Artisanal mining (ASM) is a controversial form of small scale mining undertaken by low income communities in the global South. ASM provides (often informal) employment to approximately one hundred million people globally, and is a particularly important livelihood strategy in areas where there is a shortage of job opportunities in the formal sector. In South Africa, ASM involves the mining of coal through small, usually illegal enterprises; the practice that has become more commonplace following job losses in the formal mining sector which led to more communities resorting ASM as their primary means of earning an income.
The authors of the paper on which this case study is based: Etienne Nel, University of Otago, New Zealand; Tony Binns, University of Otago, New Zealand; Matthew Gibb, Independent Researcher, Paris, France
Appeared in: The Geographical Journal: Volume 180, Issue 2
Reference: Nel, E. Binns, T. and Gibb, M. (2014) Community development at the coal face: networks and sustainability among artisanal mining communities in Indwe, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
The town of Indwe, within the municipal district of Emalahleni in the Eastern Cape is one such community. In 2011, the reported population of Indwe was 7,934. Coal mining in Indwe began in the early 1860s and provided fuel to the rapidly developing city of Johannesburg. When better quality coal was discovered in Johannesburg itself in the late 1890s, Indwe became a provider of labour rather than coal to the city. Indwe’s mine closed in 1917 which led to the loss of around 1200 jobs as well as the closure of small business and outmigration of skilled labour. Between the early 1900s and late 1990s many people living in Indwe travelled to neighbouring areas to work in large mines and industries. However, following economic shocks in the late 1980s and 1990s, there were substantial scale backs in those large mines and industries (Nel and Binns, 2002). This led to fewer job opportunities in the sector and many, recently unemployed, mine and industrial workers returned to Indwe. This placed increased pressure on the local economy and led to an unemployment rate of sixty eight percent (Demarcation Board, 2003). With formal sector employment opportunities in short supply, limited welfare provision for unemployed working age people, and limited training and skill development programmes, many turned to ASM as a source of livelihood, utilising the skills they already possessed.
Despite being illegal, ASM can be seen as an innovative response to the economic needs of some communities in South Africa. Soon around two hundred (at peak times this rose to 300) workers, usually between twenty and forty years old, were employed informally in ASM. The miners are not the only people to benefit from the practice: South Africa’s high dependency ratio means that many people can benefit from just one person being employed in ASM. High demand for coal was in part driven by the South African Government’s plan to build over one million low income houses. This produced a demand for bricks, the vast majority of which came from local brick-making workshops that needed coal to power the furnaces that baked the bricks. At the peak of brick production in 2005, one hundred brick-making enterprises were collectively employing more than five hundred people (Gibb, 2006) and producing around forty five thousand bricks a month with an annual turnover of R185,000 (£13,000 as a 2015 equivalent). Much of this profit trickled-down into industries other than coal mining: local transportation truck networks were set up to take the coal in Indwe and other producing towns to the brick makers.
In 1998, some ASM miners formed a cooperative in order to become more competitive with the corporate mines and to provide more security for the otherwise single-person enterprises. In the early 2000s each of twenty mine operators employed up to twenty labourers each and collectively produced eight hundred tonnes of coal a month. Mine operators in Indwe earn at least R1500 a week: four times an average family income in the town. Meanwhile workers could earn approximately R250 a week. ASM in Indwe typically consisted of mines dug horizontally into the hillside above the town. Compared to commercial mines, health and safety standards are considered low: roofs of tunnels are usually supported by wooden props (which have been known to give way and result in tunnel collapse) and there is no ventilation with lighting being provided by homemade paraffin lamps. Operations within the mines are very basic: tools are usually some simple metal pikes and coal is often removed from the mine with little mechanical support. With limited finances to negotiate for the legal rights to mine, and non-compliance with contemporary workplace health and standards, ASM mines almost always operate illegally.
In 2009 Elitheni Coal, a large corporate mining company gained the rights to mine the Indwe coalfields. On the three percent of the land they surveyed, the company estimated there to be two hundred million tonnes of coal in the area and plan to invest R10 billion in the Emalahleni district by 2020 in order to mine it. This investment will buy new roads and infrastructure to serve the mines and by 2024 it is thought that Indwe will become a megatown as a result. Commercial mining has the potential to generate more secure employment opportunities for Indwe’s ASM miners. Despite this, ASM miners argued that the commercial mines represented unfair competition; they felt powerless to decide how the land they have mined for many years is used. The Broad-Based Socio-Economic Empowerment Charter and the Mineral and Petroleum-Resources Development Act requires companies to assess and consider the impact of their operations (Kilian, no date) and many commercial mines can engage with ASMs through corporate social responsibility programmes.
In 2010 Elitheni Coal offered three alternatives to the ASM miners: to work for Elitheni Coal; become subcontractors for the new mines; or gain help from Elitheni Coal in finding new sources of coal and getting permits to allow them to mine it. Since ASMs were keen to maintain their independence, they chose the third of these options but to date there is little evidence of any progress being made in turning this into a reality. In fact many corporate social responsibility interventions of the commercial mining corporations could be viewed as an extension of the top-down management approaches the companies already practice (Hilson, 2009).
ASM faces an uncertain future in South Africa. As well as tackling competition from large commercial ventures such as Elitheni Coal, ASM faces challenges from the South African government over their lack of legal licenses and ability to meet modern health and safety standards. In practice, their illegal status make ASM mines more prone to land use conflicts, and governments become more likely to ignore the needs of ASM miners in favour of the needs of larger corporations (Andrew and Hilson, 2003).
The Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs has ordered the closure of a number of illegal ASM mines but in fact their practices often continue after the closure, reflecting the economic desperation felt by the miners (Gibb, 2009). Most ASM miners want their self-claimed ownership of mine shafts to be recognised and formalised through a local authority, but almost all lack the finances and education level to enable them to set this process in motion.
Mining as a whole in South Africa faces an uncertain future as the resource itself is becoming depleted and more complicated and technical methods are needed to reach new sources of coal – methods that are beyond the means of almost all ASM miners. Between 2006 and 2013 coal yields from ASM declined from eight hundred tonnes a month to around forty tonnes. While this has affected the income of the small scale miners, it has also meant lower grade coal is being sold to local brick works. These bricks in turn do not always meet the required build-standard and fewer tend to be sold, negatively affecting the income to this industry too.
The precarious nature of ASM and the way in which many people are economically dependent on the industry means that the prospect of its current and future decline is producing a range of social problems. Poor living standards are common amongst ASM miners and alcohol and drug abuse is starting to be seen in their communities too. Traditional cultures in the ASM societies can also be disregarded and crime and violence have become more commonplace.
There is however a strong feeling amongst ASM communities that their industry (and local brickmaking) can be rejuvenated if the land in which the mine shafts are found can be legally given to miners. ASM activities could be incorporated into local development strategies and future planning could consider more formally the needs of the small scale miners, without top-down approaches limiting the level of dialogue between the parties. Whilst it is important not to underestimate the safety risks associated with artisanal mining, ASM also has the potential to help provide livelihood opportunities for poor rural communities should it gain support from both government and the commercial mining industry. Indeed instead of a climate of tension and a monopolisation of coal production by large scale mines, collaboration and compromise from both ASM and commercial mining could result in a co-existence that is beneficial for all.
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Binns, T. and Nel, E. (2003) The village in the game park: community response to the demise of coal mining in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa Economic Geography, 79, p421–466
Demarcation Board (2003) Profile of the Eastern Cape, Emalahleni Municipality (2002) Emalahleni municipality integrated development plan, Lady Frere
Gibb, M. (2006) The global and the local: a comparative study of development practices in three South African municipalities, Unpublished PhD thesis, Department of
Geography, Rhodes University
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Hirons, M. (2011) Managing artisanal and small-scale mining in forest areas: perspectives from a post-structural political ecology, The Geographical Journal, 177, p347–356
Kilian, J-M. (no date) Addressing the social impact of mining activities on communities for sustainability,
Nel, E. and Binns, T. (2002) Decline and response in South Africa's Free State goldfields, International Development Planning Review, 24, p249–269
Dependency Ratio
A ratio of economically active and non-economically active people in a population (Population under 16 + Population over 65) divided by (Population aged 17-64) multiplied by 100.
Fossil Fuel
A type of resource which comes from the fossilised remains of dead plants and animals and which when burnt in combustion releases energy.
Informal Economy
A section of employment where workers work independently and without security such as home weaving or shoe shine stalls.
Mine
A site where valuable minerals or materials are extracted from the earth.
Multiplier Effect
A process whereby one economic change sets in motion a sequence of events that result in economic decline or growth.
Primary Industry
The section of industry concerned with the harvesting of raw materials and food stuffs.
Students can hold a debate about the rights of miners in the face of their illegal activity. Do the miners have any right to mine land that is not legally theirs, even if not doing so means they could find themselves in extreme states of poverty? Students can explore the ethical issues about illegal mining and the roles and potential responses of different stakeholders including the the government of South Africa, mining companies, local communities and the ASM miners themselves. .
Who is more likely to cause environmental damage to the Indwe landscape: unregulated small scale miners or large scale commercial mining companies? Students can suggest factors in which either party could damage or manage their environments differently.
Thinking about cycles of deprivation and the multiplier effect, students can create flow diagrams to explain both how the ASM miners found themselves in a situation where they had to mine illegally and how their activities also benefit other sections of their communities economically.
Rock cycles
Unconventional Oil and Gas
The geography of gold
Energy Security