The transformation in the status of the black worker in the Free State Gold Mines, 1946-1995

[摘要] There are many roleplayers in the transformation process of the black goldmine-worker in the South African mining industry. These include the South Africangovernment, the mining companies, the Chamber of Mines, white mine-workers andfinally the black workers themselves. The black labourers were first subsistencefarmers, who came to the gold mines on an involuntary and temporary basis. Whenthey could no longer survive on their subsistence economy, they looked to the minesfor a steady income.Meanwhile, their lives were transformed as they came into contact with Westerncivilization. The migrant labour pattern has had tremendous effects on the general wayof life of the black man in South Africa. He was not only transformed as a labourer, butas a person as well.For many decades the black labourer was not allowed to become involved in tradeunion activity. NUM was only granted access to Harmony Gold Mine in 1988 and thenthe workers united and demanded better wages, as well as improved living and workingconditions. The important role NUM played in the transformation process of the blackworkers should not be overlooked. For the black workers there was strength innumbers.The Free State Goldfields came into production in the 1950s and the mining industryarrived al a crossroad. It could maintain the unskilled status quo of the black labourforce or transform the industry and grant black labourers the same rights as whites.Political barriers and economic necessity prevented the industry from taking a newcourse and established labour structures were implemented on the Free State mines.The colour-bar was only removed in the mining industry in 1988 and black miners couldonly then obtain a blasting certificate and advance in their workplace.Working in a gold mine, was and still is dangerous. However, the mines have anenvious record of maintaining high safety standards and providing excellent medicalfacilities for their workers. At Harmony Gold Mine, pioneering work is done in the fieldof AIDS and the Harmony Hospital is quite modern and well-equipped.Training facilities and career opportunities for the black workers have improvedtremendously over the last few years. The black gold mine-worker of the nineties isbetter-trained, more productive and more informed than many years ago. They are stillmigrant workers, but their contracts have been extended to a period of 12 months.Conditions in the hostels improved likewise and facilities like M-Net and quarters formarried workers are provided The black workers' diets are scientifically determinedand many sports facilities are readily available.The black labourers have not reached a utopia. Migrancy has its negative effects onfamily life, alcohol abuse IS a problem and the HIV virus poses a severe threatImproved productivity has led to down-scaling of the work force and unemployment ISrampant. Black gold mine-workers in the nineties have become integrated in theindustry and in the economy of South Africa. A phenomenon which was postponed formany years and which leaves behind a history of hardship and struggle.

[发布机构] University of the Free State