African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 828 Orange Population Crisis

Orange, Bloemfontein city.

"Currently, Kimberley has no population to support its existence. Before the war, it was the most developed city in the entire Boer Republic, with railways, telegraphs, etc., but now it is completely paralyzed, and the most terrifying thing is that we simply do not have enough population to recover. Local construction." Yurta, the mayor of Kimberley, East Africa, complained gloomily.

When it comes to East Africa, the most miserable place is the area of ​​the former Boer Republic. Because East Africa really expelled the Boers, so much so that in the Orange area, ten houses are empty, and the rest are almost all military.

Therefore, the Kimberley City Council and other Orange regional governments are in more trouble than the governments in Mozambique and Angola.

"It's hard for a good woman to make a living without rice. There is no one to develop the local area. Kimberley is now like a ghost town. There is no one around except the city hall and the military camp. It is impossible for us to command the army to do these menial tasks."

"Now Kimberley still has production tasks to complete, and all the mines are completely shut down. If there is no one to maintain it, it is estimated that the mining area will collapse in a few months, and it will be difficult to restore it by then."

In response to Julta's complaints, Bloemfontein Mayor Helveixin still maintained a dead fish face and said: "You ask me for help, and I can't do anything! Now Bloemfontein is also an empty frame. If It’s not that there are troops stationed here. I have no doubt that our life safety will be threatened by wild beasts. Now the outskirts of Bloemfontein are covered with weeds and there are so many empty houses. It feels scary in the middle of the night.”

Julta: "At least you can still maintain your office. We rarely even go to Kimberley now. I won't say more. If we give a few hundred people, it would be better to go to Kimberley to put up empty shelves first than to rely on others in Bloemfontein."

Helvey said in embarrassment: "The population of Bloemfontein was borrowed from the neighboring province of New Baden. The Southern Frontier Province in the south used to only have troops stationed there, as well as military family members or military personnel. Everyone was short of people. So don’t be in a hurry.”

New Baden Province is not a populous province in East Africa at all, and it does not even have any sense of existence. It can only support a few thousand people in Bloemfontein.

The original city of Orange was completely shut down due to the East African policy, and the same was true for the rural areas. Angola was supported by the central part, Mozambique was supported by the eastern part and the New Hamburg Port City, and Orange was completely like an abandoned place.

Julta said: "I don't care about other places. Kimberley was the most economically developed area in Orange before, and Bloemfontein only occupies the convenience of the capital of the Boer Republic. Apart from that, for Orange It’s not important at all. If you want the higher authorities to see the value of Orange, you must develop Kimberley’s mineral resources to a limited extent. Do you expect the little income from farming to move the central government?”

In Orange, Kimberley became the most developed area in the entire interior of South Africa because of its diamond mines, and was also the focus of competition between the British and the Boers before the war.

The output value of Kimberley is much higher than that of the other regions of the Boer Republic combined. This is easy to understand. The total population of the Boer Republic before the war was less than 400,000, which was the size of a city in Europe and the Far Eastern Empire. Kimberley was previously one of the largest diamond producers in the world, so the diamond industry alone exceeded the combined revenue of the rest of Orange.

Regarding Juerta's words, Helvey also believes that there is some truth. If Orange is completely shut down, it may not attract much attention. The most effective way to reflect its own value is to revitalize Orange's industry first.

The diamond industry is obviously the most valuable industry in Orange, and it is a high value-added industry. In the 19th century, diamond production was very limited, so the price was very considerable. After thinking for a while, Helvey said to Juerta: "Many of the mines in other parts of East Africa are dominated by black people. Obviously, Kimberley can also use black people to support them first, but there are almost no black people in Orange, so we can Ask for black resources from other provinces, and then I will allocate dozens of people to you. You can maintain the mining industry in Kimberley first. Even if you complete the task and there are troops stationed in Kimberley, you don’t have to worry about black riots. "

Juerta said with a grimace: "If we attack black people, we in Orange may be the only ones in East Africa."

In other parts of East Africa, black people have made important contributions to the economic development of East Africa. Even Angola and Mozambique, which have just been merged into East Africa, have a large number of black people for local governments to drive. However, the Orange region is really miserable, and there are not many black people. .

The Boers are also a very exclusive ethnic group. In addition, they mainly focus on herding and do not need a large population. Therefore, there are not many black people in Orange, and only a small number of San people are distributed in inaccessible areas.

Helvey patted Juerta on the shoulder and comforted him: "There is nothing we can do about it. Angola and Mozambique have a large black population, and there is only an army in Orange, so we can't intervene, so we can only start from We need to think of ways for black people from other provinces. There is a shortage of nationals everywhere in this country, and we should be able to squeeze out a lot of black people. I don’t believe that the superiors will refute our application. "

Julta said: "It doesn't take too many people. Tens of thousands of people can restore the mine to its previous production capacity. Before the South African War, the population of the Boer Republic was not large. It was mainly machines left by the British. It would be difficult for black people to master them. So a dozen people will definitely not work. You have to give at least two to three hundred people, otherwise it will be a waste of Kimberly’s machine. "

Juerta's words reminded Helvey, what is the most valuable thing in Orange now? In addition to minerals, there are machines and infrastructure left by the British, and these are mainly concentrated in Kimberley.

Therefore, if Orange is to be developed, it really cannot do without Kimberley. If these machines and infrastructure are allowed to be destroyed, I am afraid it will be difficult for Orange to find opportunities to industrialize in the future.

So he said to Julta: "Machines are indeed very important. Kimberley could previously be compared with many economically developed cities in East Africa. The remaining conditions are indeed unique. When you arrive in Kimberley, you should first be optimistic about those machines and infrastructure." Facilities, aside from other things, we are optimistic about the Kimberley railway first. We do have an awkward relationship with Cape Town now, but maybe the two sides will reconcile in the future, and then the Kimberley railway will play a big role. "

Kimberley has the only railway line in the former Boer Republic that connects it to Cape Town. It was mainly used by the British to transport diamonds. From this point, Kimberley's economic strength can also be seen.

Of course, the railway is now a dead end and even the bridges over the Orange River were blown up during the war.

However, this railway may not be unable to play a role in the future. After all, relations between East and Britain cannot always be stiff, especially Cape Town, a British territory connected to East Africa.

Of course, British Railways and East African Railways are not interoperable, so whether the Kimberley Railway can be retained in the future is a question, but Helvey still prefers to retain it first. Even if it is really to be dismantled in the future, Orange will definitely be different from the current situation. Not the same anymore.

(End of this chapter)