Indígenas presos empregados em trabalhos by Companhia de Moçambique is in the public domain
There was a fine line between slavery and mining labor in southern Africa during this time period. While slave trade was technically abolished in most of this region, it continued in many areas such as the Portuguese colony of Mozambique (Konczacki, 1990). In other colonies, the working conditions were gruesome enough to be considered slavery. As a result of the gold rush, diamond boom, and continued agricultural production, the demand for labor in southern Africa surged. Since so many male laborers were required to work in the mines, peasant women had to take over many agricultural occupations (Marks, 2014). Even with this class-structure shift, there was still a substantial shortage of labor in the diamond and gold mines. For this reason, many immigrant laborers were recruited to the mines, especially by the BSAC (Marks, 2014).
From 1871 to 1875, more than 50,000 African laborers from all regions migrated to Griqualand West of the Northern Cape. They were recruited with the promise of being able to purchase firearms. Most African workers were disarmed or not allowed to purchase firearms when they actually arrived, however (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, n.d.). In the early years of the 1900s, recruiting of laborers strengthened in Northern Rhodesia, Mozambique, and Nyasaland in order to employ workers at the hundreds of small, scattered gold mines in Southern Rhodesia (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, n.d.).
The working conditions were nearly those of slavery. Racial tension was high, as it was no secret that white workers were paid more than black workers. This conflict was inflamed when 60,000 Chinese laborers were imported into several colonies, decreasing the wages of both white and black workers (Marks, 2014). Demand for labor in the early 20th century heightened in the gold mines. Because this industry was not as profitable as many companies had planned on, the laborers were paid little to nothing and were horribly mistreated, underfed, and overworked. There were consistent allegations of slavery arising in these colonies. Because of the strict labor laws put in place by the trading companies, mistreated workers were utterly trapped in their labor contracts and could not escape for many years (Marks, 2014).
All this inflow of labor became an industry in itself and truly sustained the structure of many economies in southern Africa. Each of the German, Portuguese, and British colonies had set up some sort of system of taxation for migrant workers. Some colonies, like Angola, placed large taxes on immigrants who were beginning contractual labor. Others, like Mozambique, took a considerable percentage of the Transvaal’s railway’s profits in order to capture funds from all immigrants traveling in this manner (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, n.d.). These various forms of taxation, enforced by strict labor laws and policies, were a significant source of state funding, making the labor market truly a profitable business and a major part of the economy.
Below is an informative video about labor conditions and protocol in southern Africa under De Beers diamonds (most relevant information begins at 1:15).
For more reading on the labor conditions of southern Africa, click the button below to read Charles van Onselen's detailed book about African mining labor during the early 1900s.
Header Photo: (c. 1900-1915). Mass portrait, Congo. [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mass_portrait,_Congo,_ca._1900-1915_(IMP-CSCNWW33-OS11-65).jpg. Available under the Public Domain. Photo: Companhia de Moçambique. (1906). Indígenas presos empregados em trabalhos. [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TT_CMZ-AF-GT_E_2-1_6_78_-_Ind%C3%ADgenas_presos_empregados_em_trabalhos.jpg. Available under the Public Domain.