Question

Find out more about gold and diamond mining in South Africa in the nineteenth century. Who controlled the gold and diamond companies? Who were the miners, and what were their lives like?

Answer 1

The conditions caused by the war also contributed to the Great Depression, which occurred amid growth to meet the growing demand for war-related commodities. However, following the war, the dramatic drop in demand for military and war products resulted in an economic depression.

Cecil Rhodes was the first British to have a gold and diamond mining mandate, and he exerted power over the conquered areas. He established De Beers, the world’s largest diamond company.

Mining companies were regulated by both Europeans and Americans, as many white settlers went to South Africa during the height of Imperialism. They aimed to generate massive incomes from the mining industry. They brought about technological improvements and deep mining techniques. These strategies made it easier to maximise profits.

In the mining fields, the workers were mainly African natives, and the majority of them migrated to South Africa from other parts of the colonial territory. They lived by the sweat of their brows and toiled in the mining fields. The native African workers were paid 10 times lower wages than the white workmen. The initiation of gold and diamond mining works in South Africa led to the development of the Apartheid movement (racism movement) from the 1890s onwards. In 1889, the Chamber of Mines was established by European Industrial nations to reduce the wages of the native Africans. This step was taken to increase the profitability of the mines. This aggravated the sufferings of African blacks as they were exposed to the apartheid movement and monetary insolvency.