Three cases of Buboinic plague are reported in Cape Town

Date: 21 Jul 1901
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Three cases of Bubonic plague were reported in Cape Town, South Africa. The first cases of Bubonic plague in Cape Town emerged on 1 February 1901. The disease then spread across the city resulting in the establishment of segregated residential areas with Africans being forced to move to the periphery of the city. African people and their residential areas were cited by the government as being responsible for the spread of the disease. The disease spread to other towns such as Port Elizabeth (PE) by mid 1901. As consequence, white people in PE forced black people to reside in designated areas such as New Brighton. Bubonic plague is a potentially fatal bacterial infection called "Yersina pestis”. It spread through a bite by fleas which live on animals such as black rats. The epidemic killed millions of Europeans in the Middle Ages.

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How we know this

01Boddy-Evans, A. ‘This Day in African History: 21 July’, from About.com Guide, [online], available at https://africanhistory.about.com(Accessed: 20 June 2013)
02Kugler, M. ‘Bubonic Plague’, from About.com Guide, [online], available at https://rarediseases.about.com(Accessed: 20 June 2013)
03South African History Online, ‘Bubonic plague breaks out in Cape Town’, [online], available at www.sahistory.org.za(Accessed: 20 June 2013)
04The Christian Advocate, Volume 76 p. 359

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2013, July 12). Three cases of Buboinic plague are reported in Cape Town. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0096046

South African History Online (2013) 'Three cases of Buboinic plague are reported in Cape Town', South African History Online, 12 July. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0096046 (Accessed: 24 July 2026).

South African History Online, Three cases of Buboinic plague are reported in Cape Town [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0096046, (accessed 24 July 2026).

"Three cases of Buboinic plague are reported in Cape Town." South African History Online, 12 July 2013, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0096046. Accessed 24 July 2026.

South African History Online. "Three cases of Buboinic plague are reported in Cape Town." South African History Online. July 12, 2013. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0096046.