![]() ![]() At the request of the South African government, he devoted part of his visit to the study of the country's electrical power needs. Charles Hesterman Merz, a universally recognised expert in power station design and electrification of railways, visited South Africa in 1919. Having determined that the erection of its own power station was necessary to electrify the lines, the Railways retained the services of Merz and McLellan, an eminent firm of consulting engineers based in London. However, World War I interrupted these plans. The line was to be powered by electricity supplied from a coal-fired power station in Natal. By 1912, the possible electrification of the railway line in Natal was being discussed. ![]() Hydroelectric power is reported to be first generated in 1892 and an overhead trolley-wire electric tram was in service in 1896.Īs early as 1904, the administrators of the South African Railways advocated the electrification of the railway line between Springs and Randfontein. Municipal electricity supplies started in Rondebosch in 1892, Cape Town city centre in 1895, Durban in 1897, Pietermaritzburg in 1898, East London in 1899, Bloemfontein and Kimberley in 1900, and Port Elizabeth in 1906. An electricity reticulation system followed in 1891. This electrical power was generated by gas engines. The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886 led to Johannesburg installing its first electric lighting plant in 1889. The first central power station was established in 1891. At this time, London still relied on gas lamps for street lighting.īetween 18 the use of electric motors, lights in mines, private lighting and an electric tram evolved. The Diamond City, Kimberley, switched on electric streetlights in 1882 making it the first city in Africa to be illuminated in this manner. ![]() V ictoria Falls Power Company Limited (VFP) Logo The light is full, clear, pervasive and steady, and greatly improves the appearance of the chamber." The use of electric lights by the Cape Colonial Parliament in Cape Town is reported in the Cape Times of May 1882: "The House of Assembly continues to be lighted by the electric light and result has so far been highly satisfactory. From April 1882, electric arc lamps illuminated Cape Town’s Table Bay docks. In 1881, the local railway station in Cape Town was illuminated by means of electricity, and Port Elizabeth opened the country’s first telephone exchange in May 1882. An early arc light was demonstrated in 1860 and the telegraph system was used for a time signal in 1861. The first electric telegraph system, operated between Cape Town and Simon’s Town, was introduced in 1860. The Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa records that " an electric device" was used in South Africa in about 1809. ![]()
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