The 19th century history of South African colonial mining marked the beginning of the 20th century’s oppressive laws and structures that culminated in Apartheid.

Many of the underlying issues of land ownership, power relations, questions of economic development, poverty, unemployment, and the relationship between mainly traditional communities and their leaders, including government, have created serious points of contestation around mining and mining areas post 1994. The deadly Marikana conflict was but one of the many areas in that contestation.

At the heart of many of these conflicts is the contestation for power between the traditional leaders on one side, and traditional communities on the other. Put another way, whose land is it and thus whose resources are these! Unfortunately, in the dealings between mining interests and traditional leaders - the supposed “guardians of the land”, the latter have been accused of failing their communities. Is there a war going on between the people and their leaders around mining?

Briefing paper by Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference Parliamentary Liaison Office