Conflict on South African Mines, 1972-1979¶
Dudley Horner; Alide Kooy (1980). Conflict on South African Mines, 1972-1979. Saldru Working Paper No. 29. Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
| Type | working paper |
| Scope | Economics and economic history of apartheid |
| Method | mixed |
| Period studied | 1972–1979 |
| Regions | Witwatersrand and East Rand, Orange Free State goldfields, Carletonville, Klerksdorp, Rustenburg platinum belt, Natal and Transvaal coalfields, Northern Cape, Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi |
| Themes | mining migrant labour, resistance social movements, unions strikes, labour markets wages, politics ideology elections, business and state |
| Citation key | horner1980a |
Argument¶
The authors catalogue 81 incidents of resistance on South African mines between 1972 and 1979. They argue these incidents, including the so-called 'faction fights', are resistance to the repressive compound system and not irrational tribal violence. Drawing on Phimister and van Onselen's work on Rhodesian mines, they treat spectacular riots and strikes as the high-water marks of more routine, unorganised resistance such as desertion, avoidance of unpopular mines and absenteeism. They argue that ethnic clashes arise from the job hierarchy, differential contracts and the mines' practice of dividing workers by origin in hostels and occupations. They then read the Inter-Departmental Committee of Inquiry report as a blueprint of conciliation, welfare provision and social control to prevent riots, backed by ruthless suppression, with trade union rights deliberately withheld.
Evidence and method¶
Almost wholly press reports (Rand Daily Mail, Star, Cape Times and others), supplemented by Hansard, the SAP Commissioner's annual report, SAIRR Survey of Race Relations volumes, TEBA (Wenela) employment figures, and the 1970s Inter-Departmental Committee of Inquiry into Riots on Mines. The mining houses' own investigations were not available. The paper includes a diary of events and tables of deaths, injuries, numbers involved and minimum mine wages.
Place in the debates¶
- 'Faction fighting' as tribal enmity vs. conditions-based explanation of mine violence (see Worker consciousness, strikes and conflict on the mines and shop floor). Rejects the official Committee's tribalist account as 'crude racism'. Locates the clashes in job hierarchy, differential contracts and access to jobs, and compound and hostel segregation by origin.
- Worker consciousness and resistance under labour-repressive conditions (Phimister and van Onselen approach) (see Worker consciousness, strikes and conflict on the mines and shop floor). Follows them in stressing day-to-day and unorganised resistance (desertion, avoidance, absenteeism) as revealing worker consciousness. Acknowledges their conceptualisations are not unproblematic.
- Function of the labour reserves and migrant labour in South African capitalism (see Cheap labour thesis and the function of the reserves). Reserves allowed below-reproduction-cost wages in early development. They now function as pools of surplus labour whose inhabitants depend almost wholly on wage labour.
- Management divide-and-rule vs. solidarity (see Worker consciousness, strikes and conflict on the mines and shop floor). Ethnic and national divisions serve management by keeping strikes partial, but can backfire when national consciousness fuels worker solidarity, as with the Basotho deferred-pay strikes.
Findings¶
-
Scale of conflict: 81 incidents, with 205 deaths and 1,168 injuries, across most mining regions and sectors. (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.
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Reserves are now surplus-labour pools, with inhabitants dependent on wage labour. (p. 5)
the reserves should be seen as pools of surplus labour, whose inhabitants have become almost completely dependent on wage labour
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The 1974 wage rise drew black South African workers to the mines. Earlier they preferred to stay unemployed and wait for manufacturing jobs. (p. 7)
it seems that previously many of these workers preferred to remain unemployed in the hope of getting a higher paid and less dangerous job
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Working and living conditions caused a substantial share of the disturbances. (p. 9)
Of the 81 disturbances on the mines between 1972 and 1979, 20 were directly related to working and living conditions.
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Basotho miners united against Lesotho's compulsory deferred-pay scheme in January 1975, producing mass strikes. (p. 11)
Basotho workers stood solidly together on this issue and on at least four mines almost the entire Basotho work force took part in the strikes.
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The official Committee attributed most of the incidents it examined to ethnic differences. (p. 12)
finding that 33 out of the 54 incidents it examined were 'ethnic differences'
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The authors reject the racist explanation of mine violence. (p. 13)
This sort of crude racism serves no purpose as an explanation.
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Mine policy of dividing workers by occupation and hostel origin is the better explanatory frame for 'faction fights'. (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
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Mine management deliberately mixes ethnic groups so that strikes stay partial. (p. 19)
if the labour force on individual mines were homogeneous, the mines would run the risk of strikes being total instead of partial.
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Full trade union rights are avoided because they would give workers an organisational base. (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.
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Conflict peaked in 1974. (p. 24)
As Table 1 shows, mine conflict reached a peak in 1974, a particularly bad year for violence on the gold mines
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Minimum underground mine wages rose steeply in 1974, the year of peak conflict. (p. 41)
Minimum rates increased in two steps, in June and December, from 72 cents to R1,60 underground.
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 | 1970s (report on 1973-75 riots) | Provides the official 'tribal/ethnic differences' explanation of riots (33 of 54 incidents) and the prevention and suppression recommendations that the authors critique. |
| 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 | Alternative police counts of deaths and injuries used to cross-check and sometimes prefer over press figures in the tables and Diary of Events. |
| Press reports (The Star, Rand Daily Mail, Cape Times, Argus, Natal Mercury, Sunday Tribune, Burger, Daily Dispatch, Financial Mail, Beeld, Rapport, Sunday Express, Daily News) | newspapers periodicals | Oct 1972-Sept 1979 | Almost sole basis for constructing the Diary of Events and Tables 1-4 of incidents, casualties and numbers involved. |
| Horrell, Muriel et al., A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa (SAIRR), 1973, 1974, 1977 volumes and other years | secondary literature compilation | 1963-1978 volumes | Compiled accounts of the mine incidents and wage-rate changes used for the Diary of Events and Table 5, plus Malawian worker numbers. |
| Annual reports of The Employment Bureau of Africa Limited (TEBA), formerly Mine Labour Organisations (Wenela) Limited, 1973-1976 and 1978 | chamber of mines or recruiting records | 1973-1978 | Source of African labour numbers employed on each mine in Tables 2-4, to scale the incidents. |
| Department of Statistics, Statistical News Release P.8, 27 July 1979 | official statistical series | February 1979 | Gives mine employment of 667 000 (69 000 white, 598 000 black) to show the mines' economic importance. |
| House of Assembly Debates, Q. cols. 59-60, 14 February 1979 | parliamentary debates | 1979 | Source for the economically active population figure of 9 440 000. |
| Hansard 3, question columns 205-210, 21 February 1975 | parliamentary debates | 1975 | Sole source for police intervention at Balgray Collieries and for several minor incidents (Copperton, Loxton, Boshof) in the tables. |
| Hansard 5, Q. cols. 415-6, 7 March 1975 | parliamentary debates | March 1975 | Cited as a source for the March 1975 Hlobane/Northfield and Western Deep incidents in the Diary. |
| Grobbelaar, J.A., Some Views, Impressions and Conclusions on the Riots and the Labour Unrest ... in the Mining Industry (TUCSA, 1975) | union or movement records | 1975 | Supplementary account of 1974-75 incidents used in the Diary of Events. |
| University of Eduardo Mondlane, Centre for African Studies, The Mozambican Miner: a study in the export of labour (1977) | secondary literature compilation | 1970s | Used for mine recruitment practices (re-engagement certificates at Western Deep, ERPM) and Anglo American's decision to reduce Mozambican labour. |
| Minimum wage rates for African miners 1948-1979 (Wilson, Labour in the South African Gold Mines; SAIRR Surveys; Financial Mail 6 June 1979) | secondary literature compilation | 1948-1979 | Table 5 shows the 1974 wage jump, supporting the claim that black South Africans came to the mines in large numbers only after 1974. |
| Wilson, Francis, Migrant Labour in South Africa (SACC/Spro-cas, 1972) | secondary literature compilation | 1972 | Describes compound living conditions (1 000-8 000 men, 12-50 per dormitory). |
| Rhodesian/Namibian mining historiography (van Onselen, Chibaro; Phimister; Moorsom; Ranger) | secondary literature compilation | 1900-1953 (Rhodesia), 1915-1972 (Namibia) | Supplies the analytical framework (desertion as combination, compound control) rather than data on 1970s South Africa. |
New data¶
A database of 81-82 mine conflict incidents, Oct 1972-Dec 1979, with date, mine, mining house, numbers involved, killed and injured, and TEBA labour-force size, compiled from press and police reports (Tables 1-4 and a Diary of Events of about 80 entries).
Inference¶
Quantification: Descriptive tables.
Descriptive counts of press-reported incidents by year, mine and type, interpreted through a Phimister/van Onselen framework of worker consciousness under compound repression, with a critical close reading of the official Inter-Departmental Committee report. No statistical testing; the explanation of 'faction fights' is by qualitative inference from the pattern of ethnic pairings and job structure.
Key claims¶
| Claim | Basis | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Between Oct 1972 and Dec 1979 there were 81 incidents of resistance on South African mines, with 205 workers killed and 1 168 injured. (p. 1) | Press reports cross-checked with SAP Commissioner's report, compiled in Tables 1-4 and the Diary of Events. | Partial data |
| Most disturbances labelled 'faction fighting' should be explained by mine labour structure, differential contracts and job access, not tribal irrationality. (p. 12) | Diary of Events pairings (Xhosa-Basotho etc.), the Committee report's own findings, and comparison with Rhodesian studies; no mine-level labour-structure data. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| Of the 81 incidents, 20 were directly related to working and living conditions and 18 were wage-based strikes. (p. 7) | The authors' classification of incidents from press accounts in the Diary of Events. | Partial data |
| The January 1975 Lesotho deferred pay scheme sparked seven incidents and at least 8 500 Basotho and Tswana miners left the mines. (p. 9) | Press reports (Star, Rand Daily Mail) listed in the Diary of Events for January 1975. | Partial data |
| Black South African workers went to the mines in large numbers only after the Chamber substantially raised wages in 1974. (p. 5) | Table 5 wage history from Wilson, SAIRR Surveys and Financial Mail; no labour supply series shown. | Asserted |
| Conflict peaked in 1974, was bad on the coal mines in 1975 and had apparently tailed off by 1976, though press-reported incidents are likely only a fraction of all resistance. (p. 22) | Table 1 annual incident counts from press and police reports. | Partial data |
| Mines and the state respond to riots by combining conciliation and tighter social control (smaller hostels, leisure, screening, ethnic 'mix') with ruthless suppression. (p. 23) | Close reading of the Inter-Departmental Committee's recommendations plus a Rand Daily Mail quotation from the recruiting company's general manager. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
The author's caveats¶
The authors state that detailed mining-house investigations are not available and they rely almost entirely on scanty, brief press reports. Press and police casualty figures conflict (noted in Tables 1-4), some numbers involved and employed are unknown, and only press-reported incidents are captured. Information is too scanty to identify combatants in some fights or to analyse each mine's labour structure.
Gaps in the evidence¶
The argument needs mine-level data on labour force composition by origin, job grade, wages and contract length to test the claim that job-access differences drive Xhosa-Basotho conflict. Mining-house and police investigation reports, Chamber of Mines records and interviews with workers would show causes better than press accounts; these existed then but were closed to researchers, and some may now be in archives. Absenteeism, desertion and labour turnover series would test the claim about everyday resistance.
Replicability: Data described but not public.