Conflict on South African Mines, 1972-1979¶
Horner, Dudley; Kooy, Alide (1980). Conflict on South African Mines, 1972-1979. Saldru Working Paper No. 29. Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, School of Economics, University of Cape Town.
| Type | working paper |
| Scope | Economics and economic history of apartheid |
| Method | archival narrative |
| Period studied | 1972–1979 |
| Regions | Witwatersrand and East Rand, Orange Free State goldfields, Carletonville and Klerksdorp, Natal and Transvaal coalfields, Rustenburg platinum belt, Lesotho, Malawi and Mozambique (labour-supplying states) |
| Themes | mining migrant labour, unions strikes, labour markets wages, resistance social movements, business and state, methods data sources |
| Citation key | horner1980 |
Argument¶
The authors catalogue 81 incidents of resistance on South African mines between 1972 and 1979. They argue that the incidents, including the so-called 'faction fights', should be read as resistance to working and living conditions in the repressive compound system. They do not read them as irrational tribal violence, which is the official view of the Inter-Departmental Committee of Inquiry. Drawing on Phimister and van Onselen's work on Rhodesian mining, they treat desertion, avoidance of particular mines and day-to-day resistance as expressions of worker consciousness in a labour-coercive system with no collective bargaining. Many fights are traced to occupational and hostel divisions, differential access to jobs and contract lengths. They also show that workers could unite on shared grievances such as wages and Lesotho's deferred pay. Mine owners and the state are shown responding with a mix of conciliation, ethnic division, screening and ruthless suppression.
Evidence and method¶
Press reports (Rand Daily Mail, Star, Cape Times, Argus and others), the SAP Commissioner's annual report, Hansard replies and the 1975 Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee of Inquiry into Riots on Mines. Also TEBA employment figures, Horrell's Survey of Race Relations, Wilson's work on mine wages, and the Rhodesian and Namibian historiography (van Onselen, Phimister, Moorsom, Ranger). The paper includes a compiled diary of 81 incidents and tables of deaths, injuries and minimum wages.
Place in the debates¶
- 'Faction fighting' as tribal violence vs conflict rooted in the compound system and labour structure (see Worker consciousness, strikes and conflict on the mines and shop floor). Rejects the Committee of Inquiry's tribalist explanation as 'crude racism'. Locates the fights in the hierarchy of jobs, differential contracts and hostel allocation by area of origin, while acknowledging that the evidence is too thin for firm conclusions.
- Formal worker organisation vs everyday resistance as the key to African worker consciousness (see Worker consciousness, strikes and conflict on the mines and shop floor). Follows Phimister and van Onselen in treating strikes as 'high water marks' and desertion, absenteeism, avoidance of mines and similar acts as the more telling expressions of consciousness. Notes the theoretical problems in simply transplanting their approach.
- Function of the reserves/homelands for capital (see Cheap labour thesis and the function of the reserves). Argues that the reserves began as a subsidy to wages below reproduction cost. They are now better seen as pools of surplus labour, though their precise function is described as unclear.
- Management use of ethnic divisions (see Worker consciousness, strikes and conflict on the mines and shop floor). Argues that ethnic mixing of the workforce is a deliberate control device that can backfire when national consciousness becomes the basis of solidarity, as in the Basotho deferred pay strikes.
Findings¶
-
The paper documents 81 incidents of mine resistance in 1972-79, with 205 workers killed and 1 168 injured, across gold, coal and other mines. (p. 3)
Between October 1972 and December 1979 a series of 81 incidents of resistance occurred on South African mines, many of them violent, in which 205 workers died and 1 168 were injured.
-
The mines had historically relied on migrant labour whose rural base had been undermined. The authors argue the reserves now function as pools of surplus labour. (p. 5)
the reserves should be seen as pools of surplus labour, whose inhabitants have become almost completely dependent on wage labour
-
South African black labour came to the mines in large numbers only after the 1974 wage rises. Previously many preferred unemployment while hoping for manufacturing jobs. (p. 7)
it was only after the Chamber of Mines substantially raised wages in 1974
-
Minimum underground wages more than doubled in 1974, from 72 cents to R1,60 per shift. (p. 41)
Minimum rates increased in two steps, in June and December, from 72 cents to R1,60 underground.
-
Only a quarter of incidents were tied directly to working and living conditions, with further strikes over wages. (p. 9)
Of the 81 disturbances on the mines between 1972 and 1979, 20 were directly related to working and living conditions.
-
The Lesotho deferred pay scheme produced large, solid strikes and mass departures of Basotho workers in January 1975. (p. 11)
At least 8 500 Basotho and Tswana miners left the mines and went home.
-
Malawian labour supply collapsed after recruiting was suspended, from 110 000 in 1973 to a low of 163 in April 1977, forcing a shift to domestic recruitment. (p. 12)
the number of Malawian workers on the mines fell from 110 000 in 1973 to a low of 163 in April 1977.
-
The official inquiry attributed most incidents to ethnic differences, which the authors dismiss as racist and unhelpful as explanation. (p. 13)
This sort of crude racism serves no purpose as an explanation.
-
The authors propose that faction fights be explained by the mines' occupational and hostel segregation by origin. (p. 15)
it would be more useful to analyse 'faction fights' in terms of the mines' policy of dividing workers occupationally and in hostels according to area of origin than in terms of some sort of race stereotype.
-
Mine management deliberately mixes ethnic groups to prevent total strikes. (p. 19)
if the labour force on individual mines were homogeneous, the mines would run the risk of strikes being total instead of partial.
-
Mines and the Committee avoid recognising full trade union rights because these could organise solidarity. (p. 22)
any system of full trade union rights which would clearly articulate worker grievances might also provide a base for worker solidarity and better organised resistance.
-
Divide-and-rule through national or tribal consciousness is largely successful but can backfire into solidarity. (p. 25)
it is in the interests of management to suppress forms of class consciousness in the work force and rather to encourage forms of national or tribal consciousness.
Evidence ledger¶
Sources used¶
| Source | Kind | Period | How used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee of Inquiry into Riots on Mines in the Republic of South Africa | commission or official report | c.1975 | Supplies the official 'faction fighting' explanation of the riots, which the authors critique, and the prevention and suppression recommendations they analyse as mine and state control strategy. |
| Press reports (Star, Rand Daily Mail, Cape Times, Argus, Natal Mercury, Daily Dispatch, Burger, Sunday Tribune, Financial Mail, etc.) 1972-1979 | newspapers periodicals | Oct 1972 - Sept 1979 | Principal source for the Diary of Events and Tables 1-4: dates, locations, numbers involved, killed and injured in the 81 incidents. |
| Annual Report of the Commissioner of the South African Police for the year ended June 1974, R.P. 36/1975 | official statistical series | year ended June 1974 | Cross-checks press casualty figures for 1974 incidents; police figures are preferred or noted where they diverge. |
| Annual reports of The Employment Bureau of Africa Ltd (TEBA), formerly Mine Labour Organisations (Wenela), 1973-76 and 1978 | chamber of mines or recruiting records | 1973-1978 | Gives mine-level numbers of African labourers employed, shown beside each incident in Tables 2-4. |
| Department of Statistics, Statistical News Release P.8, 27 July 1979 | official statistical series | February 1979 | Establishes mine employment of 667 000 (69 000 white, 598 000 black) in February 1979. |
| House of Assembly Debates, Q. cols. 59-60, 14 February 1979 | parliamentary debates | 1979 | Source for the economically active population of 9 440 000 used to size the mining workforce. |
| Hansard 3, question columns 205-210, 21 February 1975; Hansard 5, Q. cols. 415-6, 7 March 1975 | parliamentary debates | 1975 | Sole source for strikes at Balgray Collieries and several other mines (De Aar, Boshof) not reported in the press, and for a 1975 Free State incident. |
| SAIRR Survey of Race Relations in South Africa (Horrell et al.; Horrell, Horner and Hudson; Gordon), 1963-1978 volumes | secondary literature compilation | 1963-1978 | Compiled accounts of incidents for the Diary of Events, Malawian worker numbers, and the yearly minimum wage series in Table 5. |
| Francis Wilson, Labour in the South African Gold Mines 1911-1969, pp.178-9 | secondary literature compilation | 1948-1969 | Supplies the minimum underground wage series 1948-1969 in Table 5, used to show the large post-1973 wage increases. |
| Financial Mail, 6 June 1979 | newspapers periodicals | 1979 | Source for the 1979 minimum wage rate in Table 5. |
| University of Eduardo Mondlane, Centre for African Studies, The Mozambican Miner: a study in the export of labour (1977) | secondary literature compilation | 1970s | Evidence on mine recruitment policy towards Mozambicans (re-engagement certificates, Anglo American's plan to reduce dependence). |
| J.A. Grobbelaar, Some Views, Impressions and Conclusions on the Riots and the Labour Unrest which has taken place in the Mining Industry Recently (TUCSA, 1975) | union or movement records | 1975 | Additional account of incidents cited in the Diary of Events. |
| South African Labour Bulletin articles (Kirkwood, Plaut, Prior, Daily News cited in SALB 1(7)) | newspapers periodicals | 1974-1977 | Supplementary accounts of 1974 incidents and of mine conditions such as hoisting delays. |
| Phimister and Van Onselen studies of Rhodesian mining (Chibaro; Studies in the History of African Mine Labour in Colonial Zimbabwe) | secondary literature compilation | 1900-1953 | Provides the analytical framework (compound control, desertion, avoidance of mines, worker consciousness) applied to South African mines; the evidence is transposed from Rhodesia. |
New data¶
The authors compiled a chronology (Diary of Events) and Tables 1-4 of 81-82 incidents of conflict on South African gold, coal and other mines, Oct 1972-Dec 1979, with dates, mines, numbers involved, deaths, injuries and employment, built from press, SAIRR and police sources.
Inference¶
Quantification: Descriptive tables.
Descriptive case-study chronology of incidents compiled from press reports, interpreted through a Marxist and labour-repression framework imported from Rhodesian mining historiography; simple counts by year, mine and ethnic grouping, plus critical reading of the official riot Committee report. No statistical testing.
Key claims¶
| Claim | Basis | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Between October 1972 and December 1979 there were 81 incidents of resistance on South African mines in which 205 workers died and 1 168 were injured. (p. 3) | Compiled from press reports, SAIRR surveys and the Commissioner of Police report in the Diary of Events and Tables 1-4. | Partial data |
| The 'faction fights' that make up most incidents are better explained by mine labour structure (job hierarchy, contract length, differential access to jobs, ethnic compartmentalisation in hostels) than by tribal enmity. (p. 13) | Year-by-year counts of ethnic clashes from the Diary, plus the observation that long-service Basotho hold upper-grade jobs; no mine-level labour structure data. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| Many incidents arose from wage and living-condition grievances: 20 were directly related to working and living conditions and 18 were wage strikes. (p. 7) | Classification of Diary of Events entries drawn from press reports. | Partial data |
| The January 1975 incidents were triggered by the Lesotho government's compulsory deferred pay scheme, in which Basotho miners acted collectively and at least 8 500 Basotho and Tswana miners left the mines. (p. 9) | Press accounts of the seven January 1975 incidents (Star, Rand Daily Mail) in the Diary of Events. | Partial data |
| The official Committee attributes riots to innate tribal violence, which the authors reject as racist; the Committee's prescriptions amount to conciliation, division of the workforce and ruthless suppression. (p. 11) | Close reading and quotation of the Inter-Departmental Committee report. | Systematic data |
| Black South African workers entered the mines in large numbers only after the Chamber of Mines substantially raised wages in 1974, having previously preferred to remain unemployed in hope of manufacturing jobs. (p. 5) | Table 5 wage series (Wilson, SAIRR, Financial Mail); the preference claim is inferred with no labour supply data. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| Conflict peaked in 1974 (gold) and 1975 (coal) and recurred on particular deep, hot, unpopular mines (ERPM, Western Deep Levels, Loraine). (p. 22) | Tables 1 and 2 counts from press-derived incident list. | Partial data |
The author's caveats¶
The authors state that mining house investigation reports are not available, that press reports are scanty, brief and biased towards a 'faction fighting' framing, and that information is too scanty to identify combatants in some incidents or analyse labour force structure by mine. Press and police casualty figures disagree, and only incidents dramatic enough to reach the press are recorded. They also note they have not analysed the labour supply, wages or labour process historically.
Gaps in the evidence¶
The argument needs mine-level data on the composition of the workforce by origin, job grade, wages and contract length to test the claim that job structure drives ethnic clashes. It also needs the mining houses' internal inquiry reports, compound manager records, oral testimony from miners, and systematic recruitment and desertion series from TEBA. Some of this existed then but was withheld; mining company and Chamber of Mines archives and worker interviews may be accessible now.
Replicability: Data described but not public.