In September 1933 R.D.H. Barry, Judge President of the Cape and Orange Free State Native Appeal Court (NAC), denied Selbourne Bokwe’s appeal for a reversal of the decision in a case in which he had been the defendant, first brought before the Native Commissioner’s Court (NCC), Victoria East, in May of that year.1 Barry, in his judgement, upheld the decision of Assistant Commissioner Nel to award Miss Kabane, Bokwe’s former lover, £55 in damages - £5 for Bokwe’s breach of promise and £50 for the damages as a result of a pregnancy that had occurred during their relationship.