A day out in the beauty of Pretoria

FUNKE ADETUTU

The light rain shower of the previous day results in a rather chilly harmattan cold which makes the body shiver this morning. The tall buildings at the Melrose Arch cannot contain the strong wind blowing across the area. Even the hot cups of coffee which we gulp at breakfast do not help much. However, it is in this atmosphere that we find our way towards the waiting coach on the other side of the street. We await the arrival of the other members of the group who are still busy at the breakfast table, and before long, we begin the journey to Pretoria.
As we proceed, beautiful landscapes with mountains serving as backdrops greet our eyes. No doubt, one could have guessed that the sight would inspire another masterpiece from Picasso!
In the city centre of Pretoria, we move through many streets, leaving notable departmental stores like Shoprite and the famous Woolworth behind us as we navigate towards the Union building, Pretoria’s most famous landmark.
The Union Building is situated on Meintjeskop, the highest point of old Pretoria. It symbolises the authority of the state and the status of Pretoria as the headquarters of the national government. Greg of Bophelo Tours, our guide, later explains to us that Meintjeskop is situated on the eastern boundary of Elandsfontein, one of the two farms on which Pretoria was originally established in 1855.
“The farm belonged to President Wessel Pretorius, after whom the city was named,” explains Greg. “Pretorius sold the portion of the farm on which the Union Buildings stand to Andries Francois du Toit, Pretoria’s first magistrate, who sold the land to Stephanus Jacobus Meintjes, after whom Meintjeskop was named.”
The design of the Union Building is breathtaking. Right in front of the building, to the left, is an expansive garden that is neatly mown and kept. Few people lie on the lush carpet grass, basking in the rays of the sun. A few metres further down, a couple and their bridal train are engrossed in a photo shooting session. “Sorry we are barging in on your wedding,” says Tsholofelo Mogale of South African Tourism, as we walk towards the newly-weds, full of admiration. But there is no response from the train, who are rather overjoyed to notice the rude interuption.
A few minutes later, we return to the Union Building to admire its magnificient heights with the Torch of Peace burning brightly before it. The Union Building was built to house the governmnent departments of the new union of South Africa in 1910, and is one of Sir Hebert Baker’s finest designs.
Greg also tells us that the much-admired garden was designed by Baker as a public park, modelled on those of the famous Villa d’Este at Tivoli near Rome in Italy. From Church Street, we look over the wide expanse of lawns bounded on the east and west by tall avenues that slope to the public road which traverses the length of the buildings. This road meanders up the western slope from the city in easy curves, which makes us have a glimpse of the building from different angles as we proceed up the hill.
“The design of the building is determined largely by the nature of the site,” Grag explains. “Baker chose the neo-classical style of the Italian Renaissnace for the overall design, blended with that of the English Renaissance. This, he also combined with elements of Cape Dutch architecture, such as the decoratively carved main doorways and fanlight, the wrought-iron work and balustrading in the smaller areas of the rotunda, which is reminiscent of the Cape Town Castle.
In addition, during construction, the most modern electrically-driven machines in the world at the time were used to turn the granite and freestone for the columns and baulstrades.”
As we look keenly at the brownish building, we realise that the redstones, columns and walls are even more smoothly finished, and the craftmaship displayed in the stonework shows a perfection which one may say the work of any artist has not achieved before.
From the Union Building, the coach meanders towards the Church Square, which is a beehive of activities when we arrive. Families, little boys and girls, middle-aged men and women are all over the place, taking photographs, chatting, exchanging pleasantries or relaxing on the lush grass. A small group of people cluster around because it is a beautiful way to relax at midday on a Friday.
The imposing statue of Paul Kruger is unmistakable in the park. The statue was completed by the famous sculptor, Anton van Wouw. Kruger is a former president of South Africa. His term in office coincided with the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886, which led to an influx of foreign fortune-seekers and miners, and eventually the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer war in 1899. The statue was completed in 1899, and only arrived in Maputo after the outbreak of the war, where it remained until after the war. It was eventually erected in the Prince’s park, Church Street West, in 1913. but in 1925 iwas moved and erected in front of the Pretoria Railway Station before it was finally brought to the Church Square in 1954. This incessant movement of the statue explains the blisters which now cover it.
The Church Square is regarded by many as the cradle of the city that eventually developed into the capital of South Africa. History has it that at the beginning of the 18th century, white missionaries and explorers visited the region in the north of the Vall River. The Voortrekkers, after expelling Mzilikaze to Zimbabwe in 1838, were the first to lay out farms and settle in Pretoria permanently. Church Square was origainally the marketplace where farmers gathered with their ox wagons and tents to observe nagmaal, otherwise known as the holy communion.
Overlooking the park is the the Law Chamber Building, which is the oldest of the western facade buildings. Built for the African Board of Executors and the Trust Company, it was designed in the Flemish style by Johannesburg architects. Beside the Law Chamber Building is the General Post Office, located on the northwestern side of the Church Square. Its location on the main square is typical of many world cities, Greg explains. The present Post Office, a four-storey building with plastered facade in the neo-renaissance style, is the fourth for the old Pretoria and is erected on the site of the previous one, a long single-storey sandstone structure.
The National Bank Building is next to the Post Office. It houses the First Transvaal Bank, founded specifically to administer the government funds of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. The Palace of Justice on the northern side of the Church Square depicts interesting deviations from the other buildings around the park, and its architechtural design speaks of a true masterpiece of the neo-Italian renaissance style.