Page 47 - SARB: 100-Year Journey

In an indication of an organisation in its infancy, there appears not to have been guidelines for the Governor’s residence. At the first Board meeting, Governor Clegg was authorised to find or build a house ‘to his requirements’ at his own expense, and the Bank would reimburse him. In the event that Clegg purchased a residence and made permanent improvements, he would also be reimbursed.
On 14 December 1931, the Department of Public Works bought Clegg’s house for £6 450. “Clegg was paid by the Bank the difference (£4 429. 6. 5) between the amount (£10 879. 6. 5) spent by him on the house and the amount he received from the Government.” The Bank agreed to sell the house after concluding that its refurbishment, practically and architecturally, to suit the needs of Clegg’s successor was impossible.
The SARB began its operations with a total of 15 people, including the Governor and the Deputy Governor (South African Reserve Bank, 1971, p 14).
During the first decade, the Board was notified of, or asked to consider matters primarily pertaining to, employee recruitment and employee benefits. The Board was informed about every employee recruited, including job title and remuneration. This applied to all employees, including the ‘night watchmen’.
In the mid-1920s, the Bank expanded its footprint to Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and East London. The first of these branches, located in Johannesburg’s Harrison Street, opened its doors in 1925. The branches enabled the Bank to deal directly with the public, gain closer contact with the Union’s credit markets, and influence internal monetary conditions (South African Reserve Bank, 1971, p 19).
The SARB’s Head Office building in Pretoria was the proverbial crown jewel in the institution’s property portfolio.
For this task, the Bank enlisted the services of Sir Herbert Baker, a famed and sought-after architect of that era. “Baker was invited to submit designs for the Bank’s new Head Office building and, by the good offices of Mr. Montagu Norman, Governor of the Bank of England, declared himself willing to do so. [He] ... presented his plans to the ... Board during a visit to Pretoria in early September 1927. Clearing of the Bank’s Church Square site for construction ... was commenced ... in January 1929.” (South African Reserve Bank, 1971, p 15).
“Sir Herbert observed that he had obtained valuable information, for the design of the Reserve Bank at Pretoria, from the Federal Reserve Bank building in New York, which information had been used already in the re-building of the Bank of England in London,” reads a Sunday Times article (1927).
The Johannesburg (above left), Cape Town (above right) and Durban (left) branches opened
in 1925. /SARB
The East London (left) and Port Elizabeth (right) branches open in 1926. /SARB
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