Malay Camp, Kimberley

The Malay Camp in Kimberley, South Africa, was a cosmopolitan suburb which was subject to forced removals prior to the Group Areas Act.

History

Malay Camp had a history similar to Cape Town's District Six, Johannesburg's Sophiatown and Port Elizabeth's South End. It was a cosmopolitan suburb originating in the early days of Kimberley's existence but subject to forced slum clearance after the owner of the land (De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd) donated the area to the Kimberley Municipality in 1939. Most of the houses, churches, mosques, shops and other buildings were demolished, making way for Kimberley's Civic Centre. This occurred from the 1940s, prior to the better known Apartheid forced removals[1] consequent on the Group Areas Act, making Kimberley's Malay Camp clearance unique.[2]

Prominent residents

Solomon T. Plaatje, noted author, journalist and first General Secretary of the African Native National Congress, was a resident of Malay Camp. His later dwelling at 32 Angel Street is preserved as the Sol Plaatje Museum.

Malay Camp History Projects

• Moosa Aysen's booklets on Islam on the Diamond Fields.
• Historical Society of Kimberley and the Northern Cape, 1998 - to collect social and living history.
• McGregor Museum Malay Camp Exhibition, 2002[a]
• Louis Mallett Malay Camp Social History Project, 2003[3][4]
• Liz Crossley Project The Past is not Dead, 2004[b]
• Permanent display at the McGregor Museum, 2006, [c]

References

Explanatory notes

1. Display on Malay Camp and other forgotten suburbs of Kimberley based on Historical Society research, a thesis by E.J. Africa and other sources.
2. Liz Crossley, a Kimberley-born artist based in Berlin who interacted with and injected ideas into or support for nearly all the above projects. Her father lived on the fringe of Malay Camp. She was instrumental in securing Rosa Luxemburg Foundation funding for the publication of Mallett's eventual book.
3. Display opened by Premier Dipuo Peters - funding provided by the Northern Cape Department of Tourism, owing to the efforts of Louis Mallett

Citations

1. Jacobson & Hart 2007, p. 6.
2. Allen 2006.
3. Mallett 2006.
4. Mallett 2007.

Sources

• Allen, Vida (2006). Malay Camp: A Forgotten Suburb (PDF). Kimberley: McGregor Museum. ISBN 978-0-620-36270-2.
• Jacobson, L.; Hart, Robert (2007). Chapters from the past: 100 years of the McGregor Museum, 1907-2007. Kimberley: McGregor Museum. ISBN 978-0-620-39434-5.
• Mallett, Louis (2006). The history of the people of Malay Camp, Kimberley: a light-hearted look at the living of folks of all nationalities, colours, cultures, customs, beliefs and religions. The Sol Plaatje Educational Trust. ISBN 978-0-9584983-7-1.
• Mallett, Louis (2007). The Malay Camp, Kimberley: forceful removal imposed by the apartheid regime : a light-hearted look at the living of folks of all nationalities, colours, cultures, customs, beliefs and religions. Sol Plaatje Educational Trust. ISBN 978-0-9584983-8-8.
• Roberts, Brian (1976). Kimberley: Turbulent City. D. Philip. ISBN 978-0-949968-62-3.

External links

• Liz Crossley: The Past is not Dead Project

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