Dagga and Data: Cannabis, Race, and Policing in Midcentury South Africa, 1932–1960

Abstract

The prohibition of dagga (cannabis) in South Africa, according to the Customs and Excise Duties Amendment Act No. 35 of 1922, affected Africans who had long-standing histories of dagga consumption as a part of everyday practice of their culture. Authorities worked to control the possession, cultivation, and use of dagga and to counter the illicit dagga economies that emerged during this period. Police annual records reveal a bigger picture of policing midcentury (1932–60), a period spanning the colonial and apartheid eras that saw significant changes in policies affecting civic liberties generally. Policing affected areas like the Transvaal and Natal provinces, based on geographical locations and racial groups, as the focus shifted from demand to supply in the 1950s. This article investigates three factors to account for the pattern of seizures and arrests in the 1950s: cannabis laws, changes in government from colonial to apartheid, and the 1952 report of the Interdepartmental Committee of the Abuse of Dagga.