| Book Review | Labour History, 95 | The History Cooperative

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The tactics used by the mining companies to increase managerial control and prevent the formation and effective operation of a union will be all too familiar to Australian unions and unionists. However, many actions are not familiar to us and reflect the brutality of apartheid. For example, time and again, Allen tells of miners being forced down the mines at gun point when they have threatened strike action. Mass dismissals, while not unheard of in Australia, are not only common in Allen's account but involve thousands of workers at a time. For example, in the national strike in 1987, Anglo-American sacked 19,000 miners. The brutality of the South African police and defence forces results in countless deaths during disputes, as does violence between striking workers and scabs. The violence associated with strikes and protests, and with compound or hostel life generally, is one of the recurring features of Allen's books. There are numerous reasons for the high level of violence, including the determination of the State apparatus to suppress dissent in order to maintain white dominance and protect capital, the willingness of mining companies to antagonise and perpetuate tribal divisions within the mines, and the low regard many white South Africans, particularly in the police or security forces, had for the lives of black workers.

In addition to highlighting the local level tactics used by mining companies to combat trade unionism, Allen discusses conditions under which effective trade unionism can develop. In volume two, he describes the many protests and strikes leading up to a national strike in 1946, organised by the African Mine Workers Union. However, this union ceased to exist soon after the national strike. Allen asks, if the protests and strikes that workers were engaging in showed that black workers were conscious of being exploited, why had black mineworkers failed to form a lasting trade union (by 1946)? He answers by saying that, 'in order for trade unions to exist, workers needed to have the legal freedom of association and a degree of willingness by employers to allow them to exercise it'.

Legal recognition was not available to black trade unions for much of the twentieth century. It was opposed by the law makers, by large employers and by white trade unions. But Allen's point tells us something about our own circumstances in Australia. The conditions of black mineworkers in 1946 were horrendous. They received poverty level wages, they worked in unsafe and unhealthy work places, and their living conditions were appalling and almost entirely controlled by their employer. But even with these conditions, unionism for the mineworkers could not thrive without a level of legal recognition and acceptance from society in general.

Allen's point about the importance of legal recognition for the development of trade unionism underlines the importance of the current campaign being mounted by unions in Australia to reverse the insidious WorkChoices laws of the Howard Government. These laws sought to undermine trade union rights and they hardened the attitudes of many employers who were more than willing to use the tools to oppose unionism that were made available to them. Once these rights are restored as part of our national legal framework, we may see the attitudes of some employers alter as well.

In South Africa however, legal recognition did not come for a black miners union until the 1980s. Much of the third volume of Allen's books is devoted to the establishment of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and its work in addressing the many serious concerns of its members, its contribution to the establishment of the Council of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), and finally its significant contribution to the work of the African National Congress (ANC) and ultimately to the success of the ANC in the first democratic election in South Africa held in 1994.

The detail of Allen's account is its strength. No stone is left unturned; no part of the story of mining is left unexplored. However, if detail is the book's strength, it is also its weakness. In volume two, Allen describes a campaign to highlight the poverty level wages in mining. The campaign led to the establishment of a British House of Commons Select Committee investigation into the wages policies of British firms in South Africa. Allen says that the proceedings filled over 1,000 pages in four volumes, amounting to 'the most comprehensive and authoritative documentary account of the recruitment, terms of employment, wages and conditions of work of black workers in South Africa ever published'. Allen goes on to say that

Unfortunately, the Select Committee Report was not widely read. Its voluminous evidence was presented in an unedited form so that those who would have gained from reading it required time and facilities to do so.

I can't help but feel Allen's work suffers the same fate as that of the Select Committee Report. It is undoubtedly comprehensive and authoritative. However, its three volumes run to a total of 1,630 pages of small type. I fear that, like the Select Committee Report, those who would gain from reading it will not have the required time to do so. In a high pressure and time poor world, I'm not sure how many will take up the challenge to wade through the entire three volume set.

However, the level of detail is as absorbing as it is daunting. The volumes are fantastically researched and Allen's writing style is accessible, inviting the reader to turn the pages to discover the next phase of his subjects' struggle. In addition, the books are well structured. As a reference set, they are superb. They are extremely well subtitled allowing a researcher to easily identify an area of particular interest.

At the conclusion of this three volume set, you know that the story of black mineworkers and their union, the National Union of Mineworkers, is very important to the author. There is a respect for his subject that is infectious. The reader of these books will leave with a thorough understanding not just of the history of black mineworkers in South Africa, but an understanding of the role of class in South African political history and a better understanding of class relations and antagonisms universally.


Finance Sector Union of Australia, Queensland Branch	MICHAEL CLIFFORD

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