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Women Mining Asbestos in South Africa, 1893-1980

Bibliographic Data

ID4603696
AuthorsJock Mcculloch (RMIT University, corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume29
Issue2
Pages413-432
Publication date2003-06-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Southern African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0305-7070 • E-ISSN: 1465-3893
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03057070306201
OpenAlexW2111816528
LanguageEN
Citations received5

In the period from 1893 to 1980 the asbestos mines of the north-west Cape and the north-eastern Transvaal were important sources of employment. The methods of extraction were simple; and in many mines until the early 1950s the basic labour unit was the family. Even by South African standards labour conditions for black and Coloured workers were harsh. A mixture of political skills and the isolation of the mines allowed British-owned companies and their subsidiaries to escape the strictures of the various Mines Acts. According to the Department of Mines records, the mining companies, and the few historians who have written on the subject, female workers had disappeared from the industry by 1955. In fact, until the 1980s, females comprised up to half of asbestos mine workers in South Africa, in an example of a contemporary mining industry dependent upon female labour

Archaeology · Asbestos · Cape · Cottage industry · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Migrant workers · Mining engineering · Mining industry · Multinational corporation · Political science · Politics · Subsidiary · Engineering · History · Law · Legal Issues in South Africa · South African History and Culture

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Citations per year0.25
Citation span2006 - 2025 (20)
Highly citedNo

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