANS OF VEHICLES; NIGHT PERMITS AND TRAVELLING PERMITS.
By virtue of the powers vested in me by Regulation 14 of the Martial Law Regulations pu blished und e1 Government Notice No. 428 of 1922, it is hereby ordered;
The orders were numerous and far-reaching:
No person other than a member of the forces was allowed to move in the Magisterial District of Benoni, otherwise than on foot or by rail without a special permit.
No one was allowed to leave the premises in which they resided between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. without a special permit.
No one was allowed to move in the area except on public or private roads.
Another Proclamation dealt with arms, ammunition and explosives.
The news that Benoni had been relieved by the Government troops was soon authenticated amongst most of the inhabitants by the sight of the mounted commandoes riding down the streets holding their rifles in readiness for any sudden attack by fire and bombs. Of military precision there was little in their appearance-they were dressed as they were when called away from their farms - but as fighting units they commanded fear and respect.
Sentries were posted at every corner, and then commenced the purging of the town for arms, ammunition and explosives.
It was soon evident that the Government forces regarded every citizen as a potential danger. The procedure was thorough. An officer and men approached a house, entered and briefly explained that they had come to search the place for contraband. Bedrooms were ransacked, mattresses lifted, lofts investigated, and the garden searched. Every man in the house was ordered out, and whether suspect or not marched off . Some were taken to the Police camp, the larger number without respect of person, Town Councillors, officials, storekeepers, and employees, to a large open space in Harpur Avenue, near the Municipal Stores and close to the spot where the Government Buildings now stand. Here to the number of about 1,500 they .Vere kept in custody guarded by men with rifles until a detachment of the Transvaal Scottish arrived about 4 p.m. They were then marched to the Municipal Sports Ground , questioned, and searched for arms.
Hungry and thirsty, and tired from long standing, the last straw to add to their dis comfit was caused by a heavy thunderstorm which wet them to the skin. They were finally allowed to go home about 6.15 having to report the next morning at the Police Station.
In this connection it may be added that due to exposure some of the citizens contracted serious illnesses, and one of the Town Councillors died from the after-effects of the hold-up.
The occupation continued for some days until all those believed to have taken a leading part in the revolution, and also those who were suspected of murder, firing on the police, incendiarism, or looting , were under arrest.
The town presented the appearance of a place which had undergone the ravages of war. The Workers' Hall had gone up in flames, a block of shops occupied by the Goldfields Meat Market (the late Mr. H. A. Nava), Banks & Co., Chemists, and the Bedford Bottle Store, opposite the old Municipal Buildings, were destroyed by fire. Farther down Princes Avenue shops and an arcade next to the National Bank had been burnt to the ground. In this block, amongst other firms, were housed the Colonial Bank, Shimwell Bros store, and the offices of L. Frankel & Co.
The Government Buildings, now the Post Office, was pitted with rifle bullet holes, and few of the stores in the centre of the town had escaped damage.
In Mark et Avenue, between Bedford Street and Bunyan Street, hardly a window avenue, some of the firms suffering heavily in the shape of looted goods. Their loss would have been greater were it not that most of them , knowing from previous experience the vigour with which strikes are conducted on the East Rand , had insured against damage from rioting.
The total riot insurance to be paid out in Benoni was estimated at £100,000. It may, however, be claimed that some of the merchants almost invited trouble. One of them held a great bargain event in the week which contained 'Black Friday,' plastering his windows with a big poster 'Everything must go.' It went but certainly not in the way he expected . It should be noted that despite the danger the Benoni Fire Brigade, under Chief Officer R. J. Herd and Fireman Sanders, acted as a Red Cross Service through out the hostilities. Their duties led them through the firing line, and on one occasion a bomb fell within 20 feet of the ambulance, but while the vehicle was injured by splinters, none of the men was hurt. Dr. R. P. McNeil and Dr. Dalton were the medical men who worked wit h the Red Cross, and Mr. W. H . Martin, Chief Sanitary Inspector, also assisted in bringing in the dead and helping the wounded.
The prisons were full to overflowing as the result of the trials, the military and civil authorities determining that the spirit of lawlessness which had characterised the area for so many years mu st be eradicated.
It transpired that in many cases the revolutionaries had been led by men who had taken part in the Great War. Most of these were severely punished, but those who had instigated the revolution and used the strikers as cat'spaws in a number of cases not only escaped punishment, but later benefited considerably by the trouble they had created. If the revolution proved anything, it was that the indiscriminate issue of guns to volunteer forces and the permission to anyone to register a revolver was not an unmixed blessing. The idea that a revolver or rifle was an indispensable part of the furniture of a house, which largely prevailed in Benoni up to the time of the Revolution, has now passed away, and instead of firearms we have radio sets and refrigerators.
The revolution marked the turning point in Benoni's history. The lawless element drifted away to other parts, and although the business of the area suffered severely for the next three years, Benoni's progress was commenced.
The immediate result of the strike, so far as Benoni was concerned, was that the mines suffered losses, direct and indirect, amounting to a million pounds, and the loss to the men in the area in wages and subsequent loss in economies in working, reached hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Books linked to this entry
| Macmillan, Allister. 1933. Environs of the Golden City and Pretoria. Cape Town: Cape Times pp 118-123 |