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BOOK REVIEW
| V.L. Allen, The History of Black Mineworkers in South Africa, 3 Volumes, Moor Press and Merlin Press, London, 2005. pp. xx + 491, xx + 489, xxxiii + 746. £100 cloth.
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| I have not read, nor seen any other history of black mineworkers in South Africa, but I doubt there could be a more comprehensive account than that of V.L. Allen's three volume set simply titled The History of Black Mineworkers in South Africa. |
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Allen's history of black mineworkers can be divided into at least three categories. He provides a history of the political landscape of South Africa from 1871 until the first democratic election in 1994. In this area, Allen looks at the way mining companies were instrumental in shaping the racist laws of South Africa to suit their own needs. He also discusses the political dissent and protest following the introduction of apartheid, particularly in the decades following the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, and explores how this impacted on, and was impacted by, the actions of mineworkers, their union, and the mine companies. |
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The second category is a study of the mining industry itself. Allen explores in great detail the central role the mining industry plays in the South African economy and the consequent political power it wields. He details the different types of mines and mining techniques, devotes an entire chapter to the different types of minerals and the hazards of each, another chapter to diseases commonly suffered by mine workers, and discusses safety issues at length. Again, Allen analyses how these factors impact on black mineworkers and their union and conversely, how the workers and their union seek to influence the various factors of mining life. |
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The third category is about the black mineworkers themselves and their struggle to form a union with comprehensive documentation of the working conditions, the employment conditions and wages, as well as the living conditions of mineworkers. |
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There are some dominant issues throughout the three volumes. Particular attention is paid to the mining industry's almost insatiable desire for a constant flow of cheap labour and the methods adopted to control labour once recruited. Allen thoroughly explores the deceptive and exploitative recruitment methods to bring labour to the mines; the heavy reliance on migrant labour; the contract labour system that saw mineworkers employed on relatively short term arrangements; and the impact of these things on the willingness and ability of workers to act collectively. There is also a thorough examination of control measures such as the establishment of compounds and later, hostels, to accommodate mineworkers. Allen paints a dire picture of life in these prison-like housing arrangements that allowed mine companies to completely control the lives of their black workforce. |
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The impact of racial discrimination is impossible to ignore in the context of apartheid South Africa, but Allen emphasises the centrality of class struggle rather than race as a driving force for the actions of both the mining companies and the mineworkers. He does not ram an analysis of this struggle down the reader's throat. Rather, he lets the facts speak for themselves. The facts clearly articulate a story of class struggle where race is conveniently used to suit the needs of powerful employers and to prop up the economic position of white workers and the white population generally. |
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The reputation of the mining companies does not fare well in this particular history. That is not surprising. They act as we have come to expect very large companies to act – with a view to the bottom line and a willingness to exploit labour and in this case, race, to achieve their ends. |
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