Policing the Witwatersrand: a history of the South African Republic Police, 1886-1899
| dc.contributor.advisor | Phimister, Ian | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Koorts, Lindie | |
| dc.contributor.author | Muller, Cornelis Hermanus Muller | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2016-09-01T07:04:44Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2016-09-01T07:04:44Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2016-02 | |
| dc.description.abstract | English: This thesis fills a lacuna in the historiography of the institutional dimensions of colonial policing in southern Africa. The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886 led to the rapid industrialisation of the South African Republic’s agrarian based economy. The mines and resultant industries attracted a diverse group of people from across southern Africa and beyond to the newly established town of Johannesburg. The government, however, struggled to accommodate the needs of this society and was intermittently branded as an impediment to development and progress. Located within the broader framework of colonial history, the establishment and development of a police force offers a particular lens through which to examine the political, social and economic forces that characterised this period. This thesis aims to account for the institutional development of the South African Republic Police. Concomitantly, it places these developments within the context of late nineteenth-century state formation in colonial southern Africa. Based on a close inspection of archival sources, the thesis follows a largely chronological narrative, in which particular themes accounting for the development of the police are highlighted. It gives a detailed analysis of the bureaucratic and administrative strife between the officials tasked with law enforcement and colonial administration. The thesis argues that the alleged inefficiency of the police was directly linked to the battle for command and control of the force. By examining aspects of recruitment, reorganisation and reform, the thesis also addresses conceptions of colonial identity and politics. Race, class and ethnicity influenced interaction within the police force, but also had important consequences for the relationship between the police and the wider society. The evolution of the police is therefore investigated by accounting for aspects relating to crime and crisis; the view of the police held by the policed; the interaction between the police and the mining industry, and the role the police played in heightening the tension between Pretoria and London in the run-up to the South African War. By accounting for the institutional development of the police, more insight is gained into the role of the police in colonial society. The latter also casts more light on our understanding of the South African Republic’s administrative functioning and its internal politics. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | Afrikaans: Hierdie studie vul 'n leemte in die historiografie van die institusionele dimensies van koloniale polisiëring in Suider-Afrika. Die ontdekking van goud aan die Witwatersrand in 1886 het gelei tot die snelle industrialisasie van die Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek se landbou-georiënteerde ekonomie. Die myne en die voortspruitende nywerhede het 'n diverse groep mense van regoor Suider-Afrika en die buiteland na die nuutgestigte dorp, Johannesburg, gelok. Die regering het met tye gesukkel om aan die gemeenskap se behoeftes te voldoen en is gevolglik gebrandmerk as wisselvallig en beskou as 'n hindernis tot ontwikkeling en vooruitgang. Gegewe die raamwerk van koloniale geskiedenis, bied die vestiging en ontwikkeling van 'n polisiemag in hierdie tyd 'n bepaalde lens waardeur die politieke, maatskaplike en ekonomiese kwessies wat hierdie tydperk gekenmerk het, ondersoek kan word. Die doel van hierdie tesis is om die institusionele ontwikkeling van die Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek Polisie te ondersoek. Terselfdertyd plaas dit hierdie ontwikkeling binne die konteks van negentiende-eeuse staatsontwikkeling in koloniale Suider-Afrika. Op grond van ’n noukerige ontleding van 'n verskeidenheid argivale bronne, volg die tesis 'n grootliks kronologiese narratief waarin bepaalde temas aangaande die ontwikkeling van die polisie uitgelig word. Dit gee 'n gedetailleerde analise van die burokratiese en administratiewe twis tussen die amptenare wat verantwoordelik was vir wetstoepassing en koloniale administrasie. Die tesis voer aan dat die beweerde ondoeltreffendheid van die polisie direk gekoppel moet word aan die stryd om bevel en beheer oor die mag te bewerkstellig. Deur aspekte rakende werwing, herorganisasie en hervorming te ondersoek, spreek die tesis ook tot begrippe oor koloniale identiteit en politiek. Ras, klas en etnisiteit beïnvloed interaksie binne die polisiemag, maar het ook belangrike gevolge vir die verhouding tussen die polisie en die breër gemeenskap. Die evolusie van die polisiediens word dus ook ondersoek deur verantwoording te doen oor aspekte wat verband hou met misdaad en krisis; die beeld van die polisie by die samelewing; die interaksie tussen die polisie en die mynbedryf en die rol wat die polisie gespeel het tydens die toenemende spanning tussen Pretoria en Londen in die aanloop tot die Anglo-Boereoorlog. Deur die institusionele ontwikkeling van die polisie te bestudeer, word meer insig verkry in die rol wat die polisie gespeel het in die vorming van die koloniale samelewing. Laasgenoemde werp ook meer lig op ons begrip van die administratiewe funksionering en interne politiek van die Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. | af |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11660/4028 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher | University of the Free State | en_ZA |
| dc.rights.holder | University of the Free State | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Police | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Policing | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Bureaucracy | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Maladministration | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Reform | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Corruption | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Crime | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | South African Republic | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Nineteenth-century | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Colonialism | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Police--Witwatersrand (South Africa)--History | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Thesis (Ph.D. (Centre for Africa Studies))--University of the Free State, 2016 | en_ZA |
| dc.title | Policing the Witwatersrand: a history of the South African Republic Police, 1886-1899 | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_ZA |