South Africa’s "gold slaves" - comments

South Africa's "gold slaves"

When oh when are we going to learn that anything that is wrong in a country will never be fixed if we rely on any government or government dept. Nine times out of ten they are making money out of what is happening and earning R one point two, one point 6 is obviously not enough. This is diabolical that human beings can be treated this way in the 21 century and no one is doing anything about it. Not a huge improvement on aprtheid. We will be punished for this in some way.

South Africa's "gold slaves"

This is such an awful problem that is just swept under the rug because it is not happening in the US or the UK. The problem is real and horrific, and needs to be made aware to everybody all over the world in the hopes that something can be done to abolish it.

South Africa's "gold slaves"

If anyone has read "Cry, The Beloved Country," they will know what I mean when I say that reading that book revealed to me the terrible conditions that miners and black workers put up with. Now, reading this article and the story from the point of view of an actual gold slave, I am finding South Africa to be an increasingly disturbing place. Why is the problem of illegal mining and human trafficking not a popular and globally-realized problem? Why does nobody stand up for those slaves? Maybe it's because of the society that I grew up in, but I find it hard to believe that there are people in the world today whose viewpoints on owning another human are still stuck in the 19th century. I sincerely feel that so much more could be done to prevent this, and so much more should be do done. Then again, even the South African police are corrupted by the promise of gold. It's unfortunate; these slaves don't seem to be receiving help anytime soon.

South Africa's "gold slaves"

In Ghana most old shaft has been licensed under small scale to private individuals with strict safety measures and state of the act equipment for their mining activities creating a lots of income for people around the neighbourhood and surrounding villages which doesn't attract any criminals or slavery activities.
I think South Africa can learn from these methods to help create job for people around such environs rather than leaving it ajar in the hands of criminals to illegally kill innocents people

South Africa's "gold slaves"

Hi Sherilee,

Various estimates put the number of abandoned mines at 6,000, although the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa puts that figure at 4772.

The figure of 14,000 comes from the former Minister for Mineral Resources, Susan Shabangu: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-21/south-africa-s-illegal-mining-getting-out-of-control-.html.

South Africa's "gold slaves"

Hi there,
Could you please clarify some of the maths used in the editorial?
You say there are about 14,000 illegal gold miners working in about 6,000 abandoned mines in South Africa. That equates to about two men per mine. I assume you are referring to abandoned shafts and even so, I am unsure that South Africa ever had that many mines/shafts ever.

South Africa's "gold slaves"

A very interesting and disturbing story which will continue to play out until stable and legitimately governed working conditions are established and enforced in countries like Zimbabwe.

Until rule of law protecting the ownership rights and a comprehensive investment policy ensuring the rights of legitimate foreign investors in these projects is established and enforced in Zimbabwe and other neighbouring nations, this abusive and deadly exploitation of labour will continue.