Beyers Naudé Square is the large, busy square in the centre of the city where one might see businessmen passing in a hurry or school children jumping on the monuments that stand guard. Many of us see it every day, but does anyone know what the square represents?
The square was named after a former minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. He was banned by the apartheid government for campaigning against the laws that governed the apartheid regime.
The square was the first market place in the city and was therefore named Market Square. In 1913, the famous market was moved to Newtown – where Museum Africa stands now – and various buildings began to take shape where the market was held.
City Hall was opened in 1915 – standing across the road from where the square currently is – and the city library was built in 1935. The establishments that developed after the market was relocated took up large chunks of the space, thus reducing the space to the modest square that it is today.
In 2001, the Square was renamed in honour of the passionate anti-apartheid activist, Naudé. The square was previously filled with large concrete and face-brick structures, but since the renovation of the square in 2011, there are two towers with concrete bases and tall, glass top pieces carrying an image of Beyers Naudé at the pulpit. The towers are positioned at the corners of Market Street and President Street, and President Street and Simmonds Street. The images are lit from within, with one facing outwards to the street and the other inwards towards the Square.
In addition to the glass frames that stand in the square in honour of Naudé, there is a monument that stands in the middle of the square that was erected in honour of the men who lost their lives in the Great War.
The square sees masses of traffic pass around it each day and numerous pedestrians who walk through it.
