Economic history of South Africa
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Prior to the arrival of the European
In the north, central and east of the country tribes of
In the southern and western parts of the country, San (
In the first half of the 20th century, agriculture and mining were the largest parts of the South African economy.[2]
Early history
The first evidence of
The Kingdom of Mapungubwe (c.11th – 13th century CE) was a medieval state in South Africa located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers. This saw the beginnings of South Africa's gold and ivory trade[4][5] and the production of jewelry and art. The Golden Rhinoceros of Mapungubwe was discovered on a royal grave at the site of Mapungubwe Hill, and was on display at the British Museum as part of an exhibition celebrating the art of South Africa.[6] Mapungubwe also saw the first development of stonemasonry in what is now South Africa.[4] Glass beads and Chinese ceramics were imported.[7]
European settlement
In 1652 a permanent European settlement was established in Cape Town in the far south west of the country.[8] It was not originally planned as a colony but as a refreshment station. Malnutrition, especially scurvy, a vitamin C deficiency arising from a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables, was a problem for the ships of the Dutch East India Company that were plying trade between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies, modern Indonesia.
To deal with the problems, the company established a garden at the foot of Table Mountain and bartered cattle from the Khoikhoi to supply to passing ships.
However, the inevitable development of a permanent European settlement at the Cape triggered profound change over the next two and a half centuries. A struggle developed between the Europeans and the San, who were pushed into the Kalahari Desert region. Protracted skirmishes and wars with the Khoikhoi (Quena) clans and tribes resulted in enslavement of many and the destruction of a cohesive Khoikhoi communal identity, which disappeared.
Land hunger [citation needed] led to wars between the Bantu as the settlers migrated eastwards from the original settlement in Cape Town [citation needed].
Between the wars [citation needed], commerce developed between the settlers and the indigenous peoples. Sales of produce and stock saw the development of a black, landed peasantry. [citation needed].
Immigrant skills
The Europeans meanwhile imported
The province of Natal, a British colony, was found suitable for sugar production but the local Zulu tribes could not be attracted as cane cutters as they lacked the skill and competency to work. Indentured labour was brought from India. The descendants of these labourers play an active role in commerce and industry today.
Additional to slavery, there was another form of coerced labor supply: The Zulu and other kingdoms used young men for coerced labor both as warriors and pastorals.[10] The European migrants diverged: the Continental Europeans merged to speak a Dutch-derived language, Afrikaans, and the settlers from the British Isles continued to speak English which became the language of commerce. This dichotomy was also seen in the economy, as farmers were mainly Afrikaans-speaking while English-speaking South Africans were drawn to commerce and industry.
Boer republics
The
The discovery of
In 1899, the British went to war once again with the Boer Republics. After overcoming several initial setbacks, the British managed to take the initiative by 1900; invaded and soon conquered the Freestate and ZAR, later uniting them as two of the four provinces in the Union of South Africa in 1910.
But perhaps the greatest impact was the influx of international capital to finance the mining operations, including the arrival of
Migrant labour
The indigenous people had no knowledge about the mining economy and this led to a shortage of labour on the mines. In a measure to force labour to the mines, Rhodes, who had turned from forming the De Beers Company to politics, secured the passing of the Glen Grey Act in 1894. The Act obliged the payment of tax with the specific aim of forcing peasant farmers, who were not part of the money economy, to find work that paid money to pay the taxes. The Act was a deliberate move by Rhodes to force labour to the mines.
This was the start of a migratory labour system in which black men travelled to the mines to work leaving their families in the tribal areas.
The supply of labour became more than sufficient and the mining companies formed a buying cartel through their association, the Chamber of Mines. This enabled them to create a monopsony (market conditions where there is only one buyer) that suppressed wages. The mines also attracted labour from neighbouring countries such as Rhodesia (now Zambia and Zimbabwe), Nyasaland (now Malawi) and Mozambique (that was then a Portuguese colony) that kept wages of black workers down.[12]
Rand Rebellion
South African gold mines are deep and expensive to run and the mine companies endeavoured to keep costs down. However, in trying to train blacks for skilled jobs, they ran into conflict with white miners. The white miners resisted the integration of black miners in 1922 in the area around the centre of gold mining: the Witwatersrand.
The dispute quickly escalated with the South African Communist Party joining on the side of the miners while also promoting the idea of racial equality. The standoff escalated from a labour dispute to a full scale uprising labeled the Rand Rebellion. Eventually more than 20,000 fully equipped Union Defence Force troops had to be dispatched. All attempts at negotiations failed and the rebellion was eventually put down by "considerable military firepower and at the cost of over 200 lives".[13] Some white miners were sentenced to hang for their roles in instigating and leading the uprising. Those dispatched to the gallows purportedly went quoting the rallying cry of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels's Communist Manifesto, saying, "Workers of the world unite". [citation needed]
Poor Whites
Among the white population there were many Afrikaner
Special attention was paid to this new influx of white poverty (as opposed to any changes in non-whites' statuses), and the
Blacks had no vote and the whites used their political power to force the mining companies to protect skilled jobs for whites.
Labour-Afrikaner Nationalist Unity
From the late 1920s, whites elected governments that united white labour and
The 1930s and 1940s saw the rapid
While English-speaking South Africans dominated industrial and commercial life Afrikaners banded together in mutual financial organisations that in due course were to become major players in that sector of the economy. [citation needed]
Apartheid
In 1948, a government was elected that introduced the policy of
Economic dominance during this period was made possible by Black South Africans and
As noted by one historian, "
Many English-speaking South Africans had participated in the heavy discrimination that preceded apartheid, and tacitly supported the legislation while paying lip service to opposing the laws. By so doing apartheid managed to create a system in which black people were pushed to the margins of their land through the imposition of the Natives Land Act, 1913. In result; many blacks are unskilled, illiterate, and have low living standards. Their schooling system, the Bantu languages education, was based on the notion that black people cannot progress fast enough in scientific subjects due to lower intellectual skills, and has resulted in many being excluded from work requiring skill. [citation needed]
Volkscapitalisme
Under the
Business support for apartheid
With the support of
Over time the mining companies introduced changes to lower their costs but the alliance with the government continued. [citation needed]
White
Sanctions
The imposition of international
But the most damaging isolation was the denial of investment funds and the boycott of South African investments particularly by influential universities and foundations in the United States. These boycotts limited the capital available to South African businesses.
Ironically, during the 1980s gold reached its highest price as a result of international tensions reaping huge profits for the mining company conglomerates.[citation needed] However, because of currency restrictions and bans on the sales of Krugerrands in some countries, they were unable to invest abroad. The result was that they used their surplus funds to buy up businesses in virtually every activity in the economy.[citation needed]
However, the financial benefit for the mining companies of continuing to support the system eroded as international capital stopped flowing into the country.[citation needed]
Unsustainable burden of sanctions
In 1990 State President
Despite some fears that the country could become unmanageable because of tribal conflict or even a military take over by the white-dominated armed forces de Klerk and Mandela guided the country to democratic elections in 1994 with Mandela as president.
Despite socialist rhetoric and support from socialist countries in its early years the ANC maintained the mixed economy and encouraged the market economy including relaxing foreign exchange controls.
In January 1991, SACP general secretary Joe Slovo, DP Finance Spokesman Harry Schwarz and Deputy Finance Minister Org Marais, debated the state's role in a post-apartheid economy, in an historic debate organised by the Institute for a Democratic Alternative for South Africa.
Black empowerment
At the same time they embarked on the Reconstruction and Development Plan to improve services including housing, education and health to blacks only as a means to achieve equity. [citation needed]
The ANC also initiated a system of "black economic empowerment" which its aim was to establish equity to the previously disadvantaged races and the race that is currently disadvantaged through affirmative action.[19]
Land hunger again
A major source of stress remains the redistribution of land. Under apartheid legislation beginning with the Natives Land Act, 1913 73% of land was in so called "white areas" and many blacks had been uprooted and removed to previous tribal areas to keep crime and vandalism away from important land.
The slow legal and bureaucratic process of restitution is causing impatience among blacks and concern among white farmers that South Africa may go down the route of neighbouring Zimbabwe where land is being unilaterally seized by the government and its supporters, causing food shortages as the new owners tend to have less farming experience.[citation needed]
First-world infrastructure
The needs of the mines to maintain internal security under apartheid had seen parts of South Africa develop an infrastructure that was sufficient to cater to business in the cities and as a connection between provinces (states). This has served the country well in the post apartheid years but is going to waste as infrastructure has not been well maintained by the ruling government.[citation needed]
See also
- List of South African inventions and discoveries
- Economy of South Africa
- Economy of Africa
- Economic History Society of Southern Africa
- Investment Analysts Society of Southern Africa
- Economics Research South Africa
- Economic Society of South Africa
- SA Metal Group
- Wealth inequality in South Africa
References
- ISBN 9781107507180.
- S2CID 219077517
- ^ PMID 29902271.
- ^ ISBN 92-3-101709-8.
- ^ "Mapungubwe | South African History Online". www.sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
- ^ Giblin, John. "Meet the 800-year-old golden rhinoceros that challenged apartheid South Africa". The Conversation. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
- ^ "Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
- ISBN 9781107507180.
- ISBN 9781107507180.
- ISBN 9781107507180.
- ISBN 9781107507180.
- ISBN 9781107507180.
- ^ Butler, A. 2004. Contemporary South Africa. Hampshire and New York: Palgrave Macmillan
- ^ ISBN 0904759741.
- ^ OCLC 883649263.
- ^ Contemporary South Africa by Anthony Butler
- ISBN 978-0521104678.
- ^ Maree, Johann (1985). "The emergence, struggles and achievements of black trade unions in South Africa from 1973 to 1984". scholar.google.co.za. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^ Ponte, Roberts, Van Sittert, Stefano, Simon, Lance (2007). "'Black economic empowerment', business and the state in South Africa". scholar.google.co.za. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
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