An Uncomfortable Paradise

Simon's Town, the port city situated along the False Bay Coast of Cape Town, South Africa, is a popular tourist destination with a quintessentially British feel because of its historical links to the British Royal Navy. Whereas this aspect of the town's history has been well-documented, there is another aspect of Simon's Town's history that has been sadly neglected. This is the story of a number of people who, at a certain point in history, found themselves in the desperate predicament of having to navigate their lives as "slaves" in Simon's Town. They were expected to behave not as people, but as human chattel whose bodies were owned by another: to work, inflict punishment upon and use—sexually or otherwise—as they pleased. They were listed in the inventories of "slave-holders" along with household goods, livestock and cattle. For centuries their voices have been silenced, yet their existence resonates within every heritage building in the town and in the naval dockyard. An Uncomfortable Paradise tells the human stories of enslaved people and explores how the lives of "slave-holders", the indigenous people of the False Bay, and people referred to as "prize negroes," "Liberated Africans," "Free Blacks" and West African Krumen all became enmeshed with those who were enslaved in the district. Says the author: "Even before I started on my extensive archival journey into the history of slavery in Cape Town, I wondered how it was that people, including some of my ancestors, came to be enslaved." This book also takes a surprising turn as the author makes a startling discovery about a man named Cornelius September.