James Sivewright

Sir James Sivewright K.C.M.G. (1848–10 September 1916) was a businessman and politician of the Cape Colony, South Africa. He was a strong political ally of Cecil Rhodes and, as his cabinet minister, was implicated in the "Logan" corruption scandal that led to the fall of the first Rhodes government. Early life James Sivewright was born in Fochabers, Scotland. Graduating from the University of Aberdeen, he entered the British Postal Service and co-authored the Textbook in Telegraphy, a book that became a standard text book on the topic for a considerable time. Telegraphy in the Cape After he worked in India for its telegraph service, he emigrated to the Cape Colony in 1877 and became the general manager of telegraphy. He would retire from the service in 1885. The Cape had recently wrested a degree of independence from Britain under the "Responsible Government" system, and its first Prime Minister John Molteno was embarking on a massive expansion in the country's infrastructure. Sivewright was one of the telegraphy experts which the Cape government imported to develop a telecommunications system for the country. From 1877 Sivewright helped to plan and construct the telegraphy networks for the Cape Colony, and then, up until 1881 likewise for the Transvaal, the Natal Colony and the Orange Free State. Politics and Cecil John Rhodes In 1887 Sivewright became involved in politics, after he joined the Afrikaner Bond in Cape Town, and he was elected as the Bond representative of Griqualand East in 1888.