year Hendrik van der Bijl was appointed chairman of the new corporation.

  The Government preferred to think that in building the Pretoria steelworks it would promote further industrial expansion in the private sector. It was clear to Iscor's board members that if Usco succumbed in competition with Iscor, the charge would be laid that rather than promoting industry in the private sector, Iscor was destroying it. Accordingly, the directors of Iscor and Usco entered into negotiations and formulated an agreement which provided for the co-existence of both enterprises. In terms of the agreement Iscor acquired the controlling interest in the Union Steel Corporation; and in its future role Usco was to produce special steels and products which generally would not present competition to Iscor. The board of the Union Steel Corporation ratified the agreement in April 1930 and Vereeniging residents breathed a sigh of relief. The crisis had passed and the town, and its 6,000 residents, were assured of their future.
  Over two years earlier, late in 1927, the availability of steel from Usco had drawn to Vereeniging the world wide tube making company, Stewarts and Lloyds.The company provided a market for Usco's steel at a time when the corporation needed support, and both Stewarts and Lloyds and Usco were to become the primary industries which attracted ancillary industries and finally led to the industrialisation of Vereeniging.
  Lt. Col. Karel Rood, who had accompanied the municipal delegation to Cape Town during the steel­works crisis, directed his early efforts in public affairs towards the establishment of the town's identity.
  When Rood arrived Vereeniging was a sub-magisterial district forming part of both Heidelberg and Potchefstroom, a situation which motivated him as chairman of the Chamber of Commerce to make representations which led to Vereeniging's elevation to the status of an independent magisterial district. Rood's efforts also led to the proclamation of Vereeniging as a separate military district and he became the first commandant of the local Skiet Commando in 1921, an appointment he relinquished when he entered politics. Later, he served as a member of the

Mr. Mallinson is of the opinion that everything possible is being done by his co-directors at present working actively in Cape Town. He holds the opinion that should the Government establish a steelworks in Pretoria, the Vereeniging works will not be closed down, but will remain very much as they were. It is likely, however, that the works at Newcastle will close down."
  At the meeting Leslie said he "did not think the capitalistic outlook should concern the Council very much as the capitalists concerned would look after their own interests."