Aug-Sept 2014 K.indd

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AUG/SEPT 2014 • www.cosatu.org.za

2nd Part of a Historical Education Series on “Origins of Labour and Strikes” in SA context since Arrival of the white colonialists, traced by Alfred Mafuleka, COSATU National Educator

they lost their land, it became dif fi cult to live off the land, it caused over-crowding, land hunger and poverty (Brief History of the ANC). Africans were not allowed to buy, rent or lease for use any land, except in the “Reserves ”. 3. BUILDING THE LABOUR FORCE Since the opening of the Kimberley diamond mines that several thousands of black men had to sell their labour from the 1860-70s. The trend continued with the discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand. White mine workers successfully demanded “job colour-bar”as mines grew deeper. Land dispossession that caused famine, wars forced more black men to seek work and became cheap migrant labour for (white) farmers and the mines. By 1901 the Chamber of Mines had established a recruitment agency, called WENELA (Witwatersrand Native Labour Association) to recruit migrant labour from the southern sub-region. The phenomenon of importing “indentured” Chinese workers began from 1904-1907 as cheap skilled labour for the mines. This led to a strike in 1907 by the white miners protesting this black and Chinese workers taking skilled jobs at lower wages than white workers. Treatment of black African workers compared to whites was very bad, they were both disenfranchised and enjoyed no labour rights nor safe working conditions. A series of strikes followed as Africans were not free to move as they pleased.

peace offering between the English and Afrikaners, just after the end of the hostilities “Union” the intention of “dealing with” the problematic “native question” (which simply means dispossessing the indigenous of their land, was a central theme.It was in this context that the “Founding fathers” of black African resistance realized , and the “African Native National Congress”(ANNC ) was formed in 1912 by the likes of Pixley ka Seme, Reverend John Langalibalele Dube , Solomon (Sol) Plaatjie, and others as a direct response to unite Africans of all tribes and persuasions from the four corners of South Africa. This was the beginning of an organized, coordinated resistance against colonial rule and deprivation of voting rights from numerous “wars of resistance”, “frontier wars” to Bambatha rebellion in an attempt by various African tribes to stave off land and livestock dispossession mounted by colonialists. It was noted in the previous part that from the Botha-Smuts regime of 1910 it was when the most repressive laws were promulgated to deal with three major areas, namely: “mine labour”, migratory labour system and the land question – The 1911 Mines and Works Act, the 1911 Labour Regulation Act and the infamous “Native Land Act of 1913”.The impact of each one of these draconian laws were adequately discussed previously (refer to 1st Part, June/July 2014 The Shop steward). But the Native Land Act caused the most hardships for Africans in general,

1. BACKGROUND T

his is a second instalment in a 3-part series looking at the historical background of how “labour and strikes” developed in

South Africa (SA) since the arrival of the Dutch settlers in 1652, carried over by the British Empire. This second part of the series deal with the period from after the Union leading to 1920s, looking at the major (white) Miners’ strike in 1922 to the consolidation of Apartheid policies with the National Party (NP) coming to power in 1948, right up to the 1980s. The fi nal and 3rd part follows up the period from after 1976 Soweto uprisings, Labour reforms after both Riekert and Wiehann Commission of Enquiries to the recent Platinum belt violent strike that has took democratic SA by a huge surprise. The recent platinum strike led by AMCU (Association of Mining and Construction Union) from January 2014 that lasted fi ve months. Has or can this be described as a turning point for labour in SA history of Industrial relations? 2. THE UNION OF SA CONSTITUTION 1910 This was the fi rst important step in the creation of a “single ” South African nation, as a Constitutionally turning point in the history of the former two Boer-controlled “Republics” and two British-controlled colonies. This was a symbolic truce and

Education