ctly correl; tinr; ith the* growth of white popul tion it rho s the r in ...
Transcript of ctly correl; tinr; ith the* growth of white popul tion it rho s the r in ...
-43-
snd IS;70. Although not ex- ctly correl; tinr; ith the* growth
of white popul tion it rho s the r in period:' of development,
reflectin ' economic conditions • nd -pir tions within
the : timicip: . itier. Tn fret in there seventy years it was
only in the 1950* th; t ther r lr.rge surplus of
nroc. .imed residential : t; ndr in the region, hich,h ving
been t ken up in the 1960':; cxolr in the Lov number of
residential ~tr nd.- %roc nined between I960 --nd 1969,
compared to the t o th of • hite nopul: tion ( hich ill be
seen :n the 1970 Popul tion C«nru ).
hilrt the locav " on of ine to nrhip: h ’-' be en
function of the occurence of p-y ble o d b< ne;-th thf
errth' • rurf ee, nd the '■ • ;r o ned by th» ?« n-r t< /:>ld
mining comp Jiirs, ri i. i r l y ,ext-nsions of the nodes of
re S34 denti 1 • nd commerci: • re- s h ve be* n influenced by
the nines. The proximity of cold ine • whose I -ndr could
not be included in .’own 1 nning Jche r ffected the
pi saining of r sidenti I r , eei 11.y in ;>orin r: here
for m-ny years development• to the outh- -e: t of tkf i n
centre ..ere impossible t e lnnd ' being utilised by
Springs Gold Mining Co ■ r> ny Limit' d. Th- » ; r ; c.v i xm: *
has had -n even m u t e r . ega y through undermined nd,
preventing re 'identi 1 deve • -o me ut t t o ">uth no. >uth—
east of Springs, nd to north- v t f : n o . m h i o .
In the light of the bove- entioned f store the
sp,ti'l development of the reridenti 1 to nrh pr in toe
region be tv eon 1900 nd 1970 c; n be under tood. -re
development round the e t o is een in 11 three cents r by
1920, 1 though t, • beji f in the more per runt n ture •:
gold mining th- n cor 1 mining h d lei to the earlier
nrocl' m; tion of to.vnshi os in I.'igel. dy 1‘ "0 however ith
the nrocl-m-tion of dr kpr.n,Spring- nd Geduld to-..nr hips,
Brs.kprn and fprin :s had overt k< n the *»o ml. tion oi Kigel
(see Tables 6 -nd 7). The next nr in period of development,
/ 1930-1939,.
1930-1939f r*;' • the orocl; • tion of Anznc,Dc lview • nd
Brenthurst,developing from the core of B r lcp n, ’ nd the
extensions in hnrings t Caeyeld -lr, Strubenvale ■■ nd
Peter field,set rated from the core by undermined lend.
( ince 1939 thin ba: ic pattern h"s been conso idated ith
the linking of the residentir 1 : rear, of Braktrn and Springs
by the nroclan tion of Pollack i’ r k tand the residential
devejopmentr south of Springe on the hpringr-higel road t
' election Park nd Sc,court, ith the so to be proclaimed
Sharon Psrk linking this deve.opment to Junnotar.
Although the 13 ntu rupul tion of the re gion hr r
rein ine.d virtu lly static be tv e en 1( *-6 nd 1'970 t h n • has
been a great ch nge in it: p ti 1 distribution in this
period. Until 1 9 ’6 the m. jca-ity of B ntu consi te d of
migrant ine orkesr, 1 ivin in con pounds >n m n . pro;%rty,
v.ith only a err 11 number of B ntu living in w u n i c i p l
to nships. ith t)if c .cure of the mines the ttigrent mine
workers returned to their hone . nds,..bii t there
general influx of B ntu into the ..it at or:-rand. This
influx of per.irnent i bour force h - ueccss.it ted the
creation of s p c i s j location ; k n*. for ilrakp n ;
K-.va-Theraa for Spring ; • nd Uc-dua: f )r i.igol.
, ocal K.ark^t Cr> -.■ d by tsa iold '~im
The growth of gold mining in t t Rsnd created
ocal spending no er from two 1 jureir,thc hining Com ny
itself ■ nd t. e mine emn oyeeo. Figures for this tot 1
spending power h v^ ’ lready been civ* n in Oh >ter tor
Nigel **nd I.'odder. ' B' Gold I.'.im s,both -ine in I‘ 1 0
exceeding the m >unt of '.500,000 (K • ft.D.C., I960 ) • la dies,
to sr y,not ] this vould b- spent in t,.< locality .but
many services .ere neces'arily ioc 1 nd led to the
exp; n: ion of the com iorci 1 nd indu:.trial sectors. It was
mainly the pending pover of the white mine employees th t
boosted the local economy,cresting the demand for increased
number of shops : nd services in the locslity, thif dein.md
/ being ....
being supplemented by the purchasing novver of the Mining
Companies,obt; ining some provisions in the loci lity. ..ith
sn active, no pul.' tion of 15,000 ./hi ten nd 120,000 non
whites, e: rning over £ 10 million in w; g:s eng ged in gold
mining ■ t its per-k in 1950 (Ch mber of incs,1963),the
boost to the commercial sector from thi source is
understrnd: ble, nd the three -r in commercial centres of the
region, ir. kirn, opri "s nd ill gel, all no ed signs of
prosperity, itlx thi: develoi -sent of i;he loc: 1 economy tla
toons bfcarn< the n tural focus points for cornercial
den:nd from neighbouring rc.-s, boosting the loc. 1 economies
still further. Springs ir e >cci lly not: ble in thin resoect
becoming the buriness centre for b large proportion of the
Eastern Pr*-ixsvarl.
Gold mining therefore ere ted the dem nd nd sti.uJus
for the devolc\>menS of n o n - b : d c ctiviti.s ?n the lart
•Hand,' sector .vhose support h s : ince IS1 o.en in the
p'rocess of transference fro- gold :i ing to indu: try.
Build of Seecnd.'ry Indu: try in the a: t R nd
Although gold mining stimulated the commercial rnd
business developments in the 1 rt R n d , i t did little to
stimulate industry.
Gold mines do of cour:e require engineering fir.nr to
service ' nu mend nine e q u i p m e n t , nd s. v r 1 of the: e
specif list firms loc- ted round the business centre:-. In the
main,due to the fr et that nost of t e miner, were tied to
1 rge mining houses .ho purch. e stores nd m chinery for
their mines through a centr-1 department,the loc tion of
firms manufacturing mi chinery and equipment for the gold
mines in thi .itvatersri nd .ere little influenced by the
particular localities of the line .
The development of industry in the :;art R n d since
1950 hr - largely been r».■ 1; ted to other lo<*.*-tionr 1 factors,
although gold mining h: indirect j been of import?nee in
itn ere; tion of rcon mic develo wient in the region. Very
ittle m; nufeeturing industry existed prior to 19 50, with
moet of ,vhi t there ; being in prings, which by 1950 h'd
21 r-m: 11 menufac-uring concerns' (Springe To.vn Council, 1962).
Industri: lint tion of the region came with the s etting
up of vi rious industrial townships in the municipalities
and the efforts of the nuiici-v liticr to ttr ct industry.
Ap; rt from the priv: tcly owned industrial to n; hir> of
Enr.trr:|tv.o to. nshipt .ere • r o d imed t o - r,Vu C'nia and
Nuffield* Br k p n ' s Vulc- ni- however very small
township of 33 lorgen, eet u-' . r,:ely for the re-loc; tion of
existing industries in the to n. Kufi.‘.eld,by eontr : t,r
site of I5f' mcrgen, re ry. . ented erious ttem >t by the
municipality to ttrwet industry to Springs. Little
i
develo.irannt took place til ft r the r, hen several
industries .vere ert ■ blished v.hich encour ged the council to
t Ice further -tepo,vtrultinc i: the eet'blishm. nt of n
second industri: L to n h i n , k n o n : He..* ; r , in 195*.. 2 prings
thus got a head-st' rt over the other municiP J n es in
the industri: lisr.tion of the ■ : t R nd.
Tne non-conter:r)or- neour build un of industry in the
three municipalities c* n be vi . ed as a function of v.hat
could be c. lled the ‘un.tci ool factor',th t is,the efforts
of differing •?unici,r litieo to attract industry. These
efforts t'ke three r.-in forme s-
(i) Getting 1 na r.oned and 1 id out for
industri 1 town: hinn with all the nrovisions
thnt indue try require, especially, r il way
ridings, ter <tid electricity.
(ii) Providing the 1 nd t cheap nd competitive
rates.
(iii) Providing sufficient residonti- 1 townships
to house the workers for tne industries.
/ Nigel . . . .
Nigel I.Iunicipr lity,realising the need for industry
to real; ce gold mining 1 id out t.vo to nehipr in the
1950*s fPretoriuortad in 1951 ond Vorsterskroon in 1956,at
land prices of only £ ICO ner ;'cre,the cheapest at that
time in the it ..aterrrand (corrp to £ 17^0 aer acre in
Germiston),r nd stressed the chear> residential stands and
rdequcte labour supply v il ble. (Nigel To n Council.).
Consequently most of the rt nds c j e filled by I960.
In contrr rt the Br- k^an Municipality -var hesitant
to attract industry 00 the to n, irhing to preserve it as
the garden-suburb of the it • tersr nd. By the end of the
1 950 'r,realising that hey ere being left behind,they
proclaimed a l.-rge extension to Vulc ’..a (109 morgen),and
went beyond nroviding baric f; ciliti : by ouilding some
factories themselves,renting them out to industrialists.
Brakpan hence lagged behind Nigel and ‘carings in municincl
-initiative, and on^y no.,, ith the prcclr m, tion of V-n ck
Fark in 1970,is it beginning to r: l i r-e its potentialities
for industrialisation.
The municipal uthoritier h-ve therefore,by their
actions in attracting industry to the reas,been bie to
pi-y rn iiportent role in countering the effects on the
locrl economy of the decline in the rold vines,the effects
of which ill be exrrrined in the n rxt ch: pter.
-53-
CHAPTER 4
EFFECTS OP THU ‘i'KANSITIOii OF Ti.B ; COKO IIC BASE
The tr?.ne-ition of the economic base of the region
has hr.d extensive geogrr nhical nd economic effects. The
decline in the industry utilising the m: jor proportion of
land in the region nd its rcpi cement by <• more stv. ti' lly
concentrated form of economic development,has, nd will
continue to hr ve import-nt so ti 1 conseauencer in the
region. These snati- 1 consequences h vc- however p: rtly
been considered in Ch ? uor 3,and ill on.y be r ightly
el.-bor ted in this ch' nter. It is more the effects on uie
structural economy of the region th"t will be examined in
this section,developing from the dyn*mic .a lysis of the
economy between 1951 r..nd I?64 and its c-xplrn: tion of the
'continued gro th of the service rector of the region,to
an analysis of the ch nge in employment and oopul: tion,
rnd the more recent indicators of economic health.
K p r t i r l a f f e c t s
The spatial effects viewed - lrendy have been rel. ted
to the fragmented p ttern of residential deve opnent
resulting from,the restriction on expansion of certain
residential areas by the proximity of -ining land,and the
proclamation of some mine to nrhips r r municipal to nshios.
Apart from the effects on r identi 1 rcas,other effects
on the sp-tial pattern of development in the transition ry
period h-ve resulted from two factors. Firstly,the closure
of the mines nd consequent release of mining I na,cnd
s econdly,l o c tion ■ nd e x n m s i o n of industrial townships in
the region.
Release of "i.ning I/ nd
The release of mining 1 nd .vi.ll hrve great significance
/ for . . . .
-54-
for pi: ruling in the raunicip' i ities, owing to the peculiar
position hich .ining ground occupies in the legal
frcmework of South Afric; . In its short history of
development most of the Last H: nd rogion h-r been sub
divided into procl imed nining land, (see Figure 8 ) , t h t is,
land /.hi eh h r been proclaimed public digging for
preciour met Is or be.ee inei- ln, hilst ' procl iraed lrnd'
it is exempt fro a ny municip; i or to -n nlMining scheme.
hen the nin°s ciOre the 1 nd ir not iram di te'.y do-oroclaimed
ss most commonly the mining companies ke<. o the 1 nd for a
period longer end only for U.H.?.*s , .ritten permission
from the Mining Commissioner to use the rurf ce of * procl iraed
land' for other th n lining nurposee. Eventually ir the
Government Hining Engineer is convinced thrt the lrnd is no
longer needed for mining >um o r e s he m y h v it de-proclaimed.
The land ti.en becomes like ny other )iece of lrnd waiting
development (Gregory,1969)•
In resoect of the dispor 1 of mine infr structure,
the leg 1 position is further comp icated by the different
forms of land ownership by mining companies. Often the
mining comp ny ill h vc- leased the lining rights from the
owner of the original fi rm ;nd hencc when the mine closes
the ownership revertr to the origin; 1 o.ner,whilst other
mines own the 1 nd themselves. In the Er~t nd there h- ve
been exrmpler of both tyoes of ownership, iJart Gedu1 ',
Grootvlci,lIe Kleinfontcin and Hew Van Ryn being the mines
which have le ed mining rights. The significance is that
if the mines h^ve only leased the lend they ..ill h've no
rights over the mine infrastructure hich will be left on
closure,whilst those mines that own the J n d frequently
dispose of the infrastructure,either through a property
c o m p m y e.g. Dagg.r fontein G. . (’The Star*, 3.3 • 69), or
sometimer, themselves e.g. Vogelstruisbult G. . selling
one-third of Vogelrtruirbult mine town lip to Union
Carriage nd Y.agon Co. Ltd. ,Nigel ('The Star' ,8.3*69) •
/ The ....
The-, complicated 1 eg- 1 petition, ;v outlined bove,
has hence led to very different procesrer of soatial re-
adapt- tion following the closures of the mines. Lio far,the
effects have not been 1-- that gre; t. The time lags involved
in the de-procl rations and the municipr.1 planning process
hrve led to little ctu 1 development on de-procl imed
1- nd, with the not ble exception of Springs G. i.,the
infrastructure of which has been conpletely cleaned up
since closure in 1962 and is no incorporated in to.n
planning schemer. The significance on t'.e spatia? patterns
of develooment in the future ./ill be much greater, ith
planning being able to be based on 11 land in the
municipalities rather th n only a smnll portion.
The Location of Industri'1 To’ nrhios
hereas the rpati:1 economic develo ment of the gold
mining phare was spread out over the. entire region, the
industri'1 devc-lonp.ent is so ti lly concentr ted in lrrge
industrial to nships of -vhich there re at nresent seven
fully d?v?loped Vulcania,Enstrr,New ra,i.uffield,
Selection Park, Vorsterskroon, Pri toriusstad, and Van Eck Pe rk
to be oroclai ied in 1970.
The development of these industrial townships has
been faci itated by one of the main location- 1 advantages of
the region,in its P- -V context,the flatnes: of 1 nd,
allowing the develo->ment, nd possible extensions,of lrrge
industri 1 townships. Vor: terakroon for example,a township
of 115 morgen, h.s a degree of topogr phy of only 40 feet
over its area. The other mrin location; 1 factors influencing
site h ve been,the proxinity to existing railvays (on sites
v/here South African Rail ays can be persuaded to out
sidings through to the townshin),and secondly,the spatial
relationship to residenti • rear,it being general policy
to site an industri; 1 to nshin so that B;mtu workers do
not hrve to cross white residential areas to reach vork.
The latter factor can be seen ir. t e tiding of industrial
to,.nrhiT)s in Brrkoan rnd Nigel,but in b’pringo, restrictions
cn development,namely mining land, hr vo prevented such
locations.
Hence r new ftv tial pr ttern of economic development
is beginning to emerge,based or the industrial t o n s h i p s
and residential areas having greater locational freedom
in the region.
Economic Effects
It is appropri; te when faced v.ith the decline of the
basic activity of gold ining rnd the change in the economic
base of the region to an-' lyse this transition in terms of
economic base analysis. Although not frequently utilised in
geographical essays,rnd having many limitations which
• detract fro \ its nure economic, nd planning us; ge (Isard,
i*960 ; Alexander, 1954 ; Lane, 1966), this form of cccnomic
analysis is suitable for the study of a region in hich
the basic and non-baric sectors can be clearly defined.
Not only is it ble to sho the : bsolute and structural
change in basic employment,but it can expl; in quantitatively
the "nonaly of the expansion of the service rector with
the simultaneous decline in base employment, hi 1st not
attempting to use the ratios in t eir dubious role of
exact prediction,they provide a useful aid to the understanding
of the effects of the transition and provide n base to
more dot' iled analysis of the industri l base to be
undertaken in Chapter 5.
Transition in terms of •■conomic Dose An; lysis
Segregation of Basic and Non-l3a:ic Activities . As outlined
in the Introduction,the prosperity of any region ia tied
to a limited number of basic economic ctivitier in which
it has specialised, rnd the prosperity of the non-basic
activities rnd the regional economy will vary • ccording
to changes in the base element. It is necessary,especially
when confronted with the situation of an economic base
transition in the region, to identify, ~egregntet • nd ..-eight,
the arc ; *s basic ;.cti vi tier over time, and to see their*
quantitative rel tionship to non-basic activities.
Two ru in problems here confront the • ne.l4 rt. Firstly,
the technique to segreg; te the baric from non-baric
activities, nd secondly,the ; ppropriate unit of measurement
for these activities.
As this recti on ir conccrncd vith the dyn: mic aspects
of the economic bare • n i n d uetry-by-idustry - urvey ir of
little u c ,ar thin ill only give d; tr for the .ore ent.
The method .hich h r been mo: t ide y used in analyses of
the economic b se har been the derivation of indices of
loc-'l speci liration (location quotients),and their
p pplic tion to .ployment figure: for th« region,to give
quantitatively the 'b sicnes ' of various indr tries
(Hoyt,1949 ; ''sttila , nd Thonron, 1955 ; Isard,I960) • For
thir inform tion one therefore hr to turn to published
statistic:'. ..i+h the dearth of comparative statirtics for
South Africa thir prerents many problems. For start,
comparative rt tirticr r re restricted to employment the
unit of me a urement, hi oh, J. though being n accepted
measure in ec.ziomic bare :tudier,ha; dcficiencts (Barna,I962)
and is not the ideal mersure. 1 Also,there is a great tine-
lag between the collection,r\arlysis nd publication of
statistics. The latest accurate rtrtirticr for nopul tion
ere the I960 Census , -h x. t 'or manufacturing,the I9&3A>4
Industri 1 Census, hich ill br published in 1970. To
obtain comp rative extri-n: nufacturing employment figures
for T963/64 therefore necessitated ext apolations from
popul tion figures.
It was only possible ithin the limitations imposed
by the statis tical base to t .ke three years for the
/ comparison ....
I. Other theoretical alternatives for arded h ve been,
income generated by industrial origin rnJ v lue added
by firm.
comparison of the economic b re,19^1,I960 ind 1963/64,of
which >nly 1963/64 nece: sit ted extr- polations. This
period covered the main period of economic transition • nd
showed in cuantitative term? the effects on v- ir-ious sectors
of the economy. The extrapol tions,; . s shown in Table 21
(Appendix I) for the popul'tion of South Afric rnd the
Last R' nd re based on official extr; polationo by the
Bureau of Census nd : tatistics,: nd the individual
municipalities (I.Iunicip 1 Yer.r Book,1967 ; Statistics of
South Africa,1963), nilst the figures for extrt-
manufaccuring employment in the Kart Hand for 1963/64 have
been t'^.-n to bo the same as I960. Although the latter is
probably rn underestimate in most instances,it does not
affect the validity of the an: lysis a: none of the rectors
are basic or near-b sic, nd hence the only effect of the
assumption is to lo er the level of non-baric employment for
1963/64 below that hich could restonsbly be expected in the
light of develo 'nents in thi. period.
Loc’ tion quotients ^r e hence derived for 1951,1960
and 1963/64,for the various emp^o ment sectors of the
economy (see Appendix I for methodology ),.• nd applied to
local emp oyment figures to give quantitatively the surplus
(basic) vorkers in the v rious employment sectors. The
results cr< shown ir Table 9 with the division of
employment for the three years bet..eon basic rnd n o n-b sic.
As seen in the .’able the figures sho the decline of basic
employment in gold mining nd the increasing 'basicness' of
manufacturing indu: tries between 1951 nd 1963/64. It was
at this point that the figures for the segregation of
manufacturing e m p l o y m e n t , b a e d on extri-regional exports,
were checked against the results of the Input-Output survey
(to be forwarded in Ch' pter 5),and found to be substanti; lly
correct.
Prom the tot' Is of basic and lion-basic employment,
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economic- l l y c t iv e , nd. t o t e l population, in the re g io n by the method rho-,n belo , : -
e.g. 1951
Bar'ic : Kon-Brric Rr : Lo Brric : Tot- 3 P o mil?.-.tion R ■ tio
_ x • 0 4' a 1 1 1 .(jo1 1 : , Aj7 * 1 1 2 , 7TT7
to give the Ratio Pr.ttern shov.n in Teble 10
V 10
b :.;; v :.'3
IQf.I I960 I<63/64
Basic : Won-Basic 0.42 O . 7 3 0.34
Basic : Total Jrrnloyment 1.42 1.73 I.'34
Total Employment : Tot 1 opul tion I.13 1.74 1.73
Basic : Total ’opul: tion 1.69 3*02 3*27
Effects of the Tr r.rition on 1 >n-.- ic ,.ctiv tla s . Bar-c
ratio theory assumes th- t ch.?nr;e« in br ic employment
will lead to ch- nr;c' in other rr.t*o ele ientr, that ill,in
the lon^ run,revert to the r;>iio re' • tiorrhip rxi"ting
before the change in ba ic or.ployment took )1 ce. It as
this premire that led to the opinion rxnresred by both the
Nation 1 Re sources Jevelo p:\ent Oounci lid the a r g i n d
Mines Here-rch Unit (U.R.D.C.,I960 ; A. .R.U.,1964),that
service ?ctivity ou d decline bsolutely ith the decline
in the ba.ic activity of gold Mining. In f ct,ar Table 9
sho.vs, there ir n apparent anomaly between the decline in
basic employment and the increase in non-b-.sic employment
between 1951 and 1963/64. The- explanation of this
phenomenon was for.varded by Andrev.-s in that,
” . «.;he only \r.y i:* ,.u.iou non-bar ic activities
can peri.i nently prevent ■ negative r action
ip by a qu* lit tive change in brsic ctivity
r s it doclines cuantitatively."
This qu lit: tivc change in the 1; at Rand is represented by
the transition of She conponents of basij employment from
gold mining to manufacturing industry (no other employment
sector having loc. tion ouotient exceeding unity), ith
the nigher average age rates in runufacturing indurtry.
Andrew;, continued that,
" ...this type of qu: lit: tivc ch,nge in baric
activity could also le: <* to i po: itivr- shift
in service activities if the contrc t in
the local economies before and after were
rufficiently dram tic. But a condition of
this sort ould b. highly unu'-url." (Andrews, 1955(b) )
It is ex ctly thia "highly unusual cond tion” that has
occured in the iast R nd. hen the actual ag paid in
basic activities are computed it i seen,in T blc II,
that,derpite f 11 in b : ic ennloy.nent of 10,759 bet eon
I960 • nd 1963/64,t h e n ha: been n bsolutf increase in
total a g e s p. id (or, rt duced to I960 real a g e index,
only a very gti 11 decline,of less than 7 ),ar result
of n inert-' ce in non-gold mining baric employment of
6,756 from 4,641 11,397. It is this u lit tivc ch nge
in basic emplryme„ r». presented by the inor are in basic
employment in nrnufrcturing industry that has led to the
'rurviv 1' of non-b: : ic • ctiviti* ; in the t H nd.
V /.Gi o IN I3/.oI0 ‘C T I V VI
hite Non- hite
R.
IJ60 1963/64 I96O 1963/64
Gold uinir.g 24,3^3,420 I S , 350,635 1 2 , f C 3,200 10,357,163
•Caric' M: nufac. 2,678 , 5 13 7,343,155 1,335,579 3,631,113
27,0^6,933
1
27,693, /90113,393,779 13,938,276
Wager p' id in • nuf cturin, t' lccn ar : -
D'?ric ■rr'i'-r in nuf r . . I? ' ir m-'lo.v in :r nuf~ c,
Total v * g e < xn JiUi * Total ’ wploy In ; nui c,
Hence,total . >.ges in Bn. ic ctivitiec :-
I960 1963/64
R 40,935,71 R 41,68:,066
If 1963/64 figure ir amended to I960 re- 1 gf index
(taken from nrice indieor .ith tin^-lag of one-year;, hich
by 1963/64 h-d riren to 103.3,tot 1 ruger p. id were
R 40,156,132.
Two ether frvctorr h ve incv • ed the ictual poritive
rhift in non-ba.ic ctivitie . The fir-t of there ir an
a rerult of the neculi: r porition of D: ntu mine vorkcrr in
the region. There mine workerr nr1 purely 'ligr tory 1 pour,
remitting rnort of their wager back to their families in the
homelands. Hence their rh re of bas ic employment wages
c nnot be conridered to h ve the r; me imp >rt ;nce to the
local economy a thrt of other groups. II Bantu mine workers
wages are therefore rubtrrcted from the tot Is,an in
Table 12, it ir Been that there v.ar an b olute increase
(at 1^60 r ul . ago levels),of over K I ’ million in the
period bet.een 19>->0 nd 1963/64 in the writer of b ic
ouioloyc t-s.
TABLE 12
■ AG-:S 31. TV i i C C^'lViVI I-
Li-. I] HOil-.illT: _____ L__
R IC60 1 ^ 6 A
Tot'l ages 40,935,71 40,156,132
Non- hite ttmeri Vagea , , 9,977,999
23,372,51: 30,178,133
At I960 Her 1 ..age levels
Hence,reni incre e in local b; ic crn 3-1963/64
= R 1,805,621
Further,the recond frctor tendin. in thin direction
ir the gene)- lly greater 1 into re of n.inuf'.c turing indur try
to th#' non-b-ric ctiv.vie , thi: 1' ct, . ill be re - n in
Ch- pter 5,having led to the . ro th of -r ay non-b ic
activities ervin th<" . ith tl;L: gre *tc * link .;c the r tio
between baric ■ nd non-b* ' ic ctivitier hr been increasing,
from I : 0.42 in I95I,to I : 0.iJ4 in 1963/64, nd is likely
since 1963/64 to have exceeded u n ity,becoming noro in line
with ratios in indue trial rear in tht .r t Ccntr.l li nd.
Effects Tr* nil,ion -.)■ f> < rnd Tot 1 1‘opul tion.
The eh-nge in the rrtio of bnric cm oioyment : total
population has been even more dr: m tic,inorearing from
I : I.Gy to I : 3.27,' nd reflects substanti. ! changer, in
employment ? n population in hat c; n be- reffered to as
the mining - nd inductri 1 phs. es. The period of the mining
economic base represented a very rge proportion of the
economically active population,seen in tse ratio for 1951
for Total snployment to Total Population of j : I.13. This
was- not only as a result of the high pruocrtion of the to t 1
of Bantu mine workers,but .also due to the large number of
single .hite mine employees. This situation an br contracted,
with that of 19^3/64, representing the o< inning of the
industrial plv_ e,with s ratio of I : 1.73,- very Large
incree e,mainly due to the ne permanent Bantu labour force
plus their families entering the region 'nd re pi: :ing the
Bantu mine orkers.
These statistics however do not tell the .’hole story
of the change in the actua st ucture oi the community
population, t». story hich c n be divided into two "..arts, the
changes resulting f r m thr closure of the sines snd,tne
build up of industry.
Closure of G)Id :‘i m s . The run-down in employment resulting
from the closure of the fold mines h ' lresdy been briefly
outlined else..here. To what degree h this led to .
problem of unemployment ?
Unlike many mining communities in other countries,
e.g. south • !f',t • r; net ployaent problems
resulting from the closure oi the gold in< . In io*oect O j
migrant Bantu mine workers no problems rose from the
closure of the mine: ,as the Bantu mine -worker noi.. lly
only -works on the mines for periods of nine months before
returning to his homeland. Similiarly,there h: ve teen few
hindrances to migration for white mine workers. Tnc
controlling Mine Houses have had vacancies in their new
mines opening in other areas, e.g. Union Corporation with
new mines opening in h'v: .nder at the same time or closures
at Gcduld nd Van Dyk Gold ines. Iso,in contrast to
South .(ales mining vill ages,there hr-, not been the ,:lose
communi y structure in the- .st li nd,v.hich acts as force
against migration. Admittedly,some hite miners,due to
their close link;..gee -.ith the are1.,did decide to st; y after
closure,but these only form a email proportion of the
earlier white employment in gold mining in the region.
Build u p of Industry. The ro..th oh industry in the Lai t
Rand has ttracted into the area a virtually new labour
force,replacing t) trine orkers. .'h-- B; ntu influx, as
already mentioned, part of : go era movement into the
V.it vater; r, nd and has expanded with the growth of industry
(up until the introduction of thrj Jhyrical PI; nnang Act),
necessitating the proclaaauion and .:ton- ions of Bantu
locations, to house these ,,orkers and their families* The
•white industrial labour force has been derived from three
sources. Firstly,from existing erviee nd mine Lovr in
the locality. Secondly,from n o f • rd movement from
Johannesburg,and lastly,from inward migration from other
regions rnd especially oversea s. Vhis led to •
cosmopo it: n white popula ;ion - ith ■ large number oi
Southern huropeanr present in the region.
Many firms moving into the area have brought rorkers
or management with t h e m . Ik< b« t ?•« I* tne Italian
firm of Po. erlinc; , ho established then, e lv< in .<i. el in
the late 1550* s. Being largely staffed by It
$0% of 1000 white emra o y e e s ), they h ve dded a m v.
dimension to the Nigel community in tie local to*tb;ll te m
the firm created, hich to mtny South Africans has given
Nigel a new importance. Other instances -re perhaps less
obvious, but the rmju armice of many nglish ubsidi: ry
firms,especially in the fields of steel and brass,has led
to the Lnglieh,Morth country and Sheffield d i a l e c t becoming
/ commonplace ....
Author Cockhead P J Name of thesis The East Rand: A Geographical Analysis of the transition of the economic base of the Region from Gold
Mining to Manufacturing, and its Effects upon future Economic and spatial Development 1970
PUBLISHER: University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
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