South Africa—ever since vast quantities of gold had been discovered, the region had been gripped by a labor crisis. Countless people, dreaming of becoming rich overnight, had flocked to join the gold rush.
With the emergence of the first wave of nouveaux riches, the fever only burned hotter. Farms shut down, shops closed their doors, and even quite a few employees of the colonial government resigned to go prospecting for gold.
The shortage of manpower had become the colonial government's greatest immediate problem. Although the influx of outsiders had surged dramatically in recent times, it did little to help. These people were all gold prospectors; none of them intended to settle down and work locally.
The arrival of these outsiders had even thrown the order of South Africa into disarray. To maintain local stability, Governor Fikeni had expanded South Africa's police force threefold.
"Your Excellency, another 386 government employees submitted resignation letters last month, including 136 police officers. In accordance with regulations, we have approved the resignations of 194 people.
"We have been unable to find replacements for the rest in the short term, so we can only forcibly retain them. By regulation, this cannot last more than three months, which has placed enormous pressure on our recruitment efforts.
"Influenced by the gold rush, the number of people applying for government posts has fallen sharply. The Personnel Department has already lowered its recruitment standards to the minimum, yet it still cannot fulfill its recruitment targets.
"The Personnel Department recommends requesting assistance from the mainland, asking the central government to coordinate the transfer of personnel from other parts of Africa to take over these positions and ensure the normal operation of the colonial government."
Colonial government employees could not simply resign whenever they wished. The government, like any individual, signed labor