Tortured bodies of five hanged men
It’s the 30th December 1808, 213 years ago on this day, and as people arise from their slumbers and go about their business along a few major roads in Cape Town they are stopped in their tracks at the macabre sight that greets them. Tortured bodies of five hanged men, tied upright and with chains slung around their shoulders and draped around their bodies is what met the gaze of the onlookers. The five were publicly executed on 29 December 1808, after Lord Caledon decreed the action arising from the guilty verdict and sentencing of the men on 7 December 1808, for their roles in the Red October revolt by 326 enslaved that had taken place from 26 October to 28 October in that fateful year of 1808. A notice is above each body nailed to the post which props up the bodies. The body of Louis of Mauritius was affixed to a stake and held in place by chains at the punishment poles near the citadel in Salt River, the place of execution reserved for slaves. The same was done with Irishman James