Neil Fraser
December 2, 2002
Another great example of the stirrings of 'urban revitalisation through education' and this time in one of the forgotten inner city suburbs, Jeppestown!
A 1997 drive to clean up the neighbourhood gave birth to a unique initiative. The drive brought together 4 000 children from 8 schools plus local police, traffic and fire departments.
I have always been sceptical of any real value of such actions because they are generally not sustainable. But a unique dynamic to halt urban decay and turn the neighbourhood around emerged from this one, Jeppe Phakamisu Ubuntu - "JPU" - 'Upliftment and Fellowship in the Community'.
In 1998, a Saturday afternoon enrichment programme for the children in the area was initiated by the School of Practical Philosophy, and it is still offered every Saturday and going from strength to strength. It offers art, music, physical activities, stories, environmental awareness, singing and good company to local children.
Then, in 1999, a day school, St James Preparatory School (which will provide High School classes by 2004) was established by the School of Practical Philosophy which itself uses the school buildings in the evenings for a wide variety of teaching and activities.
From all of this, a broader, emerging ethos through the children themselves of reclaiming the area for the community, by the community.
Jeppestown was founded by CEG Julius Jeppe, who had moved from Pretoria to Johannesburg in 1886. The Ford and Jeppe Estate Company was established by Julius Jeppe Snr together with his son, Sir Julius Jeppe, and their partner LP Ford. An 1894 description of the suburb says it comprised "421 buildings, two churches, a masonic temple, St Mary's Collegiate for Girls and a library", adding that "there were even rumours of electric light for each house".
By 1896 there were 5 647 people living in Jeppestown which, in 1897 was described as "the most ambitious and the best area" among the "neat little suburbs on the outskirts of the town proper."
I'm not sure how accurate that description is as the area was acknowledged as a 'mixed area in terms of social class, Jeppe essentially forming part of the mining perimeter of old-established white working-class districts.' Clive M Chipkin (Johannesburg Style) quotes an 1897 description of the inner city suburbs of those times as "rural Booysens in the south, grimy Fordsburg in the west, patrician Doornfontein on the north-east and domesticated Jeppe 'for the man of limited purse' in the south-east.
In 1890 St Michael's School for Boys was opened and was the forerunner of the well-known Jeppe High School for Boys. St Mary's School for Girls was subsequently established and charged 12s6d a month for high school classes, 7s6d, for middle and 5s6d for lower.
The Julius Jeppe Oval existed initially as an open piece of land formalised into a park in about 1890 and still boasts the first commemorative monument erected in Johannesburg to the memory of Julius Jeppe. In 1938 Bertha Solomon, MP for Jeppe, started a soup kitchen for the poor which she operated for 20 years and which developed into the current Recreation centre that bears her name.
The east-end of the suburb became known as 'Belgravia' where there existed a number of "desirable residences in a locality where social advantages are to be obtained". It was in fact in Belgravia that Julius Jeppe built his mansion, later used as Lord Kitchener's headquarters and later as a boys hostel serving Jeppe High School. It has sadly now disappeared!
The Jeppe House was however described as "the ducal palace". The transition between Jeppestown and Belgravia was marked by a toll-gate across the roadway next to Salisbury House, and the toll road was described as "Jeppe House's long tree-lined driveway". The trees are still there, providing a wonderful shady avenue.
It was through Salisbury House that I wandered on Wednesday. Built in 1903, the building boasted ground floor retail whilst the upper level provided residential accommodation with verandahs edged in cast iron "broekie lace". An example of Victorian architecture and construction, its verandah style design was based on assembling cast-iron components ordered from a catalogue of Walter Macfarlane's Glasgow foundry.
As with so many of our jewels supposedly in the safe-keeping of public authorities, the building has been raped by vandals. Many of the magnificent panelled and lead lighted doors are gone, all brassware and many floors of broad oregon pine floor-boards are gone as are the fireplace surrounds and sanitaryware.
The good news is that the building is being leased from the Council by the School of Practical Philosophy who are seeking funding to restore the building and place it back into everyday use as a much-needed extension to their educational facilities. The SPP owns and occupies the original St Mary's school building directly to the north of Salisbury House where they have established the St James Preparatory School.
It was at this remarkable school that my morning had started, attending assembly. Established only three years ago in its current accommodation, the school starts at Grade 0 and its 120 pupils (about 20 percent white) go through to Grade 6. A new grade is started each year.
All the children and teachers were present at the daily assembly where the headmaster read a portion of the Ten Commandments and then probed the understanding of the children. Great competition and enthusiasm to answer was shown, but equally great discipline exercised. I grimaced inwardly – "thou shalt not steal" - whilst the environment around the school evidences the pillaging of the built environment.
Yet the philosophy of the school resonates with what we are all working to achieve. "In a world where values are in confusion, there is a real need to create love and reverence in the minds and hearts of our young people for all that is great and good. We need to remind them of the dignity and the excellence of human life, through which simple but profound virtues may shine for the well-being of all. The hope is that this generation may find the strength to live truthful, upright, magnanimous and disciplined lives that will serve to support the principles of unity in the family, the nation and the world."
And even in a short hour visit to the school one sees and experiences the philosophy resonating through pupils and teachers.
Those who have been working in the area for some time tell me that the environment has improved immeasurably. The palpable fear that permeated the streets has gone and a real community is starting to emerge. Beneath the grime and decades of neglect are some great jewels and the growth of the Schools of Practical Philosophy and St James Preparatory are slowly touching on some of the physical gems as they touch on the lives of the community.
One such gem is the now unused synagogue, a remnant of the days when Lithuanian Jews settled in the area. The exterior of the shul is under extreme pressure from vandalism, its adjoining house overrun with illegal squatters who have decimated that building.
But the JPU aims to develop the suburb into a Centre of Excellence by upgrading existing facilities of nursery school, recreation and sports centre, and the senior citizens' home whilst providing additional community needs such as a crisis centre. There are numerous open erven between existing houses, almost all of which belong to the Council, offering a great opportunity for infill housing. Currently they are used as dumping grounds and are clearly seldom if ever visited by the Council's refuse collection service.
Manhole covers are long gone, sold to scrap iron merchants, leaving pavements dangerous to negotiate. Yet there isn't the pall of gloom that one usually experiences in such areas. Somehow the sheer potential of the place excites one, here is an urban regeneration opportunity within a low income community that can be a model for other areas, and it's started and started by the community.
So now is the time for Council to provide support, an extension of the urban design framework that was done for the commercial area to the west – enforcement of by-laws to rid the area of the remaining illegal squatters and clamping down on slumlording, the presence of the Metro Police, a housing infill project and support for the great work being done by the School of Practical Philosophy and the St James Preparatory School.
Can you go wrong when the philosophy results in "assemblies centred on worship and singing ... teachers enjoying the company of their pupils ... children respecting their teachers ... classrooms providing quiet places of learning ... pupils being taught to pay close attention that art is about fine drawings and accurate observation ... pupils listening to the best music... the Bible, Shakespeare and scripture from both east and west being revered ... learning by heart is a basic practice, grammar the essential discipline behind language ... the Classics introducing the epic dimension ... good lives, great deeds and the fine words forming the basis for history ... debating skills and fine speech being valued highly ... sport being taught to instill fair play and team spirit."
A great foundation for revitalising lives and communities.
