JABULANI SIKHAKHANE: Minerals Council’s migrant labour move closes a sordid chapter
The decision by the Minerals Council SA to phase out the use of workers from neighbouring countries in SA mines over the next eight years will close a chapter in the country’s sordid economic and political history. It’s a chapter on how the development of mining, which spurred wider economic growth, depended on cheap black migrant labour.
The mining industry, gold in particular, played a key role in SA’s economic transformation. Articulating the importance of gold mining to SA, economic historian Cornelis Willem de Kiewiet described the industry as one “which feared neither locusts nor cattle diseases, neither drought nor summer floods.… Its product always commanded a ready sale in the financial centres of the world. War or peace, depression or inflation — none seemed to affect the demand.”..
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.