West Bank Location
1880 - 1890

In September 1880, inspired by the success of removing the Seaside Location and the creation of the Wesleyan Location and Newsam's Town on what was believed to be "a more rational basis", the Town Council decided to move the Black community of the West Bank Location as well.

The location had been on its existing site for 23 years under minimal supervision and reports claimed that it was in an appalling condition, approximating to a squatter camp. In December 1879 the District Surgeon had described it as in a "very filthy condition", with many huts "mere bundles of old rags" and the inhabitants "drunken whores of the lowest cast [sic]".

Prostitution was rife, the District Surgeon reported, and venereal disease was common. He recommended therefore that all the huts be constructed of "proper material" and the lots be properly marked out in squares of 35 feet. He believed furthermore that the occupiers of the huts should then be held responsible for the cleanliness of their houses and the surrounding ground.

The Municipal Council decided to ascertain conditions for itself and commissioned Councillors Frederick Brill and James Hawkins to conduct an independent inspection of the location. The commissioners reported that the place was in "a nearly hopeless state of confusion" both as regards the huts and the inhabitants.

The huts, they said, were built in any fashion while the inhabitants were a complete mixture of amaXhosa, "Hottentots", Fingo (Mfengu), "American Negroes" and, they were "sorry to say", White men. Several of the residents had built extensions without paying hut-tax. The Christian part of the location, furthermore, was very little better than the heathen section. In short, they recommended that the location be destroyed and then laid out properly as had been done on the East Bank.

The question of Whites in the location appalled several of the commissioners. Brill explained that they were living with "coloured women" in huts belonging to the women which, he said, made the case difficult, probably because the women were entitled to the huts. The Whites, on the other hand, although having no claim to dwellings in the location, were not forbidden to visit and so could not be prevented from living there.

As a result of the diverse conditions, therefore, it was decided to move the entire village to a new site. The resolution, however, was not carried out for some years and, in the meantime, the Council turned its attention to bringing about a greater organisation of the locations generally.

In December 1883 the Town Council started a new wave of resettlement. The first to be moved was the Wesleyan Location on the East Bank, but the West Bank Location was next. In November 1884 the Town Council's location sub-committee recommended a new site and a month's notice was given to the inhabitants to move.

The decision was most inopportune because East London was then at the trough of the "Great Depression", an extremely severe economic recession that gripped South Africa between 1883 and 1886. The port was also in the grip of a crippling drought. Furthermore, it proved confusing to the Black population as the new site was mid-way between St Peter's Church and the pontoon which, they hastened to point out, was close to the position of the original Xhosa village of 1847. Since it was close to the town, they would by implication be in danger of a further relocation in the not-too-distant future.

The Council refused to consider their pleas but, because of the hard times which placed many of the location residents in a "very impoverished condition", it did not force the removal but refused permission for any new huts to be built on the old site. The whole question then fell virtually into abeyance for the next four years until

See also: West Bank Location The township community

1890 when the entire system was once again reconsidered and pressure was put on the West Bank Africans to move to their new location.

Dr Keith Tankard