A hundred years ago Johannesburg was not even a hole in the ground. Yet we know far more of its history since then than we do of Cape Town, the Mother City of South Africa, established at the southern tip of the continent over two centuries before. The key importance of the Witwatersrand in the development of the economy, the rapid expansion of Johannesburg and the conflict that accompanied it, have all ensured the region a dominant role in all histories of South Africa. The dramatic events surrounding the mining of gold and the growth of southern Africa's largest and wealthiest city have attracted only an increasing number of historians. These scholars have an enormous range of written sources to draw upon and are currently making innovative use of oral testimony. When we talk of the economic and social history of the Witwatersrand, we are referring to a substantial body of historical writing.

The history of Cape Town over the last century is much less visible. It is less dramatic, less documented, and less researched. Explorations have been made, some of the results of which are reproduced by the Cape Town History Workshop, but there is no possibility of producing a useful mapping of the social and economic development of Cape Town until more basic research has been completed. The recording of this ‘local history’ is not only important for its own sake, for the central focus of most overviews of South African history on the Witwatersrand has dulled our ability to understand, and even perceive, major and continuing regional differences in South Africa and the forces of which they are the product.