title: Platinum and Gold Mining in South Africa: The Context of the Marikana Massacre.
abstract: Mining is a source of extraordinary wealth, but its benefits often do not accrue to the workers and communities most involved. This paper presents two case studies of mining in South Africa to reflect on the history and legacy of mining both through observation and through the voices of affected communities. Interviews and observations on field visits to the platinum and gold mining areas of South Africa in the immediate aftermath of the Marikana massacre highlight this legacy--including vast quantities of tailings dumps and waste rock, lakes of polluted water and a devastated physical and social environment, high unemployment, high rates of occupational injury and disease including silicosis with co-morbidities, absent social security, and disrupted rural and agricultural communities. Exploitative conditions of work and the externalization of the health and environmental costs of mining will require international solidarity, robust independent trade unions, and a commitment to human rights.
authors.affiliation: Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa cairncrosse@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cairncross
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Occupational Health, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Sophia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kisting
mesh_terms: D004787:Environmental Pollution; D006046:Gold; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008906:Mining / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D010984:Platinum; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013019:South Africa
chemical_list: D010984:Platinum; D006046:Gold
keywords: Lonmin; Marikana massacre; environmental impacts; gold; health impacts; mining; platinum; social impacts