When Capetown is but a few years older, and our visitors more frequent, it will be the Mayor the people will thank for the care taken in the devising of plans for their health and comfort. In those days, not so far away, we shall have a floating bath out in the bay, a theatre worthy of the artists we shall receive, an hotel fit to receive a distinguished visitor in, a sea-wall promenade which will be a place worthy the attendance of our wives, our daughters and their friends, and streets which are well paved and cleaned.”5
Before travelling abroad, on 14 November 1891 Graaff laid the cornerstone of the new opera house that was to be built on the Grand Parade. The building, which could seat 1 500 people, was erected on the corner of Darling and Parliament streets at a cost of £40 000, especially thanks to the support of Graaff and the industrialist Anders Ohlsson, who both served on the board of directors of the Grand Parade Buildings Company.6
Graaff departed for England on 18 November 1891 aboard the mail boat Hawarden Castle, accompanied by his sister, Hannie, and other relatives. Nearly all his colleagues in the city council and municipal officials came to bid him farewell.7 The long journey abroad, which he regarded partly as pleasure and relaxation and partly as work, took almost six months. After his visit to England he went to the continent and visited the United States. He familiarised himself with various urban innovations, including the advantages of electricity, which especially impressed him in Berlin.
Moreover, during his journey he was received by various dignitaries, including mayors and chairmen of chambers of commerce. His group had stepped ashore in Plymouth harbour and at the station a salon carriage awaited that had been sent by Great Western Railways for the purpose of transporting his group to London.
In London Graaff was interviewed by the publication South Africa at the Savoy Hotel in December, describing him as “young, rich, handsome – and popular with the ladies, who made him a presentation some few weeks back”. In the interview Graaff set out his plans for loans secured for Cape Town. His plans included a new reservoir, electric lights for the streets, a sea-wall promenade, new streets to the seafront, a fish market, a new city hall and new paving for the streets. The harbour would be expanded and the drainage system of the city would be changed to eliminate the bucket system, and land for this purpose had been acquired at Maitland. The people of Cape Town “are now forging ahead very fast, determined to make Cape Town the first, and the finest, town in South Africa,” he said.8
During his stay in London, where he kept up a demanding programme of meetings, he suffered from a cold almost daily.9 That compelled him to leave for the continent. In London he left a letter for his friend D.C. de Waal, who was also travelling abroad, complaining of “feet cold, hands cold, legs cold, the whole body cold!” The letter continued: “The cold is bad enough to kill an elephant. And every day more miserable. At night I put on my flannel vest and two pairs of pyjamas and I cover myself with three blankets, but I remain cold. The cold pervades everything, and as a rule I am quite a warm person.”10
In Berlin Graaff had a grand reception early in the new year. The mayor of Berlin, Herr Von Josczkenberg, made a secretary available to him, and he visited the institutions of the city accompanied by an experienced guide. He also studied in detail the city’s drainage and sewerage systems.11
The emperor invited him to the imperial box at the Berlin Opera and had a long conversation with him at the reception afterwards. Emperor Wilhelm II, who was fluent in English, wanted to know, among other things, what Graaff’s thought of the opinions of Lord Randolph Churchill, who had written dismissively about the “Dutch” of South Africa.12 Graaff answered diplomatically, but the emperor was less diplomatic, according to reports. One report said:
“Then the Kaiser, with characteristic bluntness, said that although he had never spoken to Lord Randolph he had once seen him from a distance. What he had been able to learn of the noble lord had not given him an exalted idea of his lordship as a public man. He had perused some of the letters which Lord Randolph had written from the Cape, but had not been able to make much out of them. He preferred, indeed, the description of South Africa which can be found in some of Mr. Rider Haggard’s novels. And the Mayor smiled.”
The emperor surprised Graaff with his knowledge of Africa and his interest in the continent. He quizzed the South African: “What kind of citizens are the Germans of the Cape Colony?”
“The very best we could wish for, Sire,” replied Graaff, upon which the emperor remarked, “That comes from the military training they receive in their homeland.” His parting words were, “Do not forget to give my greetings to the Germans in Cape Town, and tell them I am glad to hear of their loyalty and prosperity.”13
In Germany Graaff persuaded the company Siemens & Halske to send an electrical engineer to Cape Town at their own expense to present a plan for electric lights to the city council. He did likewise in London with Crompton & Co. Ltd.14 Thus Graaff saved the council a significant amount on expert advice.
Graaff returned to England, where he was entertained by various dignitaries once again, before leaving for the Riviera for a holiday. Afterwards he visited the Netherlands. The Queen Regent, Emma, widow of King Willem III, who acted as ruler until her 12-year-old daughter, Queen Wilhelmina, could accede to the Dutch throne, granted him an audience. She displayed great interest in South Africa. There always had to be sympathetic ties between the people of the Netherlands and the colonists of Dutch origin at the Cape, she told Graaff, who had brought along a copy of a painting of Jan van Riebeeck on display in the city hall in Cape Town. He wanted to know if it was a true image.15
In the Netherlands Graaff also paid a visit to Friesland, where he bought Friesian stud cows, which were transported to his farm, De Grendel, by sea. The stud bull named Pieter that he acquired from S.J. van der Werff of Leeuwarden was regarded an exceptional specimen: “It was admitted on every hand there was not his compeer in the whole of Friesland, and the Frieslanders say nothing finer was ever exported…”16
Graaff returned to England before leaving for America. In some publications it was mentioned that he had been introduced to Queen Victoria.17 That is not quite correct: he was, indeed, introduced at a levee at the Court of St James’s on 12 May 1892, but it was conducted on the queen’s behalf by the Duke of Connaught and Strathearne.18
During his five-week visit to the United States the 32-year-old Graaff made a strong impression on the Washington Post in the capital, which wrote in a report about his visit:
“He is a man of commanding appearance and elegant address. His face is covered by a full brown beard, long military moustache, high and intellectual forehead, and penetrating eyes. Mr. Graaff is the youngest councillor who has yet filled the Mayoral chair of Cape Town… He is young, rich, handsome, and popular.”19
In May 1892 Graaff returned to Cape Town. His friend D.C. de Waal joined him and Hannie on the return voyage aboard the Tartar. Half a dozen councillors awaited the Tartar when Graaff and his group stepped ashore in Table Bay harbour on 2 June.20 He was just in time for the opening of Parliament the next day by the governor-general, Sir Henry Loch, where he was sworn in as member of the Legislative Council.
In addition to his municipal responsibilities, parliamentary duties now rested on Graaff’s shoulders in the second year of his mayoral term, which above all became a financial success. The finance committee reported that favourable opportunities had developed for the re-issuing of the municipal loan in order to get a drainage system up and running. Simultaneously, lower interest rates than the existing 5 per cent were able to be negotiated for the municipal debt. Graaff was enthusiastic about this:
“… the works could be done without increasing the present rate of taxation, while the sinking fund would eliminate the whole indebtedness of the city, including the present debts and costs of all new works in 57 years.”21
During the course of the year he lobbied for other sources of water provision than the Molteno Reservoir. He also proposed that the tender of the German company Siemens & Halske be approved for a power plant driven by water power. It was also decided that sufficient steam traction should