Public administration in Pilgrims Rest, 1915-1969

In 1915, after two decades of neglect by the Transvaal Gold Mining Estates Company (TGME), village sanitation as well as cemetery, pound and slaughter-management was placed in the hands of the Pilgrims Rest Health Committee (PRHC). The TGME, however, retained effective control over land use and disposal and over the supply and cost of water and electricity. The insignificant and impecunious health committee had therefore to rely inevitably on the mining company's assistance in the form of labour and the use of its stores, offices and workshops. The foundations and dimensions of the aforesaid dependence are the subject matter of this article.