Natal’s Native Beer Act Enables Municipal Beer Monopolies

In 1908, Natal legislation authorized municipalities to monopolize the brewing and sale of African beer. Durban opened its first municipal beer hall in 1909 and used beer revenue to finance hostels, policing, and other parts of a racially segregated system of urban administration. The monopoly displaced or criminalized many African women who earned income by brewing and selling beer. Known as the Durban System, it turned an indigenous drink into both a revenue source and an instrument for controlling Black urban labor.