Crime, community and police in Cape Town, 1825-1850

This thesis is primarily an examination of petty crime and law enforcement in Cape Town in the period 1825 -1850. This period was one of fundamental change in terms of the spatial and demographic growth of Cape Town, the diversifying economy and the changing legal status of firstly the Khoi and subsequently the slaves. These developments had significant ramifications on the level and nature of crime, and perceptions of crime and criminals. The creation of a technically 'free' population and the transition from slave to wage labour engendered a great deal of alarm among Cape Town's dominant classes. That they felt their dominance and hegemony threatened by the potentially challenging White, Khoi and Black under classes, entailed a re-assertion of their power. Control mechanisms instituted in response to this included the abortive Vagrancy Ordinance of 1834, the Masters and Servants' Ordinance of 1841, a revamped police force in 1840 and varying social control stratagems. These were all designed to bolster the power of the dominant classes and mould a pliable labour force inculcated with the morality of the dominant classes. The under classes proved very adept at side stepping the imposition of control. In this they were often unwittingly aided by the grossly unprofessional and incompetent police. The ascendancy of the dominant classes, however, was temporarily frustrated but never totally checked. Similar studies of crime and law enforcement in 19th Century Britain have greatly informed the manner in which this thesis was tackled, but the nature of the source material in Cape Town has necessitated a somewhat different approach. The incomplete nature of the Court Record Books meant that a statistical analysis was impossible. More fruitful data were the letter books of personnel and institutions involved in the running of Cape Town; the Superintendent of Police, the Attorney-General, Resident Magistrate and the Municipality. For more general attitudes letters to and editorials in the local press proved to be an invaluable key to an understanding of the mores and perceptions of the dominant classes.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Historical Studies

Year dc:date.issued

1986

Author dc:creator

• Elks, Katherine Dawn

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Worden, Nigel
• Bickford-Smith, Vivian

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17768

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/17768