It all started here, in this building. The ruling party was formed in 1912 in Waaihoek, in a modest Methodist church. Community and political leaders gathered within the church walls and thanks to faith and something in the dry Free State dust, a powerful movement was born.
Then, in 1918, black people were forcefully removed, relocating eventually to Batho and Mapikela House. Almost a hundred years later the area has become dilapidated and rundown. In fact, the church itself (actually a permutation of the original structure) has performed double-duty as a panel-beating workshop. That is, until Tuesday November 2 2011, when Ikaheng workers in blue overalls began demolishing the mustard yellow add-on structures.
In attendance was the mayor of Mangaung, Thabo Manyoni, who launched this leg of the heritage project by saying: “The ANC was born here, so we think (the church) will be a good thing for political tourism.” By Saturday November 5, construction workers were still trying to remove alien detritus from the original church building and signs had gone up to indicate that, at last, the church was coming back.
Interestingly, three properties in the area, including the church property, had remained in the possession of Hennie Biermann, a 62 year old Bloemfontein resident. According to Biermann, the property had belonged to his family for the last 77 years. If the church building itself pretends to be a modest beginning of the ANC, the backdrop of the slanted sink roofed structure certainly isn’t.
Four enormous cooling towers, two vividly painted with sunflowers and other decorative motifs, provide a rallying point for this until recently fairly nondescript building. It means visitors unfamiliar with Bloemfontein’s street grid, Waaihoek and its legacy can simply make a beeline for this colourful beacon, as the church is immediately below the towers on the Naval Hill side.
Adjacent to the towers on the western side is a large piece of open ground which can presumably be converted into parking space and perhaps a ticketing office or ablution facilities. With R35-million budgeted by the national government to resurrect the site, over the coming weeks plenty of old dust is likely to be lifted from the site into Free State skies.
If the church building itself pretends to be a modest beginning of the ANC, the back-drop of the slanted sink roofed structure certainly isn’t.
This article originally appeared in the Mail & Guardian newspaper as an advertorial supplement