Examines the silicosis crisis in the South African mining industry, and reveals how the rate of, often fatal, tuberculosis among black migrant miners was hidden for over a century.
South Africa's gold mines are the largest and historically among the most profitable in the world. Yet at what human cost? This book reveals how the mining industry, abetted by a minority state, hid a pandemic of silicosis for almost a century and allowed miners infected with tuberculosis to spread disease to rural communities in South Africa and to labour-sending states.
In the twentieth century, South African mines twice faced a crisis over silicosis, which put its workers at risk of contracting pulmonary tuberculosis, often fatal. The first crisis, 1896-1912, saw the mining industry invest heavily in reducing dust and South Africa became renowned for its mine safety. The second began in 2000 with mounting scientific evidence that the disease rate among miners is more than a hundred times higher than officially acknowledged. The first crisis also focused upon disease among the minority white miners: the current crisis is about black migrant workers, and is subject to major class actions for compensation.
Jock McCulloch was a Legislative Research Specialist for the Australian parliament and has taught at various universities. His books include Asbestos Blues.
Southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland & Botswana): Jacana

lgli/South Africa's Gold Mines and the Politics of Silicosis - McCulloch, Jock; (1).epub

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South Africas Gold Mines and the Politics of Silicosis

African Issues Paperback

McCulloch, Jock

Boydell & Brewer

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

Boydell & Brewer, Oxford, 2012

African issues, Suffolk, 2012

African issues, Oxford, 2012

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Gold Mining & Life-threatening Disease -- Creating A Medical System -- Compensation -- A White Science -- Myth Making & The 1930 Silicosis Conference -- Tuberculosis & Tropical Labour -- Conflict Over The Compensation System -- Healing Miners -- The Sick Shall Work -- Men Without Qualities. Jock Mcculloch. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 162-172) And Index.

This book reveals how the South African mining industry, abetted by a minority state, hid a pandemic of silicosis for almost a century, and allowed workers infected with tuberculosis to spread the potentially fatal disease to rural communities in South Africa and labour-sending states.

2024-01-03