Postcards showing uniformed mine police

Updated: 24 Jul 2019

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.

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 28). Postcards showing uniformed mine police. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/I-0055290

South African History Online (2011) 'Postcards showing uniformed mine police', South African History Online, 28 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/I-0055290 (Accessed: 6 September 2026).

South African History Online, Postcards showing uniformed mine police [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/I-0055290, (accessed 6 September 2026).

"Postcards showing uniformed mine police." South African History Online, 28 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/I-0055290. Accessed 6 Sept. 2026.

South African History Online. "Postcards showing uniformed mine police." South African History Online. March 28, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/I-0055290.