UPDATED: 19/07/2024
19 July 1897, An Indian trader named Kaledin, murdered in the Malay Camp. An unsolved murder.
19 July 1917, Two Kimberley men drown in the Thames river, London.
19 July 1946, Man dies after falling into the De Beers mine open pit.
19 July 1960, Dr Arthur Letele released from custody and deported from South Africa.
Three gallant South African heroes were drowned in the Thames at Walton on the night of Thursday 19 July 1917.
“The boys, all of whom had enlisted at the Cape on the outbreak of hostilities, and had fought and been wounded in German East Africa and France, were inmates of Walton-on-Thames Red Cross Hospital. Two of them set out for a row up the river in a single-sculler skiff, and when returning in the evening they met two chums, whom they took on board. Full of life, they indulged in some mild skylarking, with the result that the skiff capsized and all were precipitated into the water, which is not only particularly deep at the point where the accident occurred, but is full of weeds.
“The men were: 7070 Private William Newbery, of Johannesburg, aged 30; 9928 Private George Franklin, of Kimberley, aged 20, and 4383, Private Walter James Fink, of Kimberley, aged 22. All the men were attached to the 1st Reserve South African Infantry, and in civil life held good positions, Franklin being a railway official at Kimberley, while the father of Private Newbery is Mr JA Newbery, one of Johannesburg’s leading bakers.
“An uncle of Private Newbery informed our representative that the lad had been warned about the river, and had promised to be careful. He was one of the few survivors of his company in the great fight for Delville Wood. In an interview with a cousin of the lad Fink, our representative was told that only on the receding Tuesday he was warned about the river, and laughingly replied, ‘If ever I do get in I shall go down like a stone.’ And truly when he sunk he never rose to the surface.
“When the accident occurred very few people were on the river, but plenty were strolling along the banks, and soon assistance was on hand. The fourth member of the party, Private Jas Ferreira, managed to scramble ashore, but when he saw his comrades go under he immediately dived in and repeatedly went under in order to find the bodies. In this gallant work he was assisted by a Maori soldier, whose diving was really wonderful. By the aid of these men and a boatman the bodies were recovered during the night and removed to Shepperton Mortuary, to await the inquest.”
These three men, together with a Private Ernest Lowe, were the first South Africans to be buried in the new military cemetery at Brookwood.
Well-known Kimberley citizen Mossie Rodwell, soldiering at the time and convalescing, had a wreath laid on the grave of his friend Walter Fink.
(All above from the weekly magazine South Africa).
Pictures show the Thames river in front of the New Zealand military hospital at Walton-on-Thames in 1918 and modern day Walton-on-Thames.
UPDATED: 19/07/2022
19 July 1897, An Indian trader named Kaledin, murdered in the Malay Camp. An unsolved murder.
19 July 1946, Man dies after falling into the De Beers mine open pit.
19 July 1960, Dr Arthur Letele released from custody and deported from South Africa.
An unsolved murder in the Malay Camp
An Indian hawker named Kaledin was found dead in his bed in the Malay Camp on the morning of Monday 19 July 1897.
His landlord, Mahl, also an Indian and from whom Kaledin rented a room, said that he had last seen Kaledin on the night before when he retired. Early on the Monday morning a David Alupan came to him and said he had been knocking at Kaledin’s door but without getting any answer, so they both went to the room where the hawker stayed. Mahl opened the door by pushing back the fastening “button” with his knife, and he saw Kaledin lying half in and half out of the bed, quite dead, but there was no evidence of a struggle having taken place. Baskets of eggs and oranges were untouched.
Mahl also stated that the deceased had been unable to pay his rent for some time and had taken to drinking heavily and to “smoking dagga”. The doctor was called and when the body was removed a piece of rope was found under the body. Dr Otto stated that the deceased had died through strangulation from all the marks around the neck. Another witness at the inquest said that she had heard Kaledin groaning for many hours during the night.
The regional magistrate, Mr Bayne, agreed in his summing up at the inquest that Kaledin had died of strangulation but there was no evidence to how this had been affected. He hoped that the police would not relax their efforts to probe the affair to the bottom.
There are no further details on the case, so it must be assumed that the unfortunate Kaledin was indeed murdered by a person unknown, and that somewhere in Kimberley someone lived with the death of the Indian hawker on his conscience until he too met his ultimate fate.
UPDATED: 19/07/2019
19 July 1897, An Indian trader named Kaledin, murdered in the Malay Camp. An unsolved murder.
19 July 1960, Dr Arthur Letele released from custody and deported from South Africa.
Order of the Luthuli in Silver
DID YOU KNOW
The Order of the Luthuli in Silver was awarded to Arthur Elias Letele (pictured): “For his excellent dedication and excellent work in pursuing the liberation of the people of South Africa and Lesotho above everything, including his own safety.”
Arthur Elias Letele
Arthur Elias Letele gave his life to the struggle against apartheid and paid the ultimate price for democracy and the freedom currently enjoyed by citizens. Letele was born on 2 October 1916 in Maseru, Lesotho but grew up in Ladybrand in the Free State.
He completed his secondary education at the Lovedale Institution in Alice in the Eastern Cape. He continued his studies at the South African Native College (which later became Fort Hare University), and the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg. He qualified as a medical doctor in 1946 and started his career the following year at Lovedale.
Letele’s involvement in politics started in 1944, when he joined the ANC Youth League. In 1948, he decided to move to Kimberley, where he immediately joined the local branch of the ANC and was elected as treasurer of the branch.
Letele persuaded a number of volunteers to defy discriminatory laws during the Defiance Campaign. In October 1952, violence erupted in Kimberley and Letele was arrested for inciting violence. He was found guilty and sentenced to a few months, suspended for two years. He was also prevented from leaving Kimberley until August 1953 as part of his bail conditions.
At the end of 1953, Letele was elected to the ANC Executive Committee at the organisation’s annual conference. In 1955, Letele took part in the Congress of the People campaign by collecting the demands of the residents of Kimberley for the Freedom Charter. He also attended the congress in Kliptown near Johannesburg in June 1955, where he proposed the second clause of the charter, stating that all men should be equal before the law. In 1955, Letele was elected as the Treasurer-General of the ANC. In 1956, he was one of the accused along with other liberation movement leaders during the first Treason Trial. The charges against him were withdrawn and he was released. Following the Sharpeville massacre of 1960, Letele publicly burnt his pass in Orlando near Johannesburg.
When he returned to Kimberley, he was arrested and detained in various locations including Kimberley and Bloemfontein, but was released on 19 July 1960. The most prominent condition of his release was that he had to leave South Africa within 30 days. He went into exile in Lesotho in 1961 where his family subsequently joined him. He was allowed to visit Kimberley on occasion and retained his position within the ANC.
Although his political involvement was largely focused on South Africa, Letele did become involved in Lesotho’s politics. In 1961 he, and other ANC leaders, attempted to take over the leadership of the Basutoland Congress Party to support the ANC in its resistance to the developments in South Africa. Letele represented the ANC overseas while he had a British passport. (All above from various sources).
From Kimberley Calls and Recalls on Facebook By Steve Lunderstedt
Shortlink for this post: https://www.kimberley.org.za/?p=9934
