Segregation and plague: King William's Town and the plague outbreaks of 1900-1907

Abstract

Studies in the history of bubonic plague in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth revealed the close connection between the Victorian obsession with sanitation and the development of urban segregation in South Africa. The response of the medical officials and local authorities in the cities was mirrored in King William's Town, where racial prejudges were compounded by the Town Council's incompetence and reluctance to incur any expenditure from its own coffers.