The inheritance of colonial penological practices in the postcolonial and apartheid periods: A histography of South Africa

Hendrick Puleng Motlalekgosi

doi:10.47577/tssj.v27i1.5323

Abstract

Colonialism has had an influence on many sectors across the board in South Africa including the prison system among others. Its impact could be seen in the way prisoners were treated during the post-colonial era and apartheid era. This paper seeks to demonstrate the relationship between the colonial, post-colonial and apartheid penological practices by examining the treatment of prisoners during the said periods. Examination of this relationship may be useful in understanding what really informed the promulgation of racist policies during the post-colonial period and apartheid period. This paper contends that the legislation that was promulgated during the post-colonial and apartheid periods, which were legislative instruments on how prisoners were treated, were in fact a formalization and continuation of what had already being practiced during the colonial era. The following themes are central to this discourse: The colonial period between the 1840s and 1909; The post-colonial period between 1910 and 1948 and; The National Party era (apartheid era): 1948 – 1993.

Highlights

South African history is characterised by several phases, namely the colonial phase (1652 – 1910), the post-colonial phase (1910 – 1948), the apartheid phase (1948 – 1994), and the democratic phase (1994 to date)
The use of convict labour within the penal system of the Republic in the early 20th century was consistent with the colonial-era practices, which were to a certain extent informed by the legislative frameworks of respective colonies such as the Cape, Orange River, and Natal colonies
In the Natal Colony, racial segregation was entrenched to the extent that there was a proposal to build a new prison for European prisoners with the aim of reforming them by means of training and education, while non-European prisoners were subjected to harsh punishment, including hard manual labour

Summary

Introduction

South African history is characterised by several phases, namely the colonial phase (1652 – 1910), the post-colonial phase (1910 – 1948), the apartheid phase (1948 – 1994), and the democratic phase (1994 to date). In line with section 93(1) of the 1911 Act, section 75(1) gave prison authorities powers to enter into agreements for prisoner labour consistent with certain recommendations of the Lansdown Commission,1 as it states: Subject to the employment of prisoners upon public works as far as possible, the Commissioner may contract with any authority or divisional council or municipal council or other public body or with any person or body of persons for the employment of prisoners who are under sentence of imprisonment, upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed between such parties (South Africa, 1959:46).

Results

Conclusion