Policing the Witwatersrand: a history of the South African Republic Police, 1886-1899

[摘要] English: This thesis fills a lacuna in the historiography of the institutional dimensions of colonial policing in southern Africa. The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886 led to the rapid industrialisation of the South African Republic's agrarian based economy. The mines and resultant industries attracted a diverse group of people from across southern Africa and beyond to the newly established town of Johannesburg. The government, however, struggled to accommodate the needs of this society and was intermittently branded as an impediment to development and progress. Located within the broader framework of colonial history, the establishment and development of a police force offers a particular lens through which to examine the political, social and economic forces that characterised this period. This thesis aims to account for the institutional development of the South African Republic Police. Concomitantly, it places these developments within the context of late nineteenth-century state formation in colonial southern Africa. Based on a close inspection of archival sources, the thesis follows a largely chronological narrative, in which particular themes accounting for the development of the police are highlighted. It gives a detailed analysis of the bureaucratic and administrative strife between the officials tasked with law enforcement and colonial administration. The thesis argues that the alleged inefficiency of the police was directly linked to the battle for command and control of the force. By examining aspects of recruitment, reorganisation and reform, the thesis also addresses conceptions of colonial identity and politics. Race, class and ethnicity influenced interaction within the police force, but also had important consequences for the relationship between the police and the wider society. The evolution of the police is therefore investigated by accounting for aspects relating to crime and crisis; the view of the police held by the policed; the interaction between the police and the mining industry, and the role the police played in heightening the tension between Pretoria and London in the run-up to the South African War. By accounting for the institutional development of the police, more insight is gained into the role of the police in colonial society. The latter also casts more light on our understanding of the South African Republic's administrative functioning and its internal politics.

[发布机构] University of the Free State