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Events/Strike or conflict · 1946

African mine workers' strike on the Witwatersrand

Strike or conflict, 1946-08-12, South Africa.

What happened

The African Mine Workers' Union, led by J. B. Marks, called a strike from 12 August 1946. The government's Director of Native Labour counted 75,000 strikers, but SAHO says the number was probably nearer 100,000. Police and soldiers drove them back to work. Officially 9 were killed and 1,248 wounded.1,2,3

Why it matters

The strike was crushed, but SAHO says it had lasting effects on African trade unionism and politics.1,2,3

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Anglo American founded

    Anglo American founded.4

  2. Rand Rebellion begins

    An uprising on the Witwatersrand began on 28 December 1921 and ran into 1922 (dates from Wikidata).5,6

  3. Gold Reserve Act signed

    It set the 35 dollar price that Bretton Woods later used as the dollar anchor.7,8

  4. Bretton Woods conference

    Bretton Woods conference.9

  5. US Vice President Wallace visits the Kolyma gold camps

    The managers hid that gold was mined mainly by prisoners and misstated output.10,11

  6. African mine workers' strike on the Witwatersrand

    The strike was crushed, but SAHO says it had lasting effects on African trade unionism and politics.1,2,3

  7. Nixon ends dollar convertibility into gold

    Gold ceased to have a fixed dollar price.8,12

  8. Grasberg mine area: Wikidata inception date

    The Papua copper-gold mine is dated to 1972 in Wikidata.13

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Where next

People

Led byJ. B. MarksOver 100,000 miners downed tools in one week of August 1946.14ExamplesMary 'Pickhandle Mary' FitzgeraldArrested in the 1922 miners' strike. In 1946 African miners struck.15

Mines

Located inWitwatersrand main reef mines, 1886 to 1887A mine from the same area and mineral story: Witwatersrand main reef mines, 1886 to 1887.1

Events

An example ofMarikana killingsPolice and soldiers drove strikers back in 1946. At Marikana in 2012 police killed 34.16Came out ofWitwatersrand gold rushOn 12 August 1946 the African Mine Workers' Union struck. SAHO puts strikers near 100,000.1

Sources

  1. 1946 African Mineworkers Strike South African History Online
  2. The African Mine Workers strike of 1946 South African History Online
  3. Witwatersrand (item Q587808), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  4. Wikidata item Q541451 (Anglo American founded)
  5. Wikidata item Q3070782 (Rand Rebellion)
  6. Wikidata item Q34647 (Johannesburg)
  7. Gold Reserve Act of 1934 Federal Reserve History
  8. Washington, D.C. (item Q61), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  9. Wikidata item Q188532 (Bretton Woods conference)
  10. Three Days in Auschwitz without Gas Chambers: Henry A. Wallace Visit to Magadan in 1944 Wilson Center
  11. Wikidata item Q7968 (Magadan)
  12. Nixon and the End of the Bretton Woods System, 1971-1973 US Department of State, Office of the Historian
  13. Wikidata item Q119297 (Grasberg Mine)
  14. John Beaver JB Marks South African History Online
  15. Mary Fitzgerald South African History Online
  16. Marikana Commission of Inquiry South African History Online

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0; Underground mining equipment by Kaupo Kikkas, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Pangkalpinang. Mijn 3b. Een reeks koelies bezig met het transporteeren van grond, Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Kimberley, South Africa: miners and washing gear at the Bultfontein diamond mine. Woodburytype, 1888, after a photograph by Robert Harris., Harris, Robert, active 1881-1888. (Public Domain Mark 1.0).