ABSTRACT

On 15 May 1879, 60 Xhosa – primarily women and children – were forcibly removed by the Cape government from an indentured labour market in Cape Town called the ‘Kaffir Depot’. The Xhosa interpreter who worked at the Depot, Shadrach Boyce Mama, was present at their removal and witnessed one of the women screaming and attempting to kill herself rather than be ripped from her children. In response to this moment of intense colonial violence, Mama fought throughout 1879 to publicise the Cape government's cruel actions. This paper tells the story of Mama's campaign on the behalf of the women and children expelled from the Depot, and demonstrates how Mama moved fluidly through local newspapers, colonial politics and imperial humanitarian spaces to demand justice for those so brutally ejected from Cape Town.

摘要

1879年5月15日，开普省政府强行将60名科萨人（主要是妇女和儿童）从开普敦一个被称为“卡菲尔仓库”的契约劳动力市场中撤出。在该仓库工作的科萨语译员Shadrach Boyce Mama在现场时被带走，目睹其中一名妇女在尖叫并试图自杀而不是从孩子中被骗。为了应对这一刻板的殖民暴力时刻，妈妈在整个1879年进行了斗争，以宣传开普政府的残酷行动。本文以代表从基地被驱逐的妇女和儿童的故事讲述了妈妈的竞选活动，并展示了妈妈如何通过当地报纸，殖民地政治和帝国人道主义空间流畅地移动，要求为从开普敦如此残酷驱逐出境的人伸张正义。