Driefontein
In 1912 Pixley ka Isaka Seme, a founder member and the first Treasurer of the South African Native National Congress (later to become the African National Congress), founded the Native Farmers’ Association of Africa Limited. He was President of the ANC from 1930 to 1937 and is commemorated in the name of the Pixley ka Seme Municipality which includes the towns of Wakkerstroom, Volksrust, Daggakraal, Amersfoort and Perdekop.
He purchased land on behalf of the Association at Daggakraal, KwaNgema and Driefontein. At the time these properties were home to some 5 000 Swazi-, Zulu- and Sotho-speaking inhabitants. It is probably fair to say that these purchases gave great impetus to the enactment of the Native Land Act of 1913. This Act forbade the purchase of land by Blacks in South Africa.
The total population of these townships grew to between 30 and 50 000 in the 1960s. In spite of having the largest concentration of people in the area Driefontein did not appear on any road maps of the south-eastern Transvaal. It still did not exist as late as 1995 according to the New Southern African Book of the Road published by AA of South Africa. Daggakraal was shown as a farm siding on the railway line between Wakkerstroom and Amersfoort. KwaNgema was still insultingly shown as being on the farm Kaffir Lokatie (Kaffir Location) 024 HT on the 1994 update of the 3rd edition of the 1:250000 topocadastral map VRYHEID 2730.
These townships became a great thorn in the side of the apartheid government. In 1965 it was decided to remove this black spot, and to relocate the people to their respective Homelands according to their home languages. A dam was to be built covering part of their land at Driefontein and KwaNgema.
In 1981 the pressure brought to bear on these townships was increased dramatically. At this point Saul Mkhize, a well-respected community leader in Driefontein, was elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the three communities. The authorities chose not to recognise the board.
Relations between the community and the authorities deteriorated during 1982 and 1983, as a series of petty incidents showed. Eventually, on 2nd April 1983 Mkhize called a meeting at the Cabanangi School, supposedly to discuss the move. Two policeman arrived beforehand to ban the meeting. There were altercations and the judge who later heard the case, accepted police evidence that stones had been thrown. Mkhize was shot and killed by a policeman. Constable Nienaber was subsequently charged with murder and acquitted.
The construction of Heyshope Dam, which was to flood much of Driefontein and KwaNgema was begun in late 1983-early 1984. The residents were eventually granted permission to remain on their land in 1985. The dam was nevertheless completed in 1986. Water from the dam was pumped up over the escarpment into the Vaal Catchment to provide water to the Eskom Power Stations in the Vaal Catchment. Power lines from the nearby Majuba Power Station ran through the centre of Daggakraal. The residents of Driefontein, KwaNgema and Daggakraal had to make do with water from simple and often unreliable wells and small, polluted streams. They received no water at all from Heyshope Dam. They also did not have access to Eskom electricity.