Abstract
<p>The development of mental health services in the Eastern Cape Province is inextricably entwined in South Africa’s colonial history and the racist policy of apartheid. Prior to the development of mental hospitals, mental health services were provided through a network of public and mission hospitals. This paper explores the development of early hospital and mental health services in the Eastern Cape from the time of the Cape Colony to the dissolution of apartheid in 1994, and highlights the influence of colonialism, race and legislation in the development of mental health services in this province. The objective is to provide a background of mental health services in order to identify the historical factors that have had an impact on the current shortcomings in the provision of public sector mental health services in the province. This information will assist in the future planning and development of a new service for the province without the stigma of the past. This research indicates that one lesson from the past should be the equitable distribution of resources for the provision of care for all that inhabit this province, as enshrined in South Africa’s constitution.</p><div> </div>
Highlights
Mental healthcare provision in the Eastern Cape Province is inextricably entwined with the province’s colonial past and, in later years, by the introduction of the policy of apartheid and the Bantustans
The objective of this article is to provide a background for the historical factors that have had an impact on the provision of public sector mental health services
History and geography played a pivotal role in shaping the Eastern Cape first into Bantustans and later the Eastern Cape Province in a democratic South Africa (SA) (Figs. 1 and 2)
Summary
Two races but not on an equal basis. Grey was of the opinion that the industrial relationship between the ‘European and the Kaffir should be that of employer and employee’. A significant victory for colonial authorities was the cattle killings that occurred between April 1856 and May 1857. Following the visions of a prophetess, the amaXhosa killed approximately 400 000 cattle on both sides of the Kei. Following the visions of a prophetess, the amaXhosa killed approximately 400 000 cattle on both sides of the Kei This forced submission to the colonial government and almost all the land of the AmaXhosa was given to white immigrants or black officials of the colonial government.[11,12]
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