Читать книгу Sir David de Villiers Graaff - Ebbe Dommisse - Страница 10

In Van Riebeeck’s chair

Shortly before the end of 1889 Graaff served in a delegation that persuaded Marie Koopmans-De Wet to attend a dinner in honour of President F.W. Reitz of the Orange Free State. After the death of her husband Mrs Koopmans-De Wet, an influential lady in Cape social life, would not be seen at any kind of public occasion. However, Graaff, his good friend David C. de Waal, then mayor of Cape Town, and Justice J.G. Kotzé convinced the respected widow to accept the invitation to the reception in Cape Town.1

Shortly afterwards Graaff succeeded De Waal as mayor. A mere 31 years old, he was already one of the most prosperous businessmen when he was elected to that office on 14 August 1890. He was proposed by former mayor, John Woodhead and seconded by another ex-mayor, Charles Lewis. In a ballot Graaff received 11 votes to the five of the only other nominee, Johan Mocke.2

Half a century after Cape Town had received municipal status and Michiel van Breda had for the first time been appointed as its first citizen3 (1840–1844), Graaff now had the legendary chair known as Jan van Riebeeck’s chair in popular history writing.4 He was the 12th person in that position since the title of chairman of the municipality was changed to mayor in 1867, when Gillis J. de Korte officially became the first mayor.5 In the heavy leather-bound minute book the new mayor signed, for the first time, the minutes of the previous meeting in the then city hall, the Burgher Watch House adjacent to Greenmarket Square, with his flamboyant signature: D. P. Graaff, Mayor.6

He was quite serious about his official duties, even keeping scrapbooks in which a variety of newspaper articles and notices about municipal matters were pasted.7 A deep-seated sense of civic pride, certainly strengthened by his travels abroad, was evidently a major motivation for the innovations which he introduced in the Mother City. Graaff not only wanted to transform Cape Town into a clean, tidy city, but to develop it into the top city in the country with a series of modernising measures. His vision was a destination at the southern tip of Africa, of which every resident of Cape Town could be as proud as he was.

Soon he took a series of steps to elevate the status of mayor. A mayor’s parlour was furnished in the Burgher Watch House where official matters were dealt with. Pictures of previous and serving mayors were hung there.8

Graaff donated to the city council the insignia of office of the first citizen – the mayoral robe, hat and rod. A letter in which he elaborated on his motives was read out at a mayoral luncheon on 22 May 1891, attended, among others, by the governor, lieutenant-general, premier and ministers of the Cape Colony. This letter reads as follows:

“It has been my desire on leaving office to present the City for the use of the Mayor at all public functions the necessary official robe, hat, and rod, as worn by the first citizens of the principal towns in other countries, and as my term will shortly expire I think the present a fitting time for making the presentation. I have therefore promised and now offer to the Town Council of Cape Town, the Mayoral Robe, in royal silk velvet and ermine fur; also a Mayoral Hat and Rod of office. My sole motive in making the presentation is that the Chief Magistrate of the Metropolis of South Africa may in this respect be invested with the dignity of office which belongs to him, and to remove the long standing reproach that, while the mayors of smaller towns in the Cape Colony appear at public functions in official robes the Mayor of Cape Town is unable to do so. I trust the Council will be pleased to receive the gift on behalf of the City and that by its use the prestige and dignity of the City and the Mayor may be maintained and strengthened.”9

The insignia of office were handed to Graaff afterwards, who thus became the first mayor of the city to wear the mayoral robe he had donated himself. The governor (subsequently lord), Henry Brougham Loch, declared that Cape Town had an old and honourable reputation which was safe in the hands of the incumbent mayor and his municipality.10 A month later the city council also placed an order for the mayoral chain which is worn by Cape mayors at official occasions to this day.11

Graaff was praised in the media for his dynamic role. The Lantern expressed the hope that he would be re-elected mayor. According to the publication, he was on his way to become the Whittington of Cape Town – a reference to Sir Richard Whittington (1354–1423), the medieval trader and politician who, as mayor of London, carried through large public projects in the British capital. “In demeanour, courtesy, self-repression and dignity, and in the almost parental fondness with which he regards the new city he has for so long seen growing up by and with him, [he]… is eminently the right man in the right place as Mayor of Capetown,” it said.12

Graaff’s pride as a citizen was closely linked to the British civilian culture that was predominant in Cape Town, but even stronger in Natal, during that time. The community of British settlers regarded themselves as essentially British at that stage: part of and loyal to the British Empire. Symbols and rituals reflected this – the flag, public monuments and buildings and public celebrations and ceremonies, as well as the inauguration of officials, the reception of dignitaries, welcoming of royals and opening ceremonies.13

At the end of his first term Graaff delivered his first mayor’s minute at the council meeting of Thursday, 6 August 1891 – the day his patron, oud-oom Combrinck, died. At 62 years of age Combrinck succumbed to cancer after he had been ill for a few weeks.

Graaff’s report was a long and detailed account of what had been achieved in the municipal domain in the preceding year, as well as what had happened years ago and what would happen in the years ahead. It was regarded as one of the most comprehensive and informative mayor’s minutes ever issued in Cape Town.14 The same afternoon the report appeared over five newspaper columns in the Cape Argus – and next to it was a story about Combrinck’s death.15

Graaff described his term thus far as “steadily progressive”, but remarked that “[t]here is a great deal to do and much to undo to bring the city in harmony with its magnificent surroundings”.

The report almost read like a historical novel, since he painted a picture of the city as the beautiful queen who was held captive by the evil forces of decline and was freed by the loyal knights of progress – the mayors and councillors. Graaff referred to the year 1667, when the first municipal authority, the Burgher Council, was established under the rule of the DEIC. That was followed by the Civic Senate of 1796 when the Cape was a British Crown colony. In the Batavian era (1803–1806) field cornets were responsible for the different wards. In 1828 the municipality was taken over by the British colonial government, which, however, returned the management of municipal affairs to the local authorities in 1840 (when Michiel van Breda became the first citizen of the city). The Municipal Act of 1861, which divided the city into 12 districts and 48 wards, was amended in 1867 when a mayor was officially elected for the first time. Graaff gave the complete list of mayors since De Korte had officially become the first mayor in 1867.

Graaff declared that his term of office was resting on two cornerstones: a “magnificent drainage system” and “the provision of funds”. He took pride in the fact that the foundations for the drainage system, which ensured a healthy city, had been laid during his term at the helm. It replaced the old and foul-smelling sewerage system. Secondly, he referred to financial matters, an issue that would earn him great praise, especially because he had completely overhauled the city’s loans programme. It was his doing that the city council acquired the right to levy taxes on government property.16 That became possible after the introduction of the Crown Property Rating Bill in the Cape Parliament by the premier, Cecil John Rhodes. Rhodes pointed out that an eighth of the property in Cape Town was state property on which no municipal taxes were paid. That was unfair to the capital of the colony, which had to make sure that the buildings were safe and in good sanitary condition.17

With the approval of the legislation a new source of income from previously untaxed property was ensured. Therefore, in the Graaff era Cape Town acquired the necessary capital to take on considerable expansions and improvements within the municipal borders. For an effective drainage system, for example, a loan of £162 000 was negotiated.

In his report Graaff gave detailed comments about a variety of municipal and related matters, ranging from the mayoral parlour, the insignia of office and mayoral chain to a sea-wall promenade, the railway to Sea Point and the tramlines. He believed the fish market was unhygienic and had to be demolished. Furthermore, he recommended that an epidemic hospital be built on Rentzki Farm because the existing one was not suitable. He also proposed a shelter for stray dogs and that the removal of night soil should be organised better.18

Among the most important events of the preceding year, he mentioned the planned new theatre on the Grand Parade, the purchase of the stand of the Commercial Exchange for the construction of the new post office and the planning of a new fire station.

Other activities included the removal of offensive notice boards. Roads had been paved and new ones built. There was considerable room for improvement in the design of buildings; verandas had been removed and balconies broken down. Electric street lights, like those introduced a few years previously in Kimberley, required urgent attention, he declared. The same applied to a new city hall, since the Burgher Watch House had been build in 1775 and the building was no longer adequate for the needs of the city.

The Company Gardens were transferred to the municipality by government, a step he welcomed enthusiastically. He also referred to the voters’ roll and the census, important visitors from abroad and the London agents of the city council. In conclusion, he thanked the councillors and officials, as well as the press. According to an observer, Graaff’s report “vibrate[d] with energy and activity”.19

Various councillors praised Graaff after this report for what he had achieved in his year of service. The oldest councillor, G.A. Ashley, deemed it his duty to add his congratulations to those of the earlier speakers. He declared that Graaff, in his opinion, had achieved more in his year of service than all his successors together.20

Graaff thanked the speakers and declared to applause:

“He had always understood that public service men in Cape Town got more kicks than halfpence for public service, but he must say that he was very glad to admit that his experience had been quite the contrary. Not only had he been thanked and supported by the Councillors in Council, but even the outside public had been eager to acknowledge any little good that had been done to promote the interests and the welfare of the city and its inhabitants. His experience had been a most pleasing one… He only desired to see Cape Town made the queen of South African cities, a metropolis worthy of the country. His heart was full, and all he could do was to thank them earnestly and sincerely.”21

Combrinck’s funeral was held the following Saturday, 8 August 1891. According to an extensive report in the Cape Times a large number of mourners, including various Cape dignitaries, came to pay their last respects – a strong indication of the esteem in which Combrinck was held in the Cape community.

After a short service in Woodstock House the funeral procession departed for the Groote Kerk in Cape Town, where Combrinck had been an elder. David Graaff was in the first coach behind the hearse with his sister, Hannie, his younger brother, Kobie, and his wife, Susan Elsabie Maria (née Theunissen, whom Kobie had married in 1889). More relatives followed in the next three coaches. The fifth, the private coach of the deceased with its own driver and his favourite horses, contained a large number of wreaths of flowers. That was followed by a long procession of about fifty coaches, horse-drawn carts and other vehicles.

In Cape Town the coffin was carried into the church by the Cape premier, Cecil John Rhodes, Sir John Henry de Villiers (the subsequent chief justice of the Union), J.W. Sauer, Onze Jan Hofmeyr, Sir Gordon Sprigg, Colonel F. Schermbrucker, M.L. Neethling and D.C. de Waal. The minister, Reverend A.I. Steytler, who delivered the memorial service in Dutch, declared that Combrinck had always been prepared to help with any plan that could improve the welfare of Cape Town. Though he had never married, the deceased had always loved children, and had adopted a number of children of deceased relatives into his house and educated them. Earlier he had referred to his home as an orphanage. As a politician – he was an energetic member of the Afrikaner Bond – he had not been known for his eloquence, but his common sense had been appreciated by all who had known him.

After the service the funeral procession moved to the Cape Town station, where a special train took the mourners to the Maitland Cemetery. There the pall-bearers lowered the coffin of Cape teak into the grave, which Combrinck had picked himself. Rhodes placed two bunches of white and blue violets on the coffin. After the grave had been filled up, wreaths were laid on top, including one from relatives David and Johanna Graaff, a second from John and Rosetta Graaff, and a third from Jacobus and Susan Graaff.22

The arrangements for the funeral were made by Hannie, as determined in Combrinck’s will, signed at Woodstock on 28 July 1891. He left her all his furniture, crockery, silver and jewellery, draught horses and harnesses.

Apart from his bequest to Hannie, Combrinck bequeathed an amount of £500 to each of his nephews D.P. de V. (David) and J.A.C. (Kobie) Graaff. Various properties in Cape Town and Woodstock went to his nephew Jacobus Arnoldus Rynhoud and his niece Hannie. She could also take over Woodstock House for the sum of £2 000. The remainder of the estate was divided into equal parts between her and Rynhoud. They were also appointed executors of the estate.23

Hannie married Pieter Maritz Botha in Woodstock House a few years later. The bride was given away by her brothers David and Jan and about 400 guests attended the reception in Woodstock House.24 Maritz Botha, a grandson of the Voortrekker leader Gerrit Maritz, was known as a big-game hunter. After the Thirstland Trek and the founding of Upingtonia he had a fall-out with his leader, and married Hannie. After their wedding she went to live in Villiersdorp, where he only visited her intermittently. In the Dutch Reformed manse in town there was a portrait of Hannie wearing a locket in which she always kept a photograph of Botha.25

Despite Graaff’s earlier indication that he would retire after his year-long term as mayor, he was renominated for the position on 13 August 1891. There was one other nominee, Johan Mocke, who declined the nomination after councillor Thomas O’Reilly had pointed out that the work being done required continuity and that it was the general desire of the taxpayers that Graaff should continue. Mocke, who would succeed Graaff as mayor a year later, agreed that it would be a pity to stop the good work which Graaff had begun.26 Therefore, Graaff was re-elected unanimously and with acclamation.

At that meeting the mayor and city council received an invitation from the Anglican Church to attend the service in St George’s Cathedral the following Sunday morning. At the proposal of councillors Stigant and Wessels, the invitation was gratefully accepted. They added that, if the DR Church invited them, they would like to attend the evening service (evidently in the Groote Kerk). Their proposal was accepted unanimously27 – an indication of an improved relationship between Afrikaans- and English-speaking people in Cape Town, after the First Boer War in Transvaal had brought some estrangement. Mayoral Sunday would remain an institution in Cape Town for a long time.

During this period Graaff also became commander of the Cape Garrison Artillery Regiment, which he had joined as volunteer. He became honorary colonel of the regiment, where his son De Villiers would later succeed him in the same capacity.28

At this point the fulfilment of Graaff’s most important contributions to the city, especially the supply of electricity and more effective management of finances, was still a thing of the future.

At the same time a strong movement developed advocating that he should stand for parliament. One request came from 94 Malays, all of them taxpayers from the city centre and the Bo-Kaap – thus another indication of his esteem among all sectors of the multiracial Cape community. Their petition, signed by all of them, read:

“… a widespread desire has been expressed that no time should be lost in requesting you, even in these early hours of your grief, to allow yourself to be nominated for the vacant seat. Your eminent business tact, the unprecedented record of your first year as Mayor, the ability you have displayed in conducting the affairs of the Metropolis, the influence you carry in high quarters, which will be used for the good of the people, and the thorough knowledge you possess of the Country and its people, all point to you as the man most fitted to carry on the good work of your late Uncle and further the interests of South Africa.”29

The support for Graaff from the Malay community of the Cape was quite significant, as Malays had revolted against the municipal authorities during the smallpox epidemic of 1882.30 The epidemic was so bad that cemeteries within the municipal boundaries were closed. Muslims protested against that, and a Malay resistance movement was led by Abdol Burns, also known as the “Mahdi of Cape Town”.31

Due to his success as mayor Graaff evidently received so much support that he would not find it difficult to be elected to the Cape Parliament. His intention to stand for Parliament was welcomed by the Lantern, which regarded his election as a formality: “… the Cape District could get no better and more enlightened representative within the solemn chamber of the Legislative Council…”32

A few months later, however, the Lantern had a bone to pick with Graaff:

“What is a man without his clothes, or a Mayor without his robes? Thomas Carlyle has declared that a man and a flunkey should always be correctly and distinctly apparelled, and why should not Mayor Graaff of Capetown? True, Mayor Graaff sports the ermine he has no more right to than Jones’s coachman has to the cockade and royal scarlet, but, then, he pays his money and takes his choice. Yes, we have a crow to pluck with the Mayor, and this is how we do it. It was we who went and got him photographed in his brand new official robes, to be resplendently and eternally advertised in these everlasting pages, and then he meanly goes behind our backs and gives our idea (and his photo) to that miserable Argus he is an unfortunate and helpless shareholder in. Mayor Graaff must therefore go to the wall this issue, for, after that, we will neither advertise him, nor his moustachios, nor his beef, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his.”33

Despite this light castigation from a publication that was intensively involved with municipal matters, the public insistence that he should become a Member of Parliament remained strong.