that
you had already thought of doing something tangible in the matter, and
circumstances conspired to bring us together so that we could lay down
the foundation for the removal of the Morolca shanty town slums and the
worst of the Pimville area.
In
this letter I must pay tribute to your whole humanitarian approach to
the problem of living and, although I have said it in public before, I
believe that this was the motive which inspired you to go to your
mining finance colleagues and ask them to undertake the task with you.
There
is no doubt that your magnificent gesture and that of your mining
colleagues will be of the greatest benefit, not only to the 80,000
Africans, but to the whole of South Africa.
By
March 1958, nearly 10,000 houses had been built out of the 15,000 which
it was intended that the scheme should finance. Out of the bricks of
the demolished shanty town a memorial tower was erected mid-way between
the new African townships of Zondi and Jabulani to commemorate the part
which Ernest Oppenheimer had played.
In
one other important respect Ernest Oppenheimer's aspirations were not
defeated: that was in the sphere of the improvement of the health of
the Native employees. No more magnificent memorial to his memory can be
imagined than the great hospital at Welkom, the foundation stone of
which he laid on 18 December 1950, and which bears his name. Speaking
to the Anglo American Corporation shareholders on 22 June 1951, he
discussed the problem of the health of Native mine workers in its
broadest aspects:
Both
from the humanitarian viewpoint and from the standpoint of the
practical interests of the industry, it is important that the closest
attention be given to the health and well-being of our Native
employees. The industry already has a well-deserved reputation for the
care it devotes to the health of Native mine workers. It is well
established that Natives return to their kraals generally in far better
physical condition after their periods of service with the mining
industry. But I believe there is still great scope for the development
of health services among our Native employees. Especially is this the
case in the sphere of what is called preventive medicine. There is also
real need for a more active and positive attack upon the prevalent and
frequently disabling diseases among the Natives offering themselves
for employment in the industry. An advance in this direction is being
made on the new mines of the group in the Orange Free State. We have
introduced a system of mass miniature radiography as standard practice
for all Native employees on our mines; we have set up clinics at the
mine hostels for the day-to-day treatment of diseases which, owing to
earlier neglect, have hitherto frequently developed so as to require
hospitalization and conse-
