Portuguese Curator of Natives Transvaal – Official Mail - Revised.

The envelope (cover)
The cover illustrated above, no doubt originated from the Curator’s office, which was located at the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association Ltd. receiving compound (called Mzilikazi) in Eloff Street, Johannesburg, through which all new recruits passed on arrival. The envelope is approximately 9 x 4 inches and is blank on the reverse side. The address side is officially printed in black: 'ON HIS MOST FAITHFUL MAJESTIE’S SERVICE' / 'S.N.R.' and to the left a large coat of arms which includes a crown with 'CURADDRIA DOS INDIGENAS' above and 'DO GOVERNO PORTUGUEL, / JOHANNESBURG' below.

Addressed to the 'Cooperative Exchange Box 6403 Local' (Johannesburg) it entered the post on 25^th January 1911. The purple oval handstamp reads 'PORTUGUESE CURATOR OF NATIVES' / 'TRANSVAAL' / 'OFFICIAL.' with a centred crown.

A blue crayon has been used to delete 'ON HIS MOST FAITHFUL MAJESTIE’S SERVICE' and the crown in the large coat of arms. Perhaps this was thought to be unconvincing and as the print is very faint, the question arises as to whether the envelope was treated in some way in an attempt to remove the print, or had it just faded. The decision to delete all reference to the monarchy would have been taken as the Portuguese monarchy (during October 1910) had been deposed in a republican uprising by the armed forces and Manoel II was to spend his days in exile in Twickenham, England.

Office of the Portuguese Curator of Natives
Black labourers tramping from Portuguese East Africa possessions (Moçambique), sometimes with Governments’ assistance, left to work in Natal, Cape, Kimberly and later the Witwatersrand and were an important source of male black labour in southern Africa. In addition to this, the wages of returning men and various taxes collected were a vital source of income for Portuguese East Africa.¹ According to Harries,² following the crisis of the ‘Jameson Raid’ the ZAR (Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek) attempted to bribe the Portuguese Consul in Pretoria in the hope that he would influence the lifting of restrictions on such labour. The ZAR and Portuguese governments held talks which soon foundered, on account of the Portuguese wish to install their own official in Johannesburg to oversee the importation and taxation of labour. Later, in November 1897, the two governments and the mining industry agreed to the appointment of a Portuguese protector called a 'Curator' of natives to operate on the Witwatersrand following concessions on the reduction of fees on ‘passports’ and recruiting licences. The official role of a Curator continued with the agreements of 18^th December 1901 and 1^st April, 1909 and on into the Union of South Africa.

Because of the controversy, from 1904, regarding the recruitment and transportation from China,^2a of ‘Chinese Indentured Labour’ to work on the Witwatersrand Gold Fields^2b it was clear that, the House of Commons, in London, would be concerned about yet another new agreement with a foreign country. The new Convention of April 1909 would replace Chinese labour, who were returning home to China, and guarantee future labour for the mines. In a Commons debate the Under-Secretary for the Colonies, Colonel H. Seely, was asked by Mr. Staveley-Hill, if Portuguese labourers were to be confined to compounds. He also asked the Prime Minister (H.H. Asquith) if these Portuguese labourers would be subject to the Transvaal Ordinance of 1904 which was used for the Chinese. Colonel Seely replied that the Portuguese native will, when on the mines, live like other natives in a compound, and will require, like other natives, a pass when he wishes to leave the mine. He will not, be like the Chinaman, who were imported under special legislation and subjected to-special restrictions, which place him, if he gets outside Witwatersrand district, practically in the position of an outlaw. Before authorising Lord Selborne to sign the Convention His Majesty’s Government satisfied themselves by telegraph communication that the 1904 Ordinance would not become operative to Portuguese labour.³

The job of the Curator as set out in the 1909 (1^st April) convention⁴ was to collect all fees payable to the curator, grant or refuse the extension of Portuguese passes to clandestine immigrants, promote registration, organize a deposit and transfer agency for moneys belonging to Portuguese natives, ascertain the allotment of labourers to the different mines for the purpose of recording their places of employment and to have a better understanding with the Transvaal authorities. The Portuguese curator was entitled to receive a fee of one shilling and sixpence for every three months or part thereof, in respect of every Portuguese labourer who had been in the Transvaal for more than one year. The fee was paid to the Curator by the employer.

Between 1904 and 1930, the majority of black African labour employed in the Transvaal gold and coal-mining industries, were from the East Coast. (i.e. Portuguese East Africa, including districts north of latitude 22 deg. south.)⁵.

The envelope (cover)
The brown envelope is 6 x 3½ inches and is blank on the reverse side. Dating from 1942, the WWII period stampless official envelope has ‘S.’ and ‘R.’ either side of the Portuguese Coat-of-Arms printed at top (believed to stand for ‘Serviço da República’ (Service of the Republic). Addressed to Chaka’s Kraal (Zululand), with an 'EMPANGENI' (Natal) double circle datestamp at upper right dated 28^th January. The large oval cachet at upper left reading ‘CURATOR OF PORTUGUESE NATIVES / OFFICIAL’ with central Portuguese Coat-of-Arms struck in violet.

Conclusion
Therefore the second cover, illustrated here confirms that the ‘Portuguese Curator of Natives’ continued into the Union of South Africa WWII period.

Postscript
In the original article Joan and I attempted to pursue the questions that came to mind when we first acquired the 1911 envelope. It was hoped that those who have any information about this type of postal stationery, the possible deleting of print, etc. would in due course respond. Now that a second cover, dating from the 1940s, has surfaced, it establishes that the Portuguese Curator of Natives department continued to function for a much longer period than was first inveighed. Clearly more research is needed.

Acknowledgements
I thank Alan MacGregor and Ann Stone for their help updating this article.

Notes
(a) The Curator was frequently referred to in Government papers and elsewhere as 'Portuguese Superintendent'.

(b) The 'Instructions of the Portuguese Superintendent of Natives to his representatives' are printed on page 679 of the Staatscourant der Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, of 18^th May, 1898.

References
1 Frankel, S.H., (1938), Capital Investment in Africa its course and effects, O.U.P., p.369.

2 Harries, H., (1994) Work, Culture, and Identity, Migrant Laborers in Mozambique and South Africa, c.1860-1910, Portsmouth, N.H., Johannesburg and London, pp.130, 138, 167, 179-180, 197.

2a Woolgar, J., (2010), Chinese Indentured Labour on the Witwatersrand Gold Fields illustrated by Picture Postcards published between 1904 and 1910, including an analysis of postcard and covers, p.19, England. There is a Appraisal of this book on this website, 'Witwatersrand Chinese Labour'.

2b - see Other pages on this website: 'Transvaal Picture Postcards' - 'Chinese Indentured Labour on the Witwatersrand Gold Fields'.

3 Hansard, debate of 13^th July 1909, vol.7, cc.1843-4.

4 Convention between the Governor of the Transvaal and the Portuguese province of Mozambique, 1^st April 1909, signed by William Waldegrave, Earl of Selborne, on behalf of the British Government, and Lieutenant-colonel of the general staff, Thomaz Antonio Garcia Rosado.

5 van der Horst, S.T., (1942), Native Labour in South Africa, O.U.P., London, pp.204, 216.