Patterns of ownership and labour unrest within the South African mining sector
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Date
2015
Authors
Horne, Renee
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Faculty of the Humanities, University of the Free State
Abstract
This article examines the impact of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment’s (B-BBEE) ownership
element as a catalyst to labour unrest within the mining sector. The research shows that the B-BBEE
policy has made limited inroads into the socio-economic disparities of mineworkers and their respective
communities. However, since the new democratic dispensation in 1994, the policy has advantaged a
selected few wealthy black South Africans. As a result of apartheid’s legacy, which disenfranchised
the majority of South Africans, the emphasis of B-BBEE was on socio-economic development and
enfranchising black South Africans to own or manage mines. Currently, the mining sector is one of the
largest Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) contributors of the transfer of ownership from white to
black stakeholders. The ownership deals, estimated at R200 billion, have benefited a select few black
elite, but has not filtered down to the majority of mineworkers, who earn an estimated R4 000 per
month. Consequently, this has led to the recurrence of labour unrest within the mining sector. With the
use of exclusive interviews with cabinet ministers, BEE consortia, trade unions and mining companies
triangulated with B-BBEE data and reports, the article provides one of the first analyses on the
relationship between B-BBEE, in relation to black ownership, and labour unrest in the mining sector.
Description
Keywords
Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE), Economic empowerment, Mining, Labour unrest
Citation
Horne, R. (2015). Patterns of ownership and labour unrest within the South African mining sector. Journal for Contemporary History, 40(2), 25-47.