manuscript
23 March 2006
The Mpumalanga Provincial Government will celebrate the completion of the
Heritage Research Project on 28 March 2006 at the Nelspruit Botanical Gardens
in Nelspruit (06H00-08H00).
The manuscript of the research will be taken to communities and heritage
stakeholders to make their comments in the next few months. Copies will also be
made available on the following websites, http://www.mpumalanga.gov.za and http://www.nhc.org.za.
âQuite evidently, there are many inspirational things about who we are as
communities of this region. What is instructive about this province is the fact
that with a surface area of only 88,529 square kilometres, the second smallest
after Gauteng, it has the fourth largest economy in South Africa. This was not
by accident, but a combination of several factors embedded in our heritage,
including the fact that long before gold was mined in Johannesburg in 1870,
mining activity had already commenced in Mpumalanga, with the mining of coal in
Witbank in 1868,â remarked the Premier of Mpumalanga, Thabang Makwetla during
the State of the Province address, in Nelspruit on 17 February 2006.
The Mpumalanga Province is one of the South Africaâs archeologically
well-endowed regions. Whilst it was common knowledge to the residents of the
province that the fauna and flora as well as the cultural heritage of the
province is significant, the many aspects and historical value was not
evaluated, at least not in one known single research project.
As a result, Mpumalanga Premier Thabang Makwetla commissioned a year long
study of the culture, history and heritage of the province. This initiative is
a first by a South African province since the dawn of the democratic
dispensation.
The output is a collaborative effort of scholars from varying fields to
compile scientific evidence of the heritage resources of the province.
The research will be presented in a form of a manuscript that will be
accessible to the public. The findings will provide opportunities for
development and the preservation of the resources of the province. Central to
the unique and historical attributes, the province would take the opportunity
to brand and position itself.
The completion of the research will be marked by a launch of the manuscript
in March. Various stakeholders have been invited to celebrate the beginning of
a new look at the provinceâs uniqueness.
More information
1. Chapters of the research manuscript
Some of the chapters cover important information like:
* The Geology of Mpumalanga: a History of Deep Time
* The Archaeology of Mpumalanga,
* Mpumalangaâs Economic Heritage: Enterprise and Exploitation in the
Twentieth
Century by Stephan Schirmer,
* Nature Conservation and natural resource management in Mpumalanga 1870âs to
2000 by Jane Carruthers,
* The Role of Black People of the Eastern Transvaal in the South African War of
1899-1902 by Bernard K Mbengaa,
* Hard Fought Frontiers: Mpumalanga 1845-1883 by Peter Delius and Richard
Cope,
* The Rock Art of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa by Leslie Zubieta.
2. Geological History of Mpumalanga
* Barberton Mountain Land has one of the most beautifully preserved rocks in
the world. They are 3000-3600 million years old. They extend from Badplaas to
Elukwatini and into Songimvelo Nature Reserve which is also part of Umjindi
Local Municipality.
* Mpumalanga komaties, a new class of volcanic rock was discovered along the
Komati River just beyond Kromdraai and is estimated to be 3470-3482 million
years old. âRecognition of them as fundamental heritage is vitalâ. Author(s) of
the Chapter on the Geology of Mpumalanga: a History of Deep Time
* The Worldâs oldest deposits of gold are believed to have formed along
Barberton Mountains some 3200-3100 million years ago.
* The fist Gold was discovered in Barberton in 1883. The town can boast the
oldest Gold and Silver deposits in the World.
* The central part of the Barberton Mountain Land has caves and diggings that
reveal indigenous mining of the 3.4 billion year old iron deposits.
* The earliest form of life was discovered in Barberton, estimated to be 3200
million years old.
* Natural Heritage in the area has been noted. The Barberton daisy was first
discovered in Barberton in 1878 and has great economic value in the cut flower
industry especially in Europe, Americas and Japan. Other plants of importance
in the area include the Pride of de Kaape and the Worldâs largest Aloe, Aloe
bainesii.
* Various Rock Art paintings have been recorded in Barberton and this is
another area that may reveal a lot about our heritage.
* In recognition of the role of Black people of the Eastern Transvaal in the SA
War of 1899-1902 and the Hard Fought Frontiers of 1845-1883. This can be
investigated further.
* Barberton has sites with potential to be declared as National Heritage Sites
as well as World Heritage Sites.
3. Information about the Barberton Daisy
Gerbera jamsonii Adlam is commonly known as the Barberton daisy, Transvaal
daisy, Gerbera daisy (English) or Rooigousblom (Afrikaans). It was first
discovered in 1878 near Barberton, Mpumalanga, South Africa. The genus name,
Gerbera, is named after a German naturalist Traugott Gerber and the species
name, jamsonii, in honour of Robert Jameson who was on a prospecting expedition
to Barberton and collected specimens in the area in 1884. R W Adlam was the
first person to publish a valid scientific description of the species in Kew,
London. It is indigenous in South Africa and endemic in Mpumalanga and Limpopo
Province meaning that it only grows naturally in these two provinces otherwise
elsewhere it is cultivated.
It is regarded as the most well known valuable daisy that South Africa gave
the world because of its subsequent wide distribution and extreme attention in
the cut flower industry especially in Europe, Americas and Japan. Its natural
colour is bright red with cultivars in various colours, for example,
orange-pink, red, purple-violet, yellow, blue and pink. It flowers from late
spring to late summer.
The daisy is the fifth most important cut flower in the world after rose,
carnation, chrysanthemum and tulip.
Enquiries:
Ntime Skhosana
Tel: (013) 766 2055
Cell: 084 673 0415
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Mpumalanga Provincial Government
23 March 2006
