How the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic spread in South Africa

The 1918 pandemic known as the Spanish flu was so named because it was the press in neutral Spain that first reported on a new flu. During World War I (1914–1918), the press in many countries was restricted. Spain did not impose press restrictions. The pandemic did not start in Spain.

Between March 1918 and August 1919, the pandemic involved three waves and killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide. It occurred in three waves – March 1918, September–November 1918, and early 1919.

In the first wave in March 1918, many soldiers in a military camp in Kansas, USA, fell ill with a virulent influenza strain. Most of them were booked off sick for two to three weeks and recovered slowly. This first wave spread from the USA to Europe and other parts of the world as American soldiers were moved to battlefields. By late 1918, infected soldiers returning home carried a deadlier strain.

In June 1918, newspapers in South Africa carried a short report of the new form of influenza in Europe, reporting that work in a munitions factory had been suspended for a week as so many women were sick, and that sick soldiers were quarantined. The next report was a month later in July when it was reported that of the 3,000 prisoners of war in Bramley Camp in Hampshire, 1,000 had influenza. On 03 September 1918, it was reported that Commandant James RICHARDSON of Witpoortjie was not able to work as he was ill with influenza.

The second wave of the pandemic was deadlier and was reported in Europe in August 1918. It spread from Brest in France to two other wartime ports, Boston in the USA and Freetown in Sierra Leone. In early September, two troopships, the Jaroslav and the Veronej, carrying over 2,000 soldiers of the South African Native Labour Corps returning home from France and Belgium, docked in Freetown where influenza was already raging.

By the time the ships reached Cape Town, 43 cases of flu had occurred on board the first ship, 13 of them requiring hospitalisation at the military hospital in Woodstock. The rest of the men were put under quarantine in a military camp at Rosebank. After no new cases were reported, three days later the soldiers in Rosebank were allowed to board trains home. A day after they had left, staff at the military camp, military hospital and the transport unit started getting sick. Reports were also coming in of sick dockworkers. About a week later, after the soldiers had disembarked from the trains, a similar pattern emerged in towns, villages and rural areas situated along the railway lines.

On 17 September, it was reported that the “Spanish influenza” was in Cape Town and a few returning soldiers were sick. On 21 September it was reported that influenza was still raging in Sierra Leone and hundreds of deaths had occurred. On the same day, it was reported that a “severe form of influenza” was in Durban and there were sick soldiers in barracks after disembarking in Durban.

On 24 September, a report said that influenza had broken out on mines in the Witwatersrand, with the first case reported on 22 September. On the Village Main Reef there were 110 cases; on the City and Suburban 304 cases; and a smaller number on the Ferreira Deep. Those affected reported the first sign was a sore throat, tiredness and weakness in the legs. On 25 September, miners were not allowed to leave the mine compounds and no visitors were allowed. Blood samples from some of the infected were sent to the South African Institute for Medical Research for further investigation. Cape Town had reported one death from influenza for the last couple of months – a coloured man who had been in Natal.

On 25 September City and Suburban reported 30 new cases and 137 recoveries. Ferreira Deep also reported similar numbers. Village Main Reef had 21 new cases and 32 recoveries. In Roodepoort, 25 new cases were reported at Bantjes Consolidated. By 27 September, some 200 cases had been treated on the Porges and South mines in Randfontein.

The Chamber of Mines released a statement saying that the outbreak would affect the operations and profits of most mines for September and October. In the last two days influenza had spread rapidly, with over 10,000 cases, the largest numbers being native miners. Five mines – Village Main Reef, the City and Suburban, the Village Deep, the City Deep, the Ferreira Deep, and the Crown Mines – were all affected. In Randfontein there were 1,500 cases and 800 at Wit Deep. Robinson Deep reported 1,400 native cases and 200 in white men including eight officials. Mines on the East Rand each had cases in the hundreds.

The Cape Argus reported on 01 October that the daily deaths in the city had soared to nearly eight times the usual daily figure of ten. The working-class areas were hardest hit: District Six, Bo-Kaap, Little Sicily, Woodstock, Salt River, the native locations at the docks and Ndabeni township. Cape Town City Council divided the city into districts, each served by a relief food depot and providing soup kitchens and free medicines. Committees organised burials, transport, and cleaning and disinfecting of streets. Six temporary hospitals were set up and volunteers reported for duty. A number of public departments and businesses were affected by illness. About 400 dockworkers were affected. The General Post Office reported a number of cases, and six shopkeepers had to close their premises due to illness. On 10 October 1918, 442 deaths were recorded.

On 02 October it was reported that there were six or seven deaths on East Rand mines, and 250 whites were affected. Kimberley reported five deaths – two in Kimberley and three in Beaconsfield. Four were labourers and a fifth was a prisoner at Kimberley Gaol. Out of the 150 prisoners, 130 were affected, and out of the 27 staff, 20 were affected. De Beers stopped operations at the Dutoitspan mine. Three medical doctors were affected. Later in the day, another 11 deaths were reported in Kimberley.

By 05 October, public performances were being cancelled in Johannesburg. On 08 October, pneumonia complications were reported in patients on the Rand. Brixton Cemetery was handling more funerals than usual, having 236 burials, of which 42 were of whites, in the past seven days. On 04 October, there were 49 burials at Brixton – 38 coloureds and 11 whites. The Witwatersrand Central School Board closed all schools on 05 October, although King Edward VII School, Jeppe High School, and the Johannesburg High School for Girls remained open. The South African Railways requested long-distance passengers to provide their own bedding as the railways’ laundry facilities were short-staffed due to illness. At Park Station in Johannesburg, five men out of 34 were off sick. The mines were all dealing with hundreds of cases. The telegraphic services in Cape Town and Johannesburg were limited by the illness of many telegraphists.

In 1918, almost 70% of the South African population lived in rural areas – the southern Cape, the Transkei territories, the Natal hinterland, the northern, western and eastern Transvaal. These areas were not as well connected by rail as the major cities and towns, and the pandemic reached them as infected people passed through or returned home.

Municipalities, village management boards, local resident magistrates, charity groups and volunteers set up efforts to help the sick, distribute soup and food, and help with burials. In 1918, doctors had no knowledge of the influenza virus – it was only first identified in 1933. There were no antibiotics and antivirals yet.

When the supply of coffins in Cape Town ran out, carpenters at the Railway Workshops in Salt River were called on to make emergency coffins. A special train left Cape Town station for Maitland cemetery with the bodies of victims and the mourners.

Newspapers started reporting deaths of prominent residents from influenza. Hyman ABRAHAMSON, solicitor, died on 04 October. He had been ill for a week. He was buried at Brixton Cemetery. He was a partner in the firm Allan and Abrahamson in the Aegis Building. His partner, Major Forsyth ALLAN, was in Europe on active service. Ernest Victor BLOMQUIST also died on 04 October. He worked in the estates department of the Rand Mines at Corner House. Ahmed Mahomed CACHALIA, chairman of the British Indian Association, died on 06 October, after being ill for a week.

On 09 October health authorities made a decision to take over the Twist Street School as a temporary hospital. The hospital depended mainly on voluntary aid workers and was equipped by the military at Roberts Heights with 200 beds. The General Hospital in Johannesburg had 259 more patients than it was built for. Some schools, including Benoni Central School, Vogelfontein School in Boksburg, and the Springs government school, were converted into temporary hospitals.

On 08 October Brixton Cemetery handled 86 burials, including 16 whites. Six collieries were closed as about 6,000 labourers and staff were ill. The gold mines had reported between 300 to 400 deaths of native miners.

Hugh JOCELYNE of the art furnishing firm in Joubert Street died on 08 October. Influenza also claimed the life of Herbert THIEM, owner of the Trocadero Bar on the corner of Rissik and Pritchard Streets. Casper Jacobus VAN ZYL of the Rates Section in the Manager’s Office at the South African Railways died a week before his planned wedding day. Heinrich Christian BECKER, member of the House of Assembly for Ladismith and chief government whip, died on 09 October at the Kensington Nursing Home in Johannesburg. He was affected by influenza while travelling by train to Johannesburg.

Dr James Alexander THWAITS of Jeppe Street died on 11 October. Eduardo MANERA, an Italian and hotel owner on the Rand, died on 08 October. He was travelling by train from Cape Town to Johannesburg when he became ill and died in Bloemfontein. At the Malay Location, a white man had gone to an Indian shop and found it closed. He saw the owner lying behind the counter and, after forcibly opening the door, also found two shop assistants dying.

By mid-October, there were 100 cases in Bredasdorp. At Smartt Syndicate’s farms in Britstown, the manager, Mr MUGGLESTONE, was ill and his son Charles was in a serious condition. Two hundred cases were reported in Richmond (Cape), including two medical doctors. In Touws River, there was hardly a household unaffected. In Oudtshoorn, several cases led to the closure of schools, churches and places of entertainment. Simon’s Town had 66 deaths, including 17 whites.

Kimberley was awaiting the arrival of six more doctors. The death toll on 12 October for the Kimberley municipal area was 187, including 36 whites. In Durban, several hundred soldiers returning home were quarantined on Salisbury Island. In Cape Town, between 01–13 October, there were an estimated 5,000 deaths of which 75% were of coloured and native people. All places of entertainment were still closed. On 12 October, 705 gallons of soup were distributed, on 13 October 505 gallons, as well as 7,000 bottles of medicine.

George Murray CHANDLER (41), a produce merchant and cartage contractor of Krugersdorp, died on 14 October. He started his business in Krugersdorp in 1895 with his brother Charles. They were prominent in the town’s social and sporting circles. George was the brother-in-law of Dr Walter ADAM.

On 23 October, two cases of smallpox were discovered in the Brixton area of Johannesburg during the search for influenza cases. The sufferers were members of a Dutch family and were taken to the Infectious Diseases Hospital.

The third wave of the pandemic reached South Africa in July 1919. Its impact was not as severe as the second wave, which was when most people died.

It was estimated that about 60% of the South African population had contracted the virus. Within six weeks, between 300,000 and 350,000 people died in South Africa. The country was one of the five worst-affected countries in the world. The pandemic claimed men and women between 18 and 40, including many pregnant women. Deaths from acute pneumonia, which was incurable at the time, rose. October became known as Black October due to so many deaths and funerals.

In 1925 there was a significant drop in the number of children of school-going age, as a direct result of the high death rate among pregnant women during the pandemic. There were an estimated 900,000 children who were suddenly orphaned and destitute. Twenty-three orphanages were built across the country. Siblings were often placed with different members of their extended families, sometimes never to be reunited again. Those who could, started taking out life insurance policies.