Skip to content

The Reorganization of Mine Labor Recruitment in Southern Africa: Evidence from Botswana

Literature › Works

John Taylor (1990). The Reorganization of Mine Labor Recruitment in Southern Africa: Evidence from Botswana. International Migration Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Special Issue: Labor Recruiting Organizations in the Developing World). The Center for Migration Studies of New York, Inc.
Type journal article
Scope Economics and economic history of apartheid
Method descriptive quantitative
Period studied 1844–1986
Regions Botswana, South Africa (Witwatersrand and Orange Free State gold mines), Bophuthatswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi
Themes mining migrant labour, labour markets wages, business and state, demography urbanisation, methods data sources
Citation key taylor1990

Argument

Taylor argues that since the mid-1970s the gold mines' recruitment policy has shifted from expanding external migrant flows with a variable, transient workforce to retrenchment and 'stabilization' that favours internalized (South African) labour. Using office-level and village-level TEBA recruitment data from Botswana, he shows that falling novice intake, reengagement certificates and career workers have shrunk the Botswana mine labour pool. The recruiting network is being rationalized on cost grounds, and remote areas are being 'uncoupled' from the migrant system. He concludes that the decline in Botswana's supply is structural and self-sustaining, though he acknowledges sceptics who stress the political value to the state and mines of diversified supply.

Evidence and method

TEBA annual reports 1976-85; TEBA Gaborone Schedule A forms and budget analyses; Botswana Statistical Bulletin; village-level territorial recruitment analyses for 1976 and 1985; the 1981 Botswana Population Census (absent miners by settlement, 183 settlements over 500 persons); de Vletter's age data for Anglo American mines; a personal communication from the TEBA General Manager in Botswana; secondary literature.

Place in the debates

Findings

  • The foreign share of the mine workforce fell sharply between 1974 and 1984. (p. 2)

    the proportion of foreign to South African labor from SO percent/20 percent in 1974 to 40 percent/60 percent in 1984

  • Botswana recruitment more than halved after the 1976 peak. (p. 6)

    the level of recruitment in Botswana by TEBA and other recruiting organizations has more than halved from a peak of 40,390 in 1976 to the present level of around 19,000

  • Novice recruitment collapsed under the stabilization policy, squeezing out new entrants rather than sacking existing workers. (p. 9)

    By 1980, however, this proportion had fallen back to 10 percent, while in 1985 the level of novice recruitment was down to only 1.6 percent of total output.

  • Reengagement certificates now govern almost all Botswana recruits and are issued at mine management's discretion. (p. 12)

    nine out of every ten miners forwarded from Botswana now hold one of four different reengagement certificates

  • The Botswana mine labour pool shrank because each job is now filled by about one recruit per year rather than 1.6. (p. 11)

    between 1976 and 1978 the average number recruited to occupy each position at the mines declined from 1.6 to approximate parity where it has remained ever since.

  • Reduced mine employment reflects mine-side demand constraints, not growth in domestic jobs. (p. 12)

    it appears indisputable that reductions in the mine labor pool have been effected primarily by demand-side constraints.

  • Contracts have become longer with shorter home leave, with mines controlling timing. (p. 11)

    Batswana mineworkers now stands at around twelve months with an average of two months at home

  • Batswana miners are older than South Africans, implying replacement through attrition. (p. 10)

    with more than half under the age of 30 compared with the Batswana who are predominantly over 30.

  • The recruiting bureaucracy has been drastically cut back. (p. 14)

    at their peak WENELA and NRC together employed in the region of 2,000 staff to service and administer their Botswana operations compared with TEBAs present staff complement in Botswana of only 157.

  • Cost differences across offices make remote offices such as Francistown vulnerable to closure. (p. 16)

    for the cost of recruiting one person in Francistown, four may be recruited in Kanye and Molepolole, three in Lobatse and Mahalapye

  • Recruitment is concentrating spatially in the southeast near the mines and remaining offices, while the north and west are cut off. (p. 19)

    Settlements with the greatest proportional decline in recruitment are predominantly those in the north and west, where reductions of more than 50 percent are commonplace.

  • Settlement population explains only about half of the variation in recruitment, with distance and local employment as further factors. (p. 19)

    a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.75 is obtained which indicates that population size alone accounts for slightly more than half the variation in recruitment

Evidence ledger

Sources used

Source Kind Period How used
TEBA annual published statistics (aggregate recruits by country/region of origin); TEBA Annual Reports 1976-85 chamber of mines or recruiting records 1976-1985 Supplies the TEBA and non-TEBA recruitment totals (Table 2) and the ratio of Batswana recruited to employed (Table 5).
Statistical Bulletin 11(1), Gaborone, 1986 official statistical series 1972-1985 Source for annual number of mine recruits in Botswana, 1972-85 (Table 1), used to show the halving of recruitment from the 1976 peak.
TEBA Gaborone Schedule A: Analysis of recruits forwarded 1982-85 chamber of mines or recruiting records 1982-1985 Classifies Botswana recruits into specials, previous experience and novices, and by reengagement certificate form (Table 6), and gives length of service and home leave.
TEBA analysis of novices forwarded, January-June 1984 chamber of mines or recruiting records January-June 1984 Compares novice recruitment in Botswana (174) with Bophutatswana (over 5,000) and other TEBA offices to show a squeeze on novice recruitment outside South Africa.
TEBA Gaborone distribution of Batswana mineworkers by mining house, 1979 and 1985 chamber of mines or recruiting records 1979 and 1985 (as of December 31) Shows the growing concentration of Batswana on Anglo American and Goldfields mines (Table 7).
TEBA Budget Analyses, TEBA Gaborone (January-August 1985) chamber of mines or recruiting records January-August 1985 Provides recruitment, fixed and average costs per mineworker by TEBA office (Table 8) to argue that remote offices such as Francistown are uneconomic.
TEBA Gaborone transport cost schedule, 1986 chamber of mines or recruiting records 1986 Shows transport cost per mineworker rising with distance (Table 9), supporting the logic of closing remote offices and favouring internal recruitment.
TEBA Gaborone Schedule A Forms, 1985 (length of service and time at home) chamber of mines or recruiting records 1985 Establishes that Batswana mineworkers now average about twelve months at the mines and two months at home.
TEBA territorial analyses of recruitment by village of origin, 1976 and 1985 chamber of mines or recruiting records 1976 and 1985 Used to map proportional change in recruitment by village (Figure III), restricted to villages with at least 50 recruits and more than 25 percent change.
1981 Population Census of Botswana population census 1981 Settlement-level counts of males absent at South African mines are regressed on settlement population, with residuals mapped; also cited for unemployment (12.2%) and economic activity (41.3% in family agriculture).
Anglo American mines age distribution of Batswana and South African mineworkers, June 1986 (adapted from de Vletter, 1987) secondary literature compilation June 1986 Table 4 shows that Batswana workers are older than South African workers, implying imminent replacement through attrition.
Monthly recruitment figures for Botswana 1966-1976 (seasonality) chamber of mines or recruiting records 1966-1976 Shows that the first quarter averaged 43% of annual output before stabilization, against about 25% per quarter now.
Taylor 1986b: formal sector jobs versus working-age population, 1964, 1971, 1981 secondary literature compilation 1964-1981 Used to argue that the fall in mine recruitment is not due to rising domestic employment, since the gap between formal jobs and working-age population widened.
Personal communication, General Manager, TEBA Botswana interviews oral history not stated Supports the claim that TEBA head office preferentially allocated orders to Francistown to justify keeping that office open.
Taylor 1982b PhD thesis data on 1976 contract length (ten months away, seven at home) author survey or fieldwork 1976 Baseline for comparing average contract and home-leave length in 1976 with 1985.
Pinnock 1981 TELONA working paper (non-Chamber recruiters) secondary literature compilation 1930s-1981 Source for TELONA's self-description and for the squeezing out of small independent recruiters.

New data

Detailed recruitment data collected from TEBA recruiting offices around Botswana: village-level recruits for 1976 and 1985, TEBA office cost data, and Schedule A classifications of recruits. Together with settlement-level absent-miner counts from the 1981 census, these were compiled into tables and maps (Figures III-IV). The text does not give the number of villages.

Inference

Quantification: Statistical analysis.

Descriptive time-series comparison of recruitment totals, recruit categories and office costs, 1972-85, together with spatial mapping of village-level change in recruitment between 1976 and 1985. A simple bivariate correlation and regression of absent miners on settlement population (r=0.75) uses residuals to infer the role of distance and local employment. Interpretation is by argument about stabilization policy and cost minimization, with TEBA data and an informant's testimony as support; there are no controls or causal identification.

Key claims

Claim Basis Strength
Mine recruitment in Botswana more than halved between the 1976 peak and the mid-1980s, mainly through the withdrawal of non-Chamber recruiters. (p. 254) Statistical Bulletin recruitment series (Table 1) and TEBA Annual Reports splitting TEBA and non-TEBA recruits (Table 2). Systematic data
Stabilization through reengagement certificates has sharply reduced novice recruitment and shifted the workforce toward career workers. (p. 257) TEBA Schedule A classification of Botswana recruits 1982-85 (Table 6), novice share figures, and the cross-office novice comparison (Table 3). Systematic data
The mine labour pool from Botswana has shrunk, with the number recruited per position employed falling from 1.6 to about parity, and this is due to demand-side constraints rather than domestic job creation. (p. 259) TEBA Annual Reports (Table 5), the 1981 census unemployment figures, and Taylor 1986b job-gap data. Partial data
Batswana mineworkers are older than South Africans and will be progressively replaced through attrition. (p. 258) de Vletter's 1986 Anglo American age distribution (Table 4), combined with novice figures and length-of-service data. Partial data
TEBA has rationalised its Botswana network on cost grounds, leaving remote offices such as Francistown vulnerable. (p. 264) TEBA budget analyses (Table 8), transport cost schedule (Table 9), and staffing figures (157 versus about 2,000). Partial data
The spatial pattern of recruitment has shifted toward the southeast and areas near remaining TEBA offices, with the north and west losing most. (p. 267) Village-level TEBA territorial analyses 1976 vs 1985 (Figure III); 1981 census absent-miner counts regressed on settlement size with residual map (Figure IV); personal communication from the TEBA manager. Partial data
Population size alone explains just over half of the variation in absent miners across settlements, and distance from the mines and local employment are suggested as further factors. (p. 267) Bivariate correlation and regression using 1981 census data on 183 settlements; residual mapping. Partial data
The decline in recruitment has severe household-level effects, though little national economic effect, because remittances support rural households. (p. 270) Asserted from general knowledge and secondary literature; no household data or remittance figures are presented. Asserted

The author's caveats

The author notes that published TEBA statistics are aggregate and offer little detail. Census data on absent miners cover only settlements above 500 persons (183 settlements). Contributions of attrition factors (defaulters, retirement, dismissals, injuries) are 'difficult to measure in the absence of adequate data'. Proportional change maps can mislead, so a 50-recruit and 25% threshold is used. The author also notes that some increases (east of Mahalapye, Francistown) are illusory. The 1976 total includes about 5,000 non-nationals.

Gaps in the evidence

The household and local-level claims about remittances and impacts on poor rural households have no supporting survey or income data. The regression is a simple bivariate fit with no distance or employment variables included, so the role of distance and local employment is only speculation from residuals. Individual-level TEBA records (cohort tracking of reengagement, defaulters and attrition) or mine-level payroll data, and household surveys, would test the replacement-by-attrition and stabilization arguments more directly. Some of this data existed in TEBA and mine company files then but is not public.

Replicability: Data described but not public.