South Africa’s history is marked by deep-rooted inequalities shaped by colonial policies and apartheid. The Native Land Act of 1913 dispossessed black South Africans, forcing them into overcrowded reserves, while the mining industry exploited migrant laborers, intertwining racial and class-based oppression. Although apartheid officially ended in 1994, many structural inequalities persist. Social tensions, such as those seen during the Phoenix riots of 2012, underscore the enduring challenges of poverty, unemployment, and racial disparity.

In this episode, we will talk about these historical and contemporary issues – together with Dr. Xaba, a scholar with ongoing research interests in industrial sociology. He particularly focuses on work organization, restructuring, globalization, empowerment legislation, the informal economy, and crime.

Related sources (last accessed November 2024):

The natives land act of 2013

https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/natives-land-act-1913

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1057/fr.2011.63?casa_token=04Ga6tQGk_kAAAAA%3AJpLedzaIe2DAxPsAoc8OaaXumRDfsxKGpoyDM0jzAveT39atu28iNLVHlC8J6PICgutLRNuWVKHJ19k

Further relevant literature:

Plaatje (1916): Native Life in South Africa

Tabata (1950): Awakening of a People

Magubane (1979): The Political Economy of Race and Class in South Africa

Alexander (1986): Against Racial Capitalism

Ngwane (2021): Amakomiti; People cannot live in the Air

uMbuso (2023): WeKnosi; Whose eyes are looking at history?

Desai (2023): Geographies of Racial Capitalism