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THIS IS THE ARCHIVE FOR SAHRIS 1.0


THIS SITE IS NOW AN ARCHIVE AND IS NOT SUITABLE FOR MAKING APPLICATIONS

Please be aware that no content and application creation or changes to information on this version of SAHRIS will be retained.

To make applications or utilise SAHRIS for the creation of information, please use the new site:

https://sahris.org.za

Changes to SAHRIS!

The South African Heritage Resources Information System (SAHRIS) has undergone a generational upgrade and restructure. These changes to the site include, but are not limited to:

  • A new & modernised look and layout
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Launch for the new version of SAHRIS occurred on Monday the 30th of October 2023.

The new site can be found here:

SAHRIS | SAHRIS

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SiteID: 

26959

FullSiteName: 

Old Magistrates Office, Church Street, Boksburg

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No

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Author: 

Anonymous

Post date: 

22/06/2012

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NO
Post date: 07/08/2012
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Archive Import
History: The building was designed in1889, two years after the establishment of the town of Boksburg by Sytze Wierda, the "Goverenements Ingenieur en Architect" of the South African Republic, to accommodate the mining commissioner, the post office and other government offices. On 15th October, 1890, the corner stone was1aid by the Head of Mining, C.J. Joubert. It served as magistrate's office from 1901 to 1958.

Sytze Wierda, the Government Engineer and Architect of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, designed the building in the neoclassicist (Italian-Renaissance) style. It has an imposing and interesting front gable on which appears the Latin adage FIAT JUSTITIA RUAT COELUM (let justice be done, though the heavens should fall). The building strongly resembles the other government buildings which Wierda designed at Krugersdorp and Klerksdorp at that time.
The foundation-stone was laid by C. J. Joubert, Chief of Mining, on 15th October, 1890. Already on 10th April, 1891, the deputy architect, J. C. M. Hager, who supervised the building operations, could report that the building was completed.
The adage on the front gable has a history of its own. It was put up after the Anglo-Boer War by order of the assistant-magistrate, Mr. Pomeroy Colley. It was re moved, however, by order of the Secretary of the Law Department but put hack again by the Department of Public Works because it was presumed that it dated back to the days of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. In 1904 it was removed for a second time and how it came to be put back for a third time is unknown.
From 1902 to 1958 this building housed the magistrate (later landdrost) and his staff. After the landdrost and his staff had moved to a new building in 1958, the old building, which had been threatened with demolition since 1937, was acquired by the Boksburg Municipality and put at the disposal of the M.O.T.H.S., the B.E.S.L. and the local “Skakelkomitee”. The eastern wing of the building has been converted into a M.O.T.H. memorial hail, while a few apartments have been turned into a museum.
Visual Description:

The old Government Building at Boksburg is situated in Church Street near the station and the well-known Boksburg Lake
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Construction Date: 1889
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