Priceless account of Spanish flu epidemic
IN A TIME OF PLAGUE: MEMORIES OF THE ‘SPANISH’ FLU EPIDEMIC OF 1918 IN SOUTH AFRICA COLLECTED AND EDITED BY: HOWARD PHILLIPS
Van Riebeeck Society for the Publication of Southern African Historical Documents PERHAPS you have walked through old graveyards somewhere in South Africa and wondered what happened to those lying under the tombstones. Sometimes it is the dates that can set you off trying to figure this out.
Graveyards across the country have tombstones with the date 1918. Without knowing any more you could assume that these were from World War I or look further to the other event of 1918, the Spanish flu, also known as Black October.
The Spanish flu was called that because everyone thought it came from Spain. It had its origin in the movement of troops in World War I. It spread like wildfire through South Africa starting in Cape Town, moving to KZN, the Free State, and ending in Joburg following the railway line, and then ended as quickly as it came.
Out of a population of about three million, 300 000 people died. It soon became known as the “three-day flu”. If you got through three days, you survived.
This exploration by Howard Phillips was set into motion in the 1970s when he called for first hand accounts of the flu. There were letters and interviews on tape, faithfully transcribed. These make up this volume that also marks the last time such documents will be published under the auspices of the Van Riebeeck Society, as it changes its name to Historical Publications Southern Africa.
While there was “a sadness in the air”, this is not a maudlin book. The plague of flu was devastating but humour surfaced. A fear that probably many people suffer from is the fear of being buried alive. The flu was so virulent that people could be walking in the morning, and be dead by nightfall.
Medical care was in the form of beef soup, buchu brandy, lemons and quinine, and a clove of garlic tied on a string and worn around the neck. Some people were quick to take advantage of the situation and make a fast buck by selling lemons for a shilling each. Cape Town had to be divided into sections to prevent overlap of medical doctors being called too far out.
A system of red and white flags or cloths was used. Coffin makers were so overwhelmed that there was neither the wood nor the labour to make enough coffins. People were just wrapped in blankets, loaded onto scotch carts. Communal graves were dug to cope with the dead.
Apart from the history of the flu, the book makes a fascinating read into what Cape Town was actually like in 1918.
There was a network of telephone lines and there were cars. Fresnaye, Sea Point, was attractively wooded and rural. “…we lived on the Tygerberg…” and it was “a nice ride on horseback” to “Blouberg Strand” where “my family had a house”, lent to friends for holidays, and where they would catch and feast on fish like galjoen. Equally interesting is the language of the people. Unedited, you can hear the voices as they tell their memories.
Cape Town during the height of the epidemic “was a dead city”, the beaches were empty, and shops were closed. Some people left to go back home to their villages, so unwittingly spread the virus.
It moved to Kimberley, Bloemfontein and finally ending in Joburg. De Beers in Kimberley closed down. “If de Beers was affected, then Kimberley was in trouble.” Kimberley was quickly divided into areas, having learnt from Cape Town. They also learnt that longterm rest was necessary for recovery, sometimes well over a month. People in their 20s to 40s were worst affected, sometimes because they got up too soon and collapsed with pneumonia. Scores of children were orphaned. The information in this book is priceless, creating a vivid account.