Black workers, typhoid fever and the construction of the Berg River – Saldanha military water pipeline, 1942 – 1943
Abstract
War creates a huge need for labour to support the war efforts of the belligerent parties.
In South Africa tens of thousands of ‘non-white’ workers were mobilised during the
Second World War to satisfy the Union Defence Force’s (UDF’s) labour needs at home
and abroad. This article, firstly, outlines the role of ‘non-white people’, particularly
black Africans, in the UDF with special reference to those employed within the Union of
South Africa. Secondly, it briefly delineates typhoid fever as an historical thorn in the
flesh of military forces up to the early 20th century. It then looks briefly into the
incidence of and perceptions on typhoid fever as a killer disease in South Africa on the
eve of the Second World War. Against that background, the article investigates the
employment of black workers on the construction of the Berg River-Saldanha Bay
military water pipeline and the UDF’s response to the threat and subsequent outbreak
of typhoid fever amongst the workers at the Berg River intake site in 1943. The article
concludes that the public health authorities and UDF were aware of the threat of typhoid
fever with regard to the Berg River water scheme, but did not take sufficient precautionary
measures, which could have had serious repercussions for the Allied war effort. This
incident should serve as a warning to the South African National Defence Force when
deploying on peace support operations on the African continent where typhoid fever
remains a serious threat next to Hiv/Aids.