Review of South Africa's Labor Empire: A History of Black Migrancy to the Gold Mines, by Jonathan Crush, Alan Jeeves and David Yudelman¶
Mirjana Roth (1995). Review of South Africa's Labor Empire: A History of Black Migrancy to the Gold Mines, by Jonathan Crush, Alan Jeeves and David Yudelman. The Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 33, No. 3. Cambridge University Press.
| Type | journal article |
| Scope | Economics and economic history of apartheid |
| Method | synthesis review |
| Period studied | c.1900–1987 |
| Regions | South Africa, Witwatersrand, High Commission territories, Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique |
| Themes | mining migrant labour, origins segregation, unions strikes, business and state, labour markets wages |
| Citation key | roth1995a |
Argument¶
Roth reviews Crush, Jeeves and Yudelman's history of black migrancy to the gold mines (1991) and reports that it overturns several received views. It challenges the 'labour-reserve' theory by arguing that mining companies feared the permanent loss of labour if the reserves declined further. It also challenges radical claims that mine management backed the Color Bar, arguing that the Mine Workers Union and the Council of Mining Unions led the defence of white privilege from 1945 to 1987. Roth judges that the book, though probably unintentionally, extols the Chamber of Mines and presents migrancy as benefiting the wider sub-continent. The review is brief and descriptive, with limited independent critique.
Evidence and method¶
Reviewer's summary of the book's use of Chamber of Mines and WNLA records, the Chamber's report to the Tomlinson Commission, and a statistical appendix of tables. The reviewer does not detail the book's archival base.
Place in the debates¶
- Labour-reserve (cheap labour) theory of the reserves and mining capital (see Cheap labour thesis and the function of the reserves). As reported by Roth, the book challenges it: the mining industry did not simply welcome impoverishment of the reserves and feared losing its labour permanently if the reserves declined. Roth seems to accept this.
- Who defended the colour bar: mine management or white labour (see The job colour bar, white labour and its erosion). As reported by Roth, the book argues against recent radical scholarship, showing that the Chamber of Mines tried (largely unsuccessfully) to modify the bar from 1906-7 and that the MWU and its allies were the main defenders from 1945 to 1987.
- Migrancy: destructive of rural society vs. beneficial (see The mine migrant labour system: origins, recruitment, foreign labour and stabilisation). As reported, the book stresses migrancy's role in sustaining rural households through remittances and deferred pay, and the superior conditions and wages the Chamber provided. Roth notes the resulting pro-Chamber impression.
- Why migrancy and the hostel system persisted (see The mine migrant labour system: origins, recruitment, foreign labour and stabilisation). As reported, the Chamber's Tomlinson Commission report showed that family housing would cost far more than compound housing, so replacing the system seemed not economically viable.
Findings¶
-
The book challenges the labour-reserve theory, arguing mining companies feared permanent loss of labour if the reserves kept declining. (p. 2)
the gold mining industry was also aware of the danger of losing its labour permanently if the reserves continued to decline so that more and more Africans moved into the urban areas.
-
Migrancy preserved rural households through income transfers, according to the reviewed analysis. (p. 2)
it performed a vital role in preserving many rural households through transfers of income to the countryside.
-
The Chamber of Mines paid more than northern competitors and offered better basic living conditions. (p. 3)
-
WNLA built transport infrastructure and air services in the labour-supplying territories. (p. 3)
agents of the mining industry constructed over i,200 km of roads in Botswana, built camps in other countries, including Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique
-
The Chamber underwrote colonial medical services partly using workers' unclaimed deferred pay. (p. 3)
Admittedly the money was largely derived from the unclaimed deferred pay fund of the workers themselves, but it nevertheless led to the support and training of paramedical staff
-
The Chamber did not abolish migrancy and hostels, in part because family housing would have been much more costly. (p. 3)
the cost of a family unit on the gold mines would be far more expensive than to house a single migrant in a compound
-
The book disputes the radical view that mine managers supported the Color Bar. (p. 3)
Recent radical scholarship has entrenched the view that the mine managers themselves supported the Color Bar
-
The book analyses the rise of the NUM and the 1987 strike. (p. 3)
a careful analysis of the emergence of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) -and the significance of the 1987 strike that brought the industry to a standstill for three weeks.
Evidence ledger¶
Sources used¶
| Source | Kind | Period | How used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chamber of Mines report for the Tomlinson Commission (costing of family housing versus single-migrant compounds) | commission or official report | 1950s (not stated in the review) | Cited as confirming that housing family units on the mines would cost far more than compounds for single migrants, so ending migrancy would not have been economically viable. |
| Statistical appendix of tables in the book under review | other | Not specified | Tables that the reviewer says back up several of the authors' statements; underlying series are not named in the review. |
| Recruiting-organisation (WNLA) and Chamber of Mines records on infrastructure, transport and medical provision in the Northern Territories and High Commission territories | chamber of mines or recruiting records | to c.1955 | Used to show that recruiting agents built roads, camps, air services and medical systems, a side-benefit of migrant recruitment. |
Inference¶
Quantification: Descriptive tables.
This is a review of a historical monograph. The reviewed book's argument rests on archival and institutional history, revisionist reinterpretation of Chamber of Mines policy, and a statistical appendix. The review names little of the actual evidence.
Key claims¶
| Claim | Basis | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| The mining industry did not welcome impoverished reserves, because rural collapse risked permanent loss of labour to the towns; this challenges the labour-reserve theory. (p. 2) | Asserted in the review; no source named. Presumably drawn from the authors' analysis of Chamber of Mines policy. | Asserted |
| The Chamber of Mines paid better than northern competitors and provided far better basic living conditions despite the hostel system. (p. 3) | Comparative claim with no source cited in the review; possibly supported by the statistical appendix. | Partial data |
| Recruiting agencies built substantial transport, camp, air and medical infrastructure in labour-supplying territories. (p. 3) | Specific figures (1,200 km of roads, 30 flights per week by 1955) presumably from WNLA/Chamber records. | Partial data |
| The migrancy and hostel system was not abolished because the cost of housing family units would have been far higher. (p. 3) | The Chamber of Mines report to the Tomlinson Commission. | Partial data |
| Mine managers did not simply support the Color Bar; the Chamber tried to modify it from 1906-7, and white privilege was mainly defended by white unions. (p. 3) | Unspecified evidence the review says is 'presented'. It is likely based on Chamber and union records, but none are named. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| From 1945 to 1987 the main defence of white job privilege was organised by the Mine Workers Union and the Council of Mining Unions, not the Chamber. (p. 3) | Unspecified evidence referred to by the reviewer. | Asserted |
The author's caveats¶
None; this is a short review that does not discuss the data limitations of the reviewed book.
Gaps in the evidence¶
The review names almost none of the underlying sources, so the evidentiary base of the book cannot be assessed from it. Claims about relative wages, living conditions and the net benefit of migrancy would need wage and remittance series, mortality and health statistics, and comparisons with other regional employers. Chamber of Mines archives, WNLA records and census and agricultural data on reserves exist and could test them, though the review does not cite them.
Replicability: Data poorly documented.