XXᵉ siècle – XXᵉ siècle
Mozambique and Transvaal
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The Mozambique–Transvaal miner recruitment system connected Mozambique to the South African mining economy. From 1903, recruitment was entrusted to the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association. The 1928 convention authorized extensive recruitment, while the movement of workers generated major colonial revenue and severe human costs, including tens of thousands of deaths and many workers returning in poor health.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
Recruitment of Mozambican miners for the Transvaal was entrusted to the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association in 1903. The arrangement made the movement of African labour a central economic relationship between Portuguese Mozambique and South African mining. It also tied railway and customs interests to the export of manpower.
The Convention of 1928 authorized approximately 250 recruiters to enrol as many as 80,000 Africans each year. The average between 1913 and 1930 reached 50,000 emigrants annually, producing a total of about 900,000 migrants. Of these, 35,000 died and only 740,000 returned in satisfactory health, revealing the human cost of the recruitment system.
Labour export became one of Mozambique’s principal financial resources, alongside the transit of goods. In 1928, hiring out manpower represented two-thirds of the colony’s financial resources. Revenue also came from emigration permits, railway taxes, return customs duties, and money sent or brought home by workers, making migrant labour an essential component of colonial public finance.
XXᵉ siècle – XXᵉ siècle
Mozambique and Transvaal
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The Mozambique–Transvaal miner recruitment system connected Mozambique to the South African mining economy. From 1903, recruitment was entrusted to the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association. The 1928 convention authorized extensive recruitment, while the movement of workers generated major colonial revenue and severe human costs, including tens of thousands of deaths and many workers returning in poor health.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
Recruitment of Mozambican miners for the Transvaal was entrusted to the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association in 1903. The arrangement made the movement of African labour a central economic relationship between Portuguese Mozambique and South African mining. It also tied railway and customs interests to the export of manpower.
The Convention of 1928 authorized approximately 250 recruiters to enrol as many as 80,000 Africans each year. The average between 1913 and 1930 reached 50,000 emigrants annually, producing a total of about 900,000 migrants. Of these, 35,000 died and only 740,000 returned in satisfactory health, revealing the human cost of the recruitment system.
Labour export became one of Mozambique’s principal financial resources, alongside the transit of goods. In 1928, hiring out manpower represented two-thirds of the colony’s financial resources. Revenue also came from emigration permits, railway taxes, return customs duties, and money sent or brought home by workers, making migrant labour an essential component of colonial public finance.