Much has been said and written over the past few months about the need for a major revision in relations between government, business and labour in South Africa’s economically vital mining industry.

The need for soul searching and an overhaul in relations became plain after the tragic events that unfolded near Lonmin’s Marikana mine, in the platinum-rich North West province – events that culminated in the police shooting and killing 34 miners on August 16 and injuring over 50 more.

It was amplified further by a series of wildcat strikes across a number of platinum and gold operations, as well as some iron-ore and coal mines, albeit to a lesser extent.

Speculation has abounded over what precisely triggered the unprotected strikes, with some fingers being pointed at the central role played by younger mineworkers, who were recruited from Limpopo province – implying a possible sinister link to politically dissatisfied individuals and groups in that province.

Much of the early attention also focused on interunion rivalry and the social distance that had seemingly developed between officials from the recognised union and the actual workers – in particular, the rock-drill operators.

There has also been an attempt to link the extreme actions of the mineworkers – which lacked any economic merit, given the difficulties being experienced, particularly in the platinum sector – to the growth of personal indebtedness, fuelled by loan sharks operating in and around the platinum mines.

All these factors undoubtedly played their part. But none of them could have led to the kind of crisis we have been witnessing without the persistence of some truly unhealthy structural realities – conditions that have their roots in South Africa’s inhumane political-economy past.

Epitomising this dry grass that is arguably ready to burn at any time, is the South African mining sector’s peculiar migrant-labour system.

Employing migrant labour is in itself probably not the main problem. But the social downsides of the system have been amplified rather than reduced through poorly designed work–leave rotations and by the extension of cash-based living-out allowances, which have resulted in vast shantytowns rising around key mining operations.

Unfortunately, neither the mine owners nor the relevant local authorities fully grasped the fact that such family-alienating living arrangements were a social time bomb waiting to explode – and explode it did at Marikana.

Neither the authorities nor the mine owners approached the problem creatively. Was there no way, for instance, of using the not inconsiderable State and private resources available for housing and human settlements in a way that addressed backlogs, while still accommodating those who wished to send much of their earnings home to rural families?

If anything positive is to come out of the Marikana tragedy there will need to be a wholesale rethink about how to make the migrant-labour system, which is not likely to fall away any time soon, more humane and fit-for-purpose.

It’s a major challenge, but one that can be solved through adopting a workercentric approach that is backed by great diligence in delivering on the solution arrived at – a solution that should be supportive of growth in mining-sector-related employment, rather than any rush towards downsizing and automation.