Today in Kimberley's History
|
|
|
|
33 days since beginning of the Siege of Kimberley, 1899
Extract from "The Diary of a Doctor's Wife – During the Siege of Kimberley October 1899 to February 1900" by Winifred Heberden.
Some shelling went on between the Boers at Carter's Farm and the Reservoir Camp without any palpable result. Soon after midday about 600 of our Mounted Troops and the Artillery went out beyond the Debris Heaps at Beaconsfield, and though the enemy fired terrific rounds of ammunition they only succeeded in slightly wounding Captain Bodley of the D.F.H. The Boers evidently lost some men.
We are beginning to wonder where the troops for our relief can possibly be, for we have not heard that they are even on the way to us. Food is running shorter. Meat has been limited carefully for some time. Eggs are from 3/- to 5/- a dozen - and scarce at that. Paraffin oil is nearly finished; and firewood will soon only be found at De Beer's workshops. Butter has quite disappeared, since we used up some tinned butter that had been 'in Bond' at the Customs House for over 2 years!
Jack has been made Medical Officer to the Cape Police in addition to having charge of the rest of the Mounted Troops at the Camp, so he now takes care of nearly 1 000 men.
Extract from "The Diary of a Doctor's Wife – During the Siege of Kimberley October 1899 to February 1900" by Winifred Heberden.
Some shelling went on between the Boers at Carter's Farm and the Reservoir Camp without any palpable result. Soon after midday about 600 of our Mounted Troops and the Artillery went out beyond the Debris Heaps at Beaconsfield, and though the enemy fired terrific rounds of ammunition they only succeeded in slightly wounding Captain Bodley of the D.F.H. The Boers evidently lost some men.
We are beginning to wonder where the troops for our relief can possibly be, for we have not heard that they are even on the way to us. Food is running shorter. Meat has been limited carefully for some time. Eggs are from 3/- to 5/- a dozen - and scarce at that. Paraffin oil is nearly finished; and firewood will soon only be found at De Beer's workshops. Butter has quite disappeared, since we used up some tinned butter that had been 'in Bond' at the Customs House for over 2 years!
Jack has been made Medical Officer to the Cape Police in addition to having charge of the rest of the Mounted Troops at the Camp, so he now takes care of nearly 1 000 men.
Cyril Ramaphosa is born - 1952
Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa's former political and trade union activist was born in Johannesburg. He was one of the chief negotiators at the Codesa talks that opened the path for the first democratic elections on the 27th April 1994. After resigning from active politics, Ramaphosa ventured into the private sector.
He then rejoined the political scene in 2012 during the African National Congress' National Conference in Mangaung, Free State. Here he became Deputy President of the ANC and in 2014 he was appointed to the position of Deputy President of South Africa by Jacob Zuma. He served as Deputy President until 2018 when President Zuma resigned. He was elected President of the ANC at its December 2017 conference. He had also served as the head of the National Planning Commission. On the 22nd May 2019 he was elected to his first full term as President after an election victory by the ANC. He is the 5th democratically elected President after Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma.
Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa's former political and trade union activist was born in Johannesburg. He was one of the chief negotiators at the Codesa talks that opened the path for the first democratic elections on the 27th April 1994. After resigning from active politics, Ramaphosa ventured into the private sector.
He then rejoined the political scene in 2012 during the African National Congress' National Conference in Mangaung, Free State. Here he became Deputy President of the ANC and in 2014 he was appointed to the position of Deputy President of South Africa by Jacob Zuma. He served as Deputy President until 2018 when President Zuma resigned. He was elected President of the ANC at its December 2017 conference. He had also served as the head of the National Planning Commission. On the 22nd May 2019 he was elected to his first full term as President after an election victory by the ANC. He is the 5th democratically elected President after Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma.