Forceful Sexual Behaviours Against Women in Qonce (King William’s Town)’s Townships in the 1950s and 1960s

Abstract

Both anthropology and history authors have written about the increase in predatory masculine sexual identities amongst the AmaXhosa, including rural and urban attitudes, and within such scholarship, issues such as rape have also emerged. However, the issue of rape has not been fully addressed, especially by anthropologists in the mid-twentieth century. The purpose of this article is to address the issue of rape by men amongst the AmaXhosa communities of King William’s Town (known today as Qonce) in the 1950s and 1960s. This is done by using interviews recorded and transcribed by Percy Qayiso, a Black interlocutor and research assistant. Qayiso’s interviews, which initially focussed on “morality,” included rape testimonies and perspectives on rape. Although this article makes use of primary sources from the mid-twentieth century, the arguments presented about violence against women and their bodies resonate in contemporary discourse. Some contemporary scholars have articulated two aspects related to this article. First, liberal anthropologists like Phillip Mayer used Black interlocutors without properly citing their contribution and therefore forced them to exist in their shadow. Secondly, the rise of gender-based violence towards female persons in South Africa has had scholars from different schools of thought seeking ways to trace the genesis of this widespread phenomenon. While historians have not dominated academia in this regard, this article attempts to articulate perspectives related to violence against women.