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The Malawi Government and South African Labour Recruiters, 1974-92

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Wiseman Chijere Chirwa (1996). The Malawi Government and South African Labour Recruiters, 1974-92. The Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 34, No. 4. Cambridge University Press.
Type journal article
Scope Economics and economic history of apartheid
Method archival narrative
Period studied 1964–1992
Regions Malawi, South Africa (Witwatersrand gold mines), Mozambique, Lesotho
Themes mining migrant labour, labour markets wages, business and state, politics ideology elections, agriculture land, demography urbanisation
Citation key chirwa1996

Argument

Chirwa argues that President Banda's 1974 ban on recruiting for the South African mines, and the dispute over the Valid Re-employment Guarantee (VRG) in 1980, were shaped by Malawian domestic pressures: estate expansion, peasant distress, unemployment and patriarchal politics. The ban was reversed in 1977 because of unemployment and pressure from ex-miners. TEBA and the Chamber of Mines rejected Malawian attempts to control selection and re-employment terms, and a compromise followed. The Chamber valued Malawians for their skills and lack of militancy, for 'heterogeneous sourcing' and for political ties. In the end the mines could dispense with Malawians when internalization, stabilization and retrenchment made them replaceable. Economic realities prevail over political interventions, though the supplier states hold some limited power.

Evidence and method

TEBA internal memoranda and records of proceedings of Ministry of Labour–TEBA meetings in 1980; TEBA reports from Lilongwe; Banda's speeches to Parliament and the MCP; employment statistics from Pryor and Chipeta and from Crush, Jeeves and Yudelman; the 1977 census; National Statistical Office and World Bank studies; secondary literature on Malawi and the mines.

Place in the debates

Findings

  • The 1974 plane crash prompted Banda's ban, which cost the South African mining industry about R7 million over two years. (p. 2)

    a decision that cost the South African mining industry some R7 million during the next two years

  • Estates proliferated but were small and undercapitalized, and relied on tenants and casual ganyu labour rather than regular wage workers. (p. 7)

    the number of estates had dramatically increased from about I,200 in I979 to I4,67I in i989.

  • Estate wages were very low and inequality rose. (p. 9)

    The average monthly wage on the estates in I979 was a meagre Ki i.84 (less than $io.oo at the time)

  • Labour migration had absorbed a notable share of the economically active population, so the ban hit remittances and rural households. (p. 10)

    labour migration prior to I 974 had absorbed about I 5 per cent of Malawi's economically active population

  • The VRG gave the mines a stable, trained workforce but reduced workers' bargaining power and mobility. (p. 11)

    the process reduced the bargaining power and mobility of workers to the extent that they were required to return to the jobs they had left, and at their previous rate of pay.

  • The Chamber and TEBA rejected Malawian demands as interference and as contrary to a policy of uniform conditions, and warned the Malawian share could shrink rapidly. (p. 14)

    Malawians in the mines could be less than 5,000 within three years, even reduced to nil within a period of about I 5 months

  • The mines preferred VRG holders for their experience and productivity. Malawian numbers in the 1980s never regained pre-1974 levels. (p. 17)

    the average number of Malawian workers on the South African mines in the ig8os never reached pre-I974 levels.

  • South African mines responded to supply shocks in 1974–76 with internalization and stabilization, accompanied by raised wages. (p. 18)

    internalizationn', the recruitment of local workers in preference to foreign migrants, and stabilizationn', the conversion of desultory migrants into 'career' miners

  • Mining retrenchment in 1987–93 cut many jobs, including those of foreign migrants. (p. 18)

    Between I987 and I 993 the industry reportedly lost a total of 20I ,617 jobs, of which 60,699 were held by foreign migrants.

  • The industry valued Malawians for 'heterogeneous sourcing', as a strike-breaking fall-back, and for their skills and lack of militancy. (p. 19)

    Malawi provided the mining industry with what might be described as 'a fall- back position' in the event of generalised industrial action within South Africa

  • The Malawian share of the recruitment cost structure was high, with air fares roughly five to six times those from neighbouring states. (p. 19)

    by I98I a return air fare for a Malawian was R20I.29, whereas the average cost of transporting a worker from/to one of South Africa's neighbouring countries was about R37.oo.

Evidence ledger

Sources used

Source Kind Period How used
Banda, State Address to Parliament, 3 August 1983 parliamentary debates 1983 Quoted to show Banda's boast of having 'killed Wenela' and the Press Holdings labour force figure of 25,000-30,000.
Banda, Opening Address to the Annual Convention of the Malawi Congress Party, Lilongwe, 4 September 1983 other 1983 Second quoted speech showing Banda's claim that Wenela was dead and nobody wanted to go under contract.
Dr Banda addressing Parliament, Zomba, 6 March 1980 parliamentary debates 1980 Used to show that Banda acknowledged crop failure and inflation, helping explain why government accepted some outward migration.
Pryor and Chipeta (1990) estate hired-worker series, 1964-84 secondary literature compilation 1964-1984 Source of Table 1 on hired estate workers, compared with mine migration to argue estates could have met labour needs without the ban.
Crush, Jeeves and Yudelman, South Africa's Labor Empire, Table A.4, and Crush 1994 conference paper (Malawians on SA mines) secondary literature compilation 1964-1992 Source of Table 2 on annual Malawian mine employment, showing the 1970-74 rise, 1974-77 collapse and 1980s levels.
Malawi 1977 population census data as analysed by Christiansen and Kydd, 'The Pattern of Internal Migration' population census 1977 Net internal migration by region used to show movement from the north to estate and urban areas.
Kydd and Christiansen, 'Structural Change' data on income distribution, via Hirschmann secondary literature compilation 1977-1979 Income distribution, Gini coefficient and estate wage figures used as evidence of peasant distress.
Government of Malawi and United Nations, Malawi: situation analysis of poverty (Lilongwe, 1993) commission or official report 1979-1993 Source for growth in the number of estates, falling average estate size, tenant numbers and unemployment commentary.
National Statistical Office, Employment and Earnings Annual Report, 1984-1986 (Zomba, 1986) official statistical series 1977-1986 Labour survey evidence that unemployment in 1983 was 5.4 per cent, more than double the 1977 rate.
Lele (1989), MADIA Discussion Paper No. 9, and Gulhati (1989), World Bank secondary literature compilation 1979-1982 Evidence for the economic crisis from 1979 (oil price, tobacco prices, drought, maize imports).
Christiansen and Kydd, 'The Return of Malawian Labour' (1983), Table 3 secondary literature compilation pre-1974 Source for the claim that migration absorbed about 15 per cent of the economically active population.
TEBA Office, 'Aide Memoir on the Malawi Agreement, February 1980', Lilongwe chamber of mines or recruiting records 1980 Records TEBA's complaint about the Ministry of Labour's order halting VRG holders.
Record of Proceedings of meetings between Malawi Ministry of Labour and TEBA, Lilongwe (7 Feb, 13 Mar, 27 Mar 1980) chamber of mines or recruiting records February-December 1980 Principal evidence for the Malawi government's reasons and proposals and the TEBA/Chamber of Mines responses in the VRG dispute.
TEBA Office, 'Memorandum on the Malawi Agreement: some alternatives', Lilongwe, undated 1980 chamber of mines or recruiting records 1980 Source for the nine options TEBA and the Chamber of Mines considered in dealing with the Malawi Government.
TEBA reports, Lilongwe (attested worker figures, VRG holders) chamber of mines or recruiting records 1977-1987 Shows that VRGs were held by 98 per cent of attested workers in 1978 and 1983, and that novices were not forwarded in 1987.
E. W. Rickett, Manager, TEBA Office, Lilongwe, 21 October 1982 chamber of mines or recruiting records 1982 Quoted to show the Labour Department wanted more novices attested to ease youth unemployment.
Judith Head and Fion de Vletter on Mozambican labour and job losses secondary literature compilation 1976-1993 Figures on Mozambican recruit declines and the loss of 201,617 mining jobs, 1987-93, to contextualise Malawian replaceability.
Songs of the MCP Women's League, Nkhata Bay district interviews oral history late 1960s-1970s Illustrates state-sponsored campaign against labour migration and regime legitimation of the ban.
Chirwa, 'Theba is Power' PhD dissertation, Queen's University, 1992, and Coleman's articles on migration origins secondary literature compilation 1875-1985 Supports the claim that the geographic pattern of migration shifted from the north to the central and southern districts.

Inference

Quantification: Descriptive tables.

Archival case study of the Malawi government-TEBA/Chamber of Mines negotiations, backed by two time-series tables (estate employment, Malawians on mines) and secondary macroeconomic and income data; the author infers causes by juxtaposing the series with the timing of political decisions.

Key claims

Claim Basis Strength
Estate hired employment and Malawian mine employment rose together from 1968 to 1974, suggesting estates could have obtained labour without the recruiting ban; out-migration was driven by peasant-sector distress. (p. 626) Table 1 (Pryor and Chipeta) and Table 2 (Crush et al.), plus Kydd and Hirschmann on peasant income and inequality. Partial data
The 1980s economic crisis (drought, tobacco price collapse, debt, transport costs) reduced estate hiring and raised unemployment, pressuring government to allow migration. (p. 626) World Bank studies (Lele, Gulhati), Pryor and Chipeta series, and NSO labour survey figures cited through the poverty situation analysis. Partial data
The 1974 ban and the consequent loss of remittances deepened the agrarian crisis and pushed government to reopen recruiting in 1977. (p. 631) Table 2 collapse in numbers, estimated share of the active population in migration, and unemployment survey figures; remittance effects are asserted rather than measured. Asserted
In 1980 the Malawi government challenged the VRG system on grounds of fairness, family and regional balance, and TEBA/Chamber of Mines rejected it; a compromise left VRG holders around 56 per cent of accepted workers. (p. 638) TEBA aide memoire, Record of Proceedings (Feb-Dec 1980), TEBA memorandum of options, and TEBA figures from Lilongwe. Systematic data
Malawian numbers on the mines never regained pre-1974 levels and the workers were replaceable: internalization and stabilization, plus falling mine employment, ended with repatriation of all Malawians after the HIV/AIDS testing dispute. (p. 639) Table 2 series, Crush, Jeeves and Yudelman, Head and de Vletter on Mozambique, and Crush's argument on replacement. Partial data
The mining industry persisted in renegotiating with Malawi to maintain a 'mix' of labour sources, because Malawians were skilled and docile, and for political ties and sunk investments, even as recruiting became extremely expensive. (p. 640) Crush, James and TEBA reports from Lilongwe on air fares (R201.29 vs R37 in 1981); motives largely inferred. Illustrative or anecdotal
The state-led campaign (radio, rallies, Women's League songs) to divert labour from migration to estates predated 1974 and legitimated the regime's anti-migration policy. (p. 629) Author's recollection of radio and rallies, plus two Women's League songs from Nkhata Bay; no systematic collection. Illustrative or anecdotal

The author's caveats

The author notes the absence of a breakdown by age, gender, experience and past location in the estate hiring series, and that no evidence had been unearthed linking estate employment levels to external migration. He also states there was a lack of data on the number of out-of-work Malawians in 1977, and that sources disagree on the number of Malawians repatriated (13,000 or about 18,000).

Gaps in the evidence

The argument links estate hiring and mine migration only by juxtaposing aggregate series; district- or household-level data on who moved where and why, such as census microdata, employment records and remittance data, would test the causal story. Remittance and deferred-pay flows, and Malawian government and MESD records, are not used and may exist in Malawi and TEBA/Chamber archives. The motives of Banda and the recruiters rest on a few internal TEBA and Ministry memoranda, so ministerial files and Cabinet records would help, though some may have been inaccessible under the one-party regime.

Replicability: Data described but not public.