Flashback — Once upon a nugget
Archives reveal that Roodepoort used to be a golden nugget.
Fellow young Roodepoorters might not know that the ‘suburb of Johannesburg’ they’re living in once was a city in its own right, with its own mayor.
In the Record of 6 April 1984 the newly elected mayor of Roodepoort, Councillor Wessel de Villiers, was excited to speak about the Roodepoort Dynamic, the theme of his year in office.
“I have seen this city grow from dirt roads to tarred streets,” he proudly said, recollecting during his inauguration banquet his years of growing up in the community. He communicated his absolute excitement to serve such a dynamic community. De Villiers was reported to have been the first born-and-bred Roodepoort resident to become mayor. So proud of his city, one cannot help but wonder if he would have been disappointed in it now being a mere “suburb”.
Cliff Buchler reported on a Florida Park resident’s nerve-wracking visit to and passing through the (then still standing) Berlin Wall in Germany. Previous Councillor of Roodepoort, Ernest Newnham, shared with Buchler how anxious he had been as he approached the tightly controlled Wall where sombre-faced uniformed officials surrounded his tour bus. His South African passport served as courageous proof of his venture, and Newnham had said that residents must try it. Of course, nowadays, what’s left of the once intimidating Berlin Wall is displayed in museums bordering its previous setting.
In 1984 Roodepoort seemed to be a thriving city, its residents being thrilled by their heritage and its history. The Roodepoort Theatre introduced the educational production, Once upon a nugget, that told the story of the search of and discovery of gold in Kimberley and specifically in Johannesburg. This bilingual production was aimed at Roodepoort’s youth, having been complementary to the school syllabus at the time, and the article invited school parties to attend the event as it ran from 26 to 30 March 1984. The Roodepoort Museum’s Gold Mining Display tied in nicely with the production, and is still there for residents to explore.
