South Africa
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Transcript South Africa
How did the drive for resources dominate the history of this country?
Identify history of South Africa
Evaluate effect of gold on South Africa’s
economy and society
Khoisan language groups
Bantu language groups
Migrated from central Africa
Nguni
Ancestors of the Zulu and Xhosa
Portuguese
Cape of Good Hope (1488)
(1652) – Dutch East India Company
French Huguenots refugees, the Dutch and
Germans settled
▪ Afrikaners
(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
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
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
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
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
1970’s South African Student Organization
Black Consciousness Movement
Black pride and non violent
opposition
Steve Biko
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
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
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
Committed to reform
Focused on social issues such as
unemployment, housing shortages and crime
Reintroduced South Africa into the global
economy
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
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:
Natal
Then the Orange Free
State and Transvaal
Discovery of gold
sparks the second war
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
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
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
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
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!
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