Postcards showing uniformed mine police

Postcards showing uniformed mine police, the bottom card probably reflecting their participation in the 1906 Chinese New Year celebrations; postally used at, respectively, JOHANNESBURG, 19/02/1906; and PORT ELIZABETH, 13/05/1907

In 1905-06, Britain’s Foreign Labour Department recorded convictions totalling 13,532, of which 11,754 were for minor offences, against a labour complement of some 47 600. Compound managers failed to learn Chinese, and the workers could not speak English. The mines therefore relied on Chinese translators and “compound policemen” to communicate with their workers.