ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the background to the role of African women in the 1901 strike and in the following the struggle against the removal from Korsten, both a response to racially discriminatory laws to impose segregation. The plague broke out in 1901, first at Cape Town where the colonial government applied the Public Health Act to force Africans to move into Uitvlught, a segregated location built especially for Africans. Methods of eliminating slum housing in Port Elizabeth almost invariably included the use of public health regulations and prosecuting slum landlords. The Plague Board was established on April 22, 1901, under the Public Health Act to advise on how to handle the plague. In 1901 Port Elizabeth, many African women were less than interested in becoming domestic workers if they had other options, primarily because the work is long and hard, the employer demanding, and the pay and prestige low.
