19th century – 20th century
Southern Africa
South Africa underwent a mineral-driven economic and social transformation between 1880 and 1935. Diamond discoveries in Griqualand and Kimberley, followed by gold in the Transvaal, attracted international capital, expanded railways and roads, stimulated mining, manufacturing, agriculture and urban growth, and contributed to political unification. This development was structured by racial legislation that dispossessed African farmers, restricted skilled employment, regulated movement and residence, and sustained migrant labour. Economic diversification therefore coincided with severe racial inequality and the deterioration of African living conditions.
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The Story
At the beginning of the period, South Africa remained economically poor and peripheral to the world capitalist economy. In 1869 its four principal political units were the British colonies of Cape Colony and Natal and the Boer settler-colonies of Transvaal and Orange Free State. The European population was small, transport infrastructure was rudimentary, manufacturing was limited, and exports consisted mainly of primary products, especially wool, iron, hides and skins.
The discovery of diamonds in Griqualand in 1867 and at Kimberley in 1870 transformed this situation. Diamond exports rose rapidly, and by 1880 their value exceeded that of all other South African exports combined. Gold discovered in the Transvaal in 1886 produced an even larger expansion: by 1890 gold had become the leading South African export, with its value increasing sharply by 1905 and 1910. Mining attracted capital and technical personnel from Britain, Europe and the United States, concentrating a large share of investment in colonial Africa in Southern Africa.
Mining made railways and roads both necessary and commercially viable across a sparsely populated territory. Railway construction began from Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban, first reaching the diamond fields and later the Transvaal. The railway network expanded dramatically from 110 kilometres in 1869 to 1,700 kilometres in 1889, 3,300 kilometres in 1899 and 4,190 kilometres in 1905. By the end of the First World War, provincial roads alone extended to 75,000 kilometres.
The mining boom also accelerated urbanization. Kimberley, absent as a town in 1866, had a population of 18,000 by 1877, while Johannesburg grew from a small village into a town of 166,000 inhabitants by 1900. Cape Town and Port Elizabeth expanded rapidly as well. Mining-related markets and infrastructure encouraged agriculture and manufacturing, while the post-1910 Union promoted industrial development through protective tariffs and public institutions concerned with trade, electricity and iron and steel.
By the late 1930s, manufacturing included food preservation, brewing, soap and candle production, engineering, footwear, clothing, chemicals, metals and other industries. Manufacturing output reached about £75 million in 1939, making it the second leading contributor to national income after mining. South Africa consequently possessed a more diversified economy than most other African colonies, combining mining, manufacturing and agriculture, although this diversification remained deeply dependent on racialized labour and unequal access to land.
Economic expansion rested on legislation that reorganized land, labour and residence along racial lines. The Natives’ Land Act of 1913 reserved 88 percent of South African land for whites, who represented about 20 percent of the population, while Africans were confined to reserves occupying the remaining 12 percent. The Act abolished squatting and share-farming arrangements and restricted African land purchases outside the reserves, displacing thousands of independent pastoral and agricultural farmers.
Other measures reinforced this system. The Mines and Works Act of 1911 and its 1926 amendment excluded Africans from many skilled occupations and established unequal pay scales. The Natives (Urban Areas) Act of 1923 imposed compulsory residential segregation, while later legislation regulated African movement, residence and employment. The Native Labour Regulation Act of 1911 criminalized breach of contract by African mine and works labourers. Together these measures supplied industry with a controlled and mobile workforce while protecting white workers and landholders.
Mining labour expanded rapidly, but the South African workforce was insufficient. In 1906 the mines employed 163,000 people, including 94,000 Africans, 18,000 whites and 51,000 Chinese; by 1918 the total had risen to 291,000. By 1936 approximately 300,000 African mine labourers were employed, many recruited from the Transkei, Ciskei, Portuguese Mozambique, Basutoland, Nyasaland and the Rhodesias. Most were migrant or seasonal workers who moved between white-controlled workplaces and the reserves rather than settling permanently with their families.
19th century – 20th century
Southern Africa
South Africa underwent a mineral-driven economic and social transformation between 1880 and 1935. Diamond discoveries in Griqualand and Kimberley, followed by gold in the Transvaal, attracted international capital, expanded railways and roads, stimulated mining, manufacturing, agriculture and urban growth, and contributed to political unification. This development was structured by racial legislation that dispossessed African farmers, restricted skilled employment, regulated movement and residence, and sustained migrant labour. Economic diversification therefore coincided with severe racial inequality and the deterioration of African living conditions.
Continue exploring
The Story
At the beginning of the period, South Africa remained economically poor and peripheral to the world capitalist economy. In 1869 its four principal political units were the British colonies of Cape Colony and Natal and the Boer settler-colonies of Transvaal and Orange Free State. The European population was small, transport infrastructure was rudimentary, manufacturing was limited, and exports consisted mainly of primary products, especially wool, iron, hides and skins.
The discovery of diamonds in Griqualand in 1867 and at Kimberley in 1870 transformed this situation. Diamond exports rose rapidly, and by 1880 their value exceeded that of all other South African exports combined. Gold discovered in the Transvaal in 1886 produced an even larger expansion: by 1890 gold had become the leading South African export, with its value increasing sharply by 1905 and 1910. Mining attracted capital and technical personnel from Britain, Europe and the United States, concentrating a large share of investment in colonial Africa in Southern Africa.
Mining made railways and roads both necessary and commercially viable across a sparsely populated territory. Railway construction began from Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban, first reaching the diamond fields and later the Transvaal. The railway network expanded dramatically from 110 kilometres in 1869 to 1,700 kilometres in 1889, 3,300 kilometres in 1899 and 4,190 kilometres in 1905. By the end of the First World War, provincial roads alone extended to 75,000 kilometres.
The mining boom also accelerated urbanization. Kimberley, absent as a town in 1866, had a population of 18,000 by 1877, while Johannesburg grew from a small village into a town of 166,000 inhabitants by 1900. Cape Town and Port Elizabeth expanded rapidly as well. Mining-related markets and infrastructure encouraged agriculture and manufacturing, while the post-1910 Union promoted industrial development through protective tariffs and public institutions concerned with trade, electricity and iron and steel.
By the late 1930s, manufacturing included food preservation, brewing, soap and candle production, engineering, footwear, clothing, chemicals, metals and other industries. Manufacturing output reached about £75 million in 1939, making it the second leading contributor to national income after mining. South Africa consequently possessed a more diversified economy than most other African colonies, combining mining, manufacturing and agriculture, although this diversification remained deeply dependent on racialized labour and unequal access to land.
Economic expansion rested on legislation that reorganized land, labour and residence along racial lines. The Natives’ Land Act of 1913 reserved 88 percent of South African land for whites, who represented about 20 percent of the population, while Africans were confined to reserves occupying the remaining 12 percent. The Act abolished squatting and share-farming arrangements and restricted African land purchases outside the reserves, displacing thousands of independent pastoral and agricultural farmers.
Other measures reinforced this system. The Mines and Works Act of 1911 and its 1926 amendment excluded Africans from many skilled occupations and established unequal pay scales. The Natives (Urban Areas) Act of 1923 imposed compulsory residential segregation, while later legislation regulated African movement, residence and employment. The Native Labour Regulation Act of 1911 criminalized breach of contract by African mine and works labourers. Together these measures supplied industry with a controlled and mobile workforce while protecting white workers and landholders.
Mining labour expanded rapidly, but the South African workforce was insufficient. In 1906 the mines employed 163,000 people, including 94,000 Africans, 18,000 whites and 51,000 Chinese; by 1918 the total had risen to 291,000. By 1936 approximately 300,000 African mine labourers were employed, many recruited from the Transkei, Ciskei, Portuguese Mozambique, Basutoland, Nyasaland and the Rhodesias. Most were migrant or seasonal workers who moved between white-controlled workplaces and the reserves rather than settling permanently with their families.