Portion 80 of the Eikenhof Farm

The farm Olifantsvlei (old number 86) was first inspected in 1852 by P. Lindeque. A decade later, in 1862; the farm was transferred to J. Henneke. On the same day (3 July 1862), the farm was transferred from J.Henneke to Frederik Gerhardus Wolmarans. On July 4 1862, the farm changed hands once more. The new recipient of the farm was Petrus Jacobus Bosman. From this point forward the property started to be subdivided into smaller promotions owed by different people. m

Mining activities on Farm Olifantsvlei/Eikenhof dates back to 1878 when a man named Armfield visited the farm in search of gold. These activities continued until the Kliprivier Mining Company was liquidated in 1899. Evidence of this can be seen on Witwatersrand Mines Map Commissioned by the Transvaal Chambers of Mines report compiled in 1902. On this map, no mining activities are plotted on farm Olifantsvlei after 1899. Other evidence suggests that Mining activities commenced on the site again between 1909 and 1913 spreading onto Eikenhof farm.

Very little archival or historical references could be found with regard to Schools and Churches within and surrounding the area. The oldest available record of relevance is a site inspection report written on 5 September 1939. It alludes to the existence of two “coloured” Roman Catholic schools in the area, one on the northern side of Olifantsvlei and the other school on the adjacent of the property. The latter school could be Ebenezer Congregational Church School also referred to by the School Supervisor Mr Seth M. Mphahlele as the Eikenhof Farm School. In his report, he describe the classroom as an old church which has been repaired by being given a new thatched roof and white sand washed inside:
. “The walls are not high enough. Attached to the classroom is a small room
wherein the grass cut for teaching children to weave, and cut up papers for making articles such as plates and cups are kept”.

The school seems to have been formally registered by April 21, 1946 as “Native School”.

The dwelling near the school was built to accommodate the Teacher, Mrs Silwane from 1938 to 1945. In 1945, criminals attacked her, and as a result she moved half a mile away and settled on a neighbouring farm near other “Native Huts”. Archival documents indicate that the name of the school was All Saints’ school, Jackson’s Drift.

A study conducted by Archaeology Africa CC (Pp 16-17: 20076) reveals that in the early 1920s, the area was occupied mainly by the “coloured” and white (European) communities, with the latter residents estimated to be three times to that of whites. The combined population for the farms Oliphantsvlei and Rietfontein was 87% Whites (Europeans and 91 % “coloured” Families. There was a large contingent of Sotho-speaking people residing in this area at the time. Following population growth of these non-white communities, many European farmers started to complain about overcrowding and crime. One of them was Mrs Pattison who, in her letter written in 1948 to Major Van der Bijl, mentioned that as the owner of Eikenhof farm, she is concerned about overcrowding and the presence of “Natives” and therefore requests evictions. In her letter dated 30 October 1948, she thanked the then Minister of Native affairs for removing the “hordes of Natives “ from her farm. In the same letter, she also asks for a special permission for four residents on her property to remain there. Between 1948 to and 1949, “Natives study” indicates that there were 600 -700 natives, coloureds, and Hottentots families on the Farm Eikenhof adjoining the Municipal area of Johannesburg”. It is further stated that “Some farms had a large Coloured and Hottentot families on their farms and the Native Laws are not applicable to them”.

A social consultation process conducted with the community in the area by Archaeology CC reveals that a huge contingent of Khoisan people established themselves in the area from around 1885 to early 1962 when they were forcibly removed to Eldorado Park. Another key aspect highlighted by the social consultation process, was the date on which the Ebenezer Congregational Church was built. Although cartographical evidence does not show any buildings or churches in the vicinity before 1913, all of the recorded histories point to the fact that construction of the church started in 1903 and was finished in 1912.

One of the interviewees, Mrs Elizabeth van wyk (nee Mathyssen), was born in 1922, and has memories of seeing the church when she was growing up. The removal of the community from this area is another key aspect of the recorded oral histories. While some of the elders indicate that these removals took place as early as the 1940s’ most of them concur that it took place between 1961-1962. Many of the residents settled in the area know as Eldorado Park.