Rhetoric and reality: William Holford in South Africa

Although born and educated to pre‐university level in South Africa, William Holford is invariably associated with Great Britain where he lived throughout his adult like and where he was accorded so many honours. Most of the writings by and about him consequently relate to this British background and not a great deal is known outside South Africa of his professional association with the land of his birth. He was in fact involved in a number of projects in South Africa in the post‐war years, including those in Pretoria, Pietermaritzburg, Cape Town and Durban, which are discussed in this paper. The projects are viewed against the backdrop of the principles and premises of planning as enunciated by Holford himself, on which basis the connections between his statements and their application in practice ‐ between rhetoric and reality ‐ are assessed.