ABSTRACT
The variations in the spelling and orthography of this word make it impossible to choose a title that uses only one spelling, thus the use of the two most common spellings.
Contrary to popular notions, the history of black or African policemen in South Africa is not the same as the history of white policemen. For one, African men were often recruited as auxiliaries or irregulars before being incorporated into a military or police corps. Secondly, the vocabulary used for thinking about the labour performed by African men was frequently linked to the “precolonial” concept of uNongqayi (the nightwatchman). This chapter will explore the use and abuse of the supposed isiZulu word for a sentinel and how this word was incorporated into the mindset of police and military officials who appropriated it for the purpose of identifying themselves with the power of indigenous notions of guardianship and authority. The chapter will show that it was not just in the interests of the military or the police to define the word “-nongqayi”, but that it was the job of missionary lexicographers to argue and debate with each other the proper meaning and function of the night watch. At times, the military and police use of “-nongqayi” matched the lexicographic entries of missionaries but at other times, meanings diverged. The confusion caused by these competing readings of precolonial Zulu ideas persists today and it is not the purpose of the chapter to attempt to resolve the inconsistencies. Rather, the aim of the chapter is to lay out the many routes that the word “-nongqayi” has taken to arrive at its irreducibility and enigma.
