South Africa: end of the mine?

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In an extended essay, Hamilton Wende asks whether we are in the twilight of South Africa’s mining industry, which has been at the heart of the country’s identity for so long. Once, the country's rich mineral reserves - of gold, platinum and diamonds, among others - were thought to guarantee it a prosperous future. Its mining industry has been a motor of progress since the 1870s; and despite the exploitation and inequality of the business, the clout of its workers played a central part in dismantling apartheid. Now, though, the sector seems to be in the doldrums, beset by strikes and with some operators even talking about closing pits altogether and moving operations elsewhere. Image: Getty