The racialised diet scales of Transvaal prisons : Chinese and Indian prisoner resistance, 1901–1911

Abstract

This article commences with an exploration of how the diet scales of the Transvaal prisons were underpinned by racial discrimination from 1901 to 1911: people of colour received smaller varieties and quantities of food than white prisoners. To highlight how the racialised diet scales were implemented as a punitive measure, the article provides a discussion of how Chinese prisoners were placed on restricted diets to make their imprisonment inimical and forbidding. The study then proceeds to investigate two groups that levelled complaints against the racialised diet scales. The fi rst group was the Chinese prisoners at the Johannesburg gaol that served long sentences. The discussion of this group reveals the agency of the inmates, who committed a hunger strike to protest the diet scale. The second group consisted of the Chinese and Indian organisations that supported the imprisoned satyagraha campaigners. Through the lobbying efforts of these organisations, the Transvaal government was constantly brought to address, as well as pressed to attend to the issues about the diet scales. In sum, the two groups championed a revised diet that was respectful of the heritage, habits, and cultures of the Chinese and Indian prisoners.