Beyond The Reach Of Empire: Wolseley _TOP_

To conclude, an examination of the endless despatches and debates concerning the problem of overcrowding in the prisons of the colonial Natal, from the beginning to the end of the colonial period, must, it is submitted, lead one to the conclusion that the problem was much more deeply rooted - socially, politically and economically - than many commentators may be prepared to admit. It is beyond the scope of this article to propose definitive "solutions" to the present problem of overcrowding within the South African penal system. It may be tentatively argued, however, that what was true of prison overcrowding in colonial Natal was, generally speaking, to prove true of overcrowding in South African prisons in the century-and-a-bit which followed. One is struck by the fact that this scourge simply refused to disappear, turning up over and over again, from year to year, from decade to decade, and from one century to the next.83 This article has shown that prison overcrowding is a deeply rooted phenomenon, with considerable historical reach. Whether or not it is a structural feature of this form of punishment in South Africa, along the functionalist lines discussed in the introduction to Part 2 of this article, is a matter for further research.

Beyond the Reach of Empire: Wolseley

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