ABSTRACT
Migrant labour has been at the centre of industrial mining in South Africa since the mineral revolution in the late 19th century. The recruitment of both local and regional migrant mining labour continued into the post-apartheid era, even after dismantling the apartheid-era labour recruitment regimes. Using the case of the platinum mining boom in post-apartheid South Africa, this chapter examines South-South labour migration in the post-apartheid era and everyday life in mining informal settlements. While the early 2000s platinum mining boom engendered increased labour migration to the platinum belt in South Africa’s North West province, the phasing out of apartheid-era spatial controls saw the rapid increase and expansion of informal settlements on the margins of mining operations. The chapter argues that the coalescence of both regional (within the region of Southern Africa) and local mining labour in informal settlements saw discourses of community formation being entangled with everyday struggles for access to basic amenities, jobs, and politics of inclusion and exclusion. The chapter demonstrates the agency of migrant workers and jobseekers by examining how they use grassroots structures to organize themselves, demand recognition, and access amenities as well as job opportunities.
