How did the drive for resources dominate the history of this country?
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Identify history of South Africa

Evaluate effect of gold on South Africa’s
economy and society
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Khoisan language groups
Bantu language groups
 Migrated from central Africa

Nguni
 Ancestors of the Zulu and Xhosa

Portuguese
 Cape of Good Hope (1488)
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(1652) – Dutch East India Company
 French Huguenots refugees, the Dutch and
Germans settled
▪ Afrikaners
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(1779)- Dutch authorities and the Xhosa
fought first frontier war
British gained control of the Cape of Good
Hope by the end of the 18th century
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Afrikaner farmers – Boers
 Great northern migration to escape British rule
 Conflict with the Zulus
 Shaka (1787-1828)
▪ Conquered most of the territory
▪ Shaka assassinated replaced by half-brother Dingane
▪ Defeated by the Boers
▪ Zulus remained a formidable force
▪ Battle of Isandhlwana
▪ Finally conquered in 1879
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1880-81 and 1899-1902
Discovery of gold and diamonds
 Influx of Europeans (mainly British)
 Many from neighboring areas moved to work in
mines
 Mine owners
▪ Hostels
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Conflicts arose
British prevailed
1910 – Union of South Africa

1910 British exerted their control over South
African territories forming Union of South
Africa
 Continued discrimination and
segregation of Africans
▪ Prelude to Apartheid system
▪ Diminished rights of black majority

Mines and Works Act of 1911
 Limited black mine workers to menial labor
▪ Cheap Labor

Native Lands Act of 1913
 Divided land between blacks and whites
 13% of land to blacks who made up majority
▪ Forced into wage work

Why would the government want to force
them into wage labor?

Recession following WWI
 Mine owners reduced costs by hiring more black
workers
 Resulted in Rand
Rebellion
-armed uprising of
white mine workers

Black labor needed in manufacturing
industries
 Squatter camps sprung up among major white
cities

1948 elections Nationalist Party victorious
 Policy of Apartheid
 Conflict arose
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South African Native National Congress & Pan
African Congress 1959
 Began demonstrations against laws
 Protesting banned
 Prominent leaders tried for treason
▪ Nelson Mandela
▪ Led the struggle to replace the apartheid
regime with a multi-racial democracy
▪ Jailed for 27 years
▪ Country's first black president 1994-99

Government continued to ban new political
parties and enforce apartheid legislation

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1970’s South African Student Organization
Black Consciousness Movement
 Black pride and non violent
opposition
Steve Biko
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May 1961
South Africa withdrew from the
commonwealth
1984 – new constitution
 Allowed blacks and Asians a limited role in
government
 All power remained in white hands

Uprisings in 1967 and 1985 started to
convince some members of the NP for the
need for change

1984 P.W. Botha came to power
 Began movement to reform apartheid
 Some reforms but protests continued
Government
continued
censorship of media
and resistance to
protestors
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1986 -Secret discussion began between those
members and Nelson Mandela
1989 – Mandela released from prison
Unbanned the ANC and PAC
1991- the Group Areas Act, Land Acts and the
Population Registration Act
 Last “pillars of apartheid” were abolished

1989 new president F.W. de Klerk
 Admitted apartheid a failure

1991 Convention for a Democratic South
Africa
 Multiracial transitional
government
▪ Equal rights
▪ Freedom of speech and religion
▪ Prohibited discrimination

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December 1993 – new interim constitution
First nonracial elections were held on April
26-28, 1994
 Nelson Mandela president on May 10, 1994

Established a Government of National Unity
(GNU)
 Permanent constitution on May 9, 1996
 Mandela signed it on December 10, 1997 and went
into effect of February 3, 1997
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Committed to reform
Focused on social issues such as
unemployment, housing shortages and crime
Reintroduced South Africa into the global
economy
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Stepped down in 1997
1999 – Thabo Mbeki
 Focused on bringing economic power to the black
majority
 April 2004 – re-elected, “recalled” in 2007
 2008 – Kgalema Motlante
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2009 elections – Jacob Zuma
New elections in 2012
Natural Resources such as Diamonds and Gold have been a major factor in
South African economy

The first Gold Rush in South Africa began in
the late 1800’s
 Large amount found in 1886

Mining was a strong industry by 1887
 Rand Mines
 New township of
Johannesburg filled
with settlers

Archaean Witwatersrand Basin
 Main gold producing area
 Mined for more
than 100 years
Archaean
greenstone belts

Smaller gold
producers
1899-1902
Two centuries of
conflict
 British migrated to:
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 Natal
 Then the Orange Free
State and Transvaal

Discovery of gold
sparks the second war
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1869- 21 –karat diamond found along the
Orange River
Kimberley diamond field
Gold discovered near Johannesburg
Boer leader – Stephanus Paul Kruger
Cecil Rhodes – De Beers Consolidation Mine
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1900- British had captured capitals of both
Boer nations
Afrikaners set up a guerrilla campaign
British looted, razed villages and killed
livestock
Set up concentration camps for Boer women
and children
 20,000 died
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Surrendered May 1902
British now controlled all of South Africa

Changed South Africa
from an agricultural
society to the largest
gold-producer
 More than diamonds


Gold Standard
Gold discovered in
1886
 Transvaal became the
richest gold mining
area in the world
Langlaate becomes part of the big mining camp
of Johannesburg

Became the biggest town in Transvaal

Prospectors
 Great hopes of
“striking it rich”

Laborers
 Young African men
who came to pay;
bride-price, taxes,
guns or tools

Others
 Made money off
the needs of the
people
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Improved roads then railways
Joined the ports to the gold mines then to
Kimberley
New towns grew up around the stations
Farmers also sent produce by train
More people would now:
 Work for a wage
 Buy their clothes and food from a shop
 Lived in a compound, township or suburb
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Dig up the ground with picks and shovels
Deep-level mining
 By 1906 the Robinson Deep Mine (Johannesburg)
became the deepest mine in the world at 800
meters
 Pumps and ventilation

Low-grade ore
 Had to crush up the ore to get to the gold

All very labor intensive!
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Plentiful supply of cheap labor made gold
mines in South Africa viable
Most African farmers were not interested in
working in the mines
Once the African kingdoms were defeated
government taxes and land control measures
gave few options for survival

Raised taxes so that a man had to work extra to
meet the required tax
 Had to be paid in cash

Had two choices:
 Earn money by selling produce or working for a short
time on white farms or in town
 Or avoid paying the labor tax by working for wages
for short periods either on farms or in towns

Most chose to work in the mines because the
wages were higher than farm work

“Touts” – recruiters
 Paid by recruiting agencies for every worker they
recruited
 Created a situation where there were more
workers than jobs
▪ Low wages

Governments cooperated with mines
because they were major taxpayers

AngloGold Ashanti is a leading global producer of
gold
 Operations in South Africa at West Wits and Vaal River.
 Anglogold produced 4.98 million ounces of gold in 2008.
 Deep-level operations employ 37,000 people and
produced 42% of the group’s production in 2008

Gold Fields is one of the world’s largest producers
 operations at Driefontein, Kloof, Beatrix and South Deep

DRDGold is a medium-sizedgold producer
 4th largest in South Africa.

Half million South Africans rely on industry
 40% of all gold
 One of World’s largest producers
 China surpassed
South Africa in gold
in 2007

Mines in South Africa are very deep
 Not surface mines-95% are underground operations
▪ depths of 3.8km
 Can be dangerous
and expensive

Coupled with declining grades, increased
depth of mining and a slide in the gold price,
costs have begun to rise
 Steady fall in production
 Highest cost is wages

National Union of Mine Workers
 Better wages and
working conditions