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THE DISTRICT 9300
HISTORY
Prepared by the district and not verified
by Rotary Global History |
On 18th January, 1921 Edward C Fisher, a member of
the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh, had lunch with five other men at the
Johannesburg YMCA and the subject was Rotary. A week later they each
brought a friend to lunch and enthusiastically decided to start a
Rotary Club. On the 21st February a third lunch was held resulting
in an Application for Membership carrying 45 signatures being sent
to what was then known as the International Association of Rotary
Clubs. On the 1st July 1921 the Rotary Club of Johannesburg was
chartered.
It wasn’t long before the young Johannesburg Club began to spread
the message of Rotary with Durban receiving it’s Charter in January
1925, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth in April with Pretoria and
Pietermaritzburg in August. Seven Clubs existed in April 1926 when
“Rusty”Rusterholz, Chairman of Johannesburg’s Extension Committee
was appointed Acting District Governor of District 55 by Rotary
International. He was elected as District Governor at a conference
in Bloemfontein on the 14th October and was re-elected for a further
term of office, 1927 – 28 at the first full District Conference in
April 1927, held in Cape Town and attended by the representatives of
all eight clubs. What was to become District 9300, Rotary
International was on its way.
Service projects in the early days of the District were surprisingly
similar in sentiment to the projects we have today. Children in
hospital were entertained with films and visited by Rotarians and
their Anns. There was a lot of help given to those with disabilities
and much vocational work was done to assist young people in finding
work.
There was also work done in the townships, particularly legal
advisory work and the development of housing schemes. In those days
Rotary worked closely with the government and tried hard to
influence the government’s approach to the problems of the urban
poor. This relationship collapsed under the Apartheid Regime which
was hostile to Rotary’s ideals and threatened the District with
legal intervention. Happily, today, Rotary is again working with
government departments for the benefit of all South Africans.
District 9300 (District Governor Peter Margolius) comprises 52 clubs
in the area of the Witwatersrand. It’s projects range from the
distribution of thousands of wheelchairs for those who cannot afford
them, to literacy, education and book projects which see hundreds of
thousands of books being sent to establish school libraries in poor
communities through-out the country.
Health Care is of primary concern with Rotary Clubs providing much
needed buildings, equipment and hands-on care for the scourges of
HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis. Clean drinking water is an ongoing
problem and Rotary has helped rural communities with boreholes and
water supply and assistance in vegetable growing and job creation
projects.
Job creation and training is a high priority in Southern Africa to
beat the spiral of poverty. Many job creation projects are run by
individual clubs but District 9300 has seen the need to established
an embryo Computer Training Centre to help our young people, who
would not normally have the opportunity, to acquire computer skills
that will equip them for the job market. This project will expand to
provide equipment and training for schools in areas where a computer
is currently just a dream.
District 9300 is constantly looking for new ways to assist the
community. It is currently acting as a conduit for Famine Relief in
Southern Africa to alleviate drought conditions within the region
and has so far disbursed just under R1 million towards this goal.
Building on the strong foundations laid here 80 years ago Rotary has
a bright future in District 9300 and in Southern Africa as a whole.
PP Peter James-Smith
District 9300 PRO |
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