Fordsburg Square in

Fordsburg Fordsburg is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Fordsburg is a residential suburb, although housing numerous shops and factories. Today, Fordsburg is a major ce ...

is a thriving square that is the site of a

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

was recently known for being run-down. This square in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

is the location of a battle between striking miners and the South African police, army and air force.

Description

Fordsburg Square is the site of a

that was known for being run-down.

History

The

Rand Rebellion The Rand Rebellion (; also known as the 1922 strike) was an armed uprising of white miners in the Witwatersrand region of South Africa, in March 1922. Following a drop in the world price of gold from 130 shillings (£6 10s) per fine ...

against the powers of law and order ended here on the 14 March 1922. The uprising came out of a strike of black gold miners that started on `1 January 1922 in response to five shilling wage cut per shift. The White workers joined them ten days later because the owners of the mine had decided to cut costs by employing (cheaper) more black miners instead of the existing white workers. The workers did not just withdraw their labour but the a portion of the 20,000 white workers and the 180,000 black miners took over areas of Johannesburg and they were in control of

Benoni Benoni may refer to: Places * Benoni, Gauteng, a town in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, in the East Rand region of Gauteng province in South Africa * Benoni, a barangay in Mahinog, Camiguin, Philippines People * Benoni (given name), a ...

Brakpan Brakpan is a mining town on the East Rand of Gauteng, South Africa, approximately 38 kilometres (23.6 mi) east of Johannesburg. History The name Brakpan comes from a small pan on a farm called Weltevreden, which was filled with very brackish water ...

suburbs of

and Jeppe. The strike had become an open rebellion and on the 15 March the army was called to bombard the Fordsburg square which was deemed the stronghold of the rebels. By this time the rebels had dug substantial

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

trenches across the square. Even the

South African Air Force The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the air warfare branch of South African National Defence Force, with its headquarters in Pretoria. The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920. The Air Force saw service in World War II a ...

was called to bomb this square but they hit the nearby Mint Road

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...

Today

One of the buildings that offered protection to the rebels was the municipal toilets and these are still standing and in use. In 2013 a Blue Plaque was added to the side of that building to commemorate the role that the square took in the

History of South Africa The first modern humans are believed to have inhabited South Africa more than 100,000 years ago. South Africa's first known inhabitants have been collectively referred to as the Khoisan, the Khoekhoe and the San people, San. Starting in about ...

References

{{Greater Johannesburg, city Geography of Johannesburg Squares in South Africa