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BLACK GOLD

On the seventeenth of August, 1982, Ruth First was killed in her office at the Centre of African Studies, Eduardo Mondlane University, by a South African assassin's bomb. Ruth First came to join the Centre of African Studies in 1977. Among her other activities she organised the research on Mozambican miners in South Africa which is the basis of this book, Black Gold. Ruth's arrival in Mozambique began a new phase in her political and intellectual work. As an investigative journalist she had already exposed the brutal exploitation of black labour on the South African gold mines. As a politically engaged writer she had already started to analyse the problems of independent Africa. Now, as a co-director at the Centre of African Studies, she worked to form a collective which would train Mozambicans to investigate and analyse the concrete conditions on which the advance of the socialist revolution in this country must be based. Ruth saw her work at the University as a culmination of her personal struggle to unite political militancy and intellectual work. Intellectual work became an instrument of the revolution. This was possible because FRELIMO established the conditions in which the analysis of the problems of socialist transition could occur and because FRELIMO encouraged an intellectual practice which links the consolidation of the Mozambican revolution to the liberation of Southern Africa. A single bomb cannot destroy the basis of Ruth's work in Mozambique nor silence her ideas. The work she began as a young journalist in South Africa and which she pursued with the work on Black Gold will continue in Mozambique. Aquino de Braganqa Director, Centre of African Studies

BLACK GOLD The Mozambican Miner, Proletarian and Peasant Ruth First Centre of African Studies, Eduardo Mondlane University Pictures by MOIRA FORJAZ Work-songs and interviews recorded by ALPHEUS MANGHEZI THE HARVESTER PRESS * SUSSEX ST. MARTIN'S PRESS NEW YORK

First published in Great Britain in 1983 by THE HARVESTER PRESS LIMITED Publisher: John Spiers 1 -, -,., 16 Ship Street, Brighton, Sussex and in the USA by ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC. 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 ) (© Ruth First, 19S3 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data First, Ruth Black gold: the Mozambican miner, proletarian and peasant. - (Harvester studies in African political economy; 3) 1. Manpower policy - Mozambique I. Title 331.11'0967'905 HD8798 ISBN 0-7108-0314-1 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data First, Ruth. Black gold. Includes bibliographical references. 1. Labor and laboring classes - Mozambique. 2. Peasantry - Mozambique. 3. Migrant labor - Mozambique. 4. Gold miners- Mozambique. 5. Gold minersSouth Africa. 6. Mozambique - Economic conditions1975- . 1.Title. HD8798.F57 1983 330.967'905 82-24()42 ISBN 0-312-08318-1 Phototypeset in Linotron Times by Rowland Phototypesetting Ltd Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Printed in Great Britain by Biddies Ltd. Guildford, Surrey

CONTENTS page List of Tables and Figures viii ,4uthorship and A ckno wiledgements ix ,4dministrative Divisionis xii Currenc- Equiv'alents xii Sources and References xii 'It aniarosa is Done For'- miners' work song xiii Interview with an ex-miner, Radio Mozambique, Sunday 11 March 1979 xvi Map of Mozambique xviii Mlozambique Profile xix A Chronology of the Colonial Period xxi Introduction: The Purpose of This Study 1 Part 1: The Export of Labour Migrant Labour Routes to South Africa 1860-95 - Map 12 Colonialism by Proxy 13 A Two-State System 17 The Organisation of the Flow of Mozambican Miners 27 Work Song: Maghalangu 38 Interview with Zulumiro Meceso 38 Interview with Jos6 Tonela Kumbe 42 Interview with Mauricio Nkome Snr and song My Wife is Suffering 45 Nyankwavane 46 Part II: The Mine Labour Force Changes in the Mining Industry in the 1970s 49 Mozambican Mine Labour after 1974 55 The re-employment certificate 59 A Profile of the Labour Force 67

Black Gold Some social characteristics of the Mozambican mine labour force 68 Frequency and Length of Contracts 69 The ebb and flow of migrant labour 69 The present Mozambican mine labour force 72 The Wages of Mozambican Miners 74 Changes in wage levels since 1962 74 The spread of wages 75 Work Experience and Skills 77 Job descriptions 79 The relationship between schooling and level of experience and skill 81 Work Songs 82 Thandazela 82 Xikwembu xa Muhliwa 83 Push! Push! 83 The Sinall Foolish White Man 84 Pull! Pull! 85 Six Miners' Work Histories 86 Interview with Jose Tonela Kumbe 95 Interview with Mauricio Nkome Jr 100 Part III: The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province Regional Patterns of Recruitment 111 Provincial and district patterns 111 Inhambane Province 111 Agriculture in Inhambane Province 115 The penetration of the money economy 117 Social Differentiation in the Countryside 128 Petty Commodity Production and Commerce in the Countryside 134 Case Studies 136 The extent of labour export: Pembe, Homoine 136 Mine labour and the agricultural system: Maimela 141 Migrant labour and the peasant economy: Homoine 147 A study of water shortage: Sitila 150 Sixteen peasant households 152 Songs 163 On the Flat Bare Place 163 I Waste my Energy 164 Keep Quiet! 165 I am Happy Today! 166

Contents Interviews 167 Filomena Mathayi 167 Emereciana Alfredo Mazivi and Luisa Agosto Mbatini 173 Part IV: Workers or Peasants? Workers or Peasants 183 Migrant Labour in Southern Africa: A Bibliographic Note 195 Bibliography 207 Appendices 1. The conventions on mine labour between Portugal and South Africa 212 2. The miners' questionnaire 223 3. The peasant household questionnaire for selected households 227 4. The Employment Bureau of Africa Limited (TEBA division) Agreement of Service 232 5. Conference on migratory labour in southern Africa: Charter of Rights 239 Notes 241 Glossary 250 Index 252

List of Tables 1. Mine Labour Organisations (WENELA) Ltd East Coast Administration: progressive comparative statement of output 1975-6 2. Percentage distribution of workers recruited by WENELA, ATAS, CAMON and ALGOS, 1967-76 3. Balance of payments 1970-4 4. Composition of mine labour force 1904-76 5. Mine wages (per shift) minimum and average 1910-76 6. N.,iccs recruited by WENELA 1961-77 7. Monthly recruitment by WENELA, 1970-8 8. Proportion of working-life spent on mine labour by 145 miners in Inhambane Province 9. Age distribution of 146 miners possessing a re-engagement certificate 10. Average deferred pay and average earnings per worker, per contract 11. Spread of deferred payments from mine labour 1976-7 12. Percentage of migration to South Africa from Inhambane Province, 1940-76 13. Spread of recruitment by month in Inhambane Province 14. Lobolo (bride- price) 1930-77 15. Credit to traders in (i) 1000$ and (ii) in numbers of traders according to district or locality 16. The average age and number of mine contracts worked by middle and poor peasants in areas investigated 17. Landholding, crops and machinery of middle and poor peasants and number of migrant workers in Murrumbene, Zavala, Homoine and Pembe 18. The number of contracts worked by middle and poor peasants according to rich and poor districts List of Figures 1. Flow of Mozambican labour 1902-76 2. Minework related to wage grades 3. Worker migration to South Africa from Massinga, Murrumbene, Zavala and Homoine districts 1960-76 4. Distribution of crops in Inhambane Province 5. The Employment Bureau of Africa Limited (Teba Division) Lesotho: Miners' registration form

AUTHORSHIP AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book has many authors. The material on which it is based was produced during 19)77 in the course of a research project of the Centre of African Studies of the Eduardo Mondlane University of Miozambique. Though I directed the work, it was a team project, organised and participated in by teachers and students of the university, and members of the administrative and transport staff, and assisted in the field by local representatives of the Ministries of Labour and of Agriculture as well as of administrative and political structures of the areas in which the research was conducted. The initial perspectives of the project were established during a x eekly seminar which studied the impact on Mozambique of South African capitalism, beginning with attempts at the periodisation both of the South African and the Mozambican political economies, and proceeding then to discuss the character of capital and labour within the mining industry, and the making of a southern African labour supply, and especially a Mozambican one. Subsequent sessions of the seminar evaluated the existing literature on migrant labour and the literature on peasant economies in labour reserve areas, including such material on Mozambique as had been produced. The project team then devised its working method for its field investigation. Questionnaires were used in order that certain data and methods of field work should be systematised. But the limitations of the questionnaire method - that the pre-ordered form of the questions prevents the interviewer from questioning his assumptions - were acknowledged and discussed from the start. Other ways of investigating what were recognised to be complex social issues were therefore devised. They consisted of a preliminary period in the field being devoted to open discussions with as many different representatives of the community as possible miners, political organisers, school teachers, the old men of the district, members of the women's movement, administrators; also of attendance at meetings and, at times, participation in work with

Black Gold the peasants. Where possible local archives and administrative records were searched and visits made to agricultural stations and training schools. The brigades, or research teams, came out of the field in mid-1977. The next stage of the project involved the analysis of both the miners' and the peasant households' questionnaires; discussion in seminar of the reports written by the brigades; the organisation of the statistical material; the preparation of a scheme for the production of a report; and the writing of the report itself, which was, once again, a collective undertaking. The core members of the research team, who comprised the then staff of the Centre of African Studies, were Luis de Brito, Nogueira da Costa, Maria Eulalia de Brito, Martha and Kurt Madorin, Alpheus Manghezi, Barry Munslow, Ant6nio Pacheco, Marc Wuyts, and David Wield. Those who conducted interviews in the field were Ricardo Bambo, Jos6 Capdo, Ernesto Cossa, Miguel da Cruz, Jacqueline De Vries, Valente Jamine, Ana Maria Loforte, Armando Machava, Azarias Mandevo, Eurelia Mascarenhas, Samuel Salomdo Matunjuane, Arlindo Moises, Abradio Muhai, Conceido Quadros, Emidio Ricardo, June Stephen, Salomio Zandamela. Cadres of the Inhambane Province political bodies who assisted in the field were Cda. Carlos, Vendncio Cuambe, Cda. Miguel, Rafael Mussanhane, Cda. Paulino, Julio Thai, Pascal Watch. Helena Dolny, Diana Jelley, Sri Nimpuno and Adorindo Santos helped with data processing. The research report was published in mimeographed form in limited editions in both Portuguese and English as The Mozambican Miner: A Study in the Export of Labour, Maputo, 1977 and 1979. Two years after the completion of the field work, Alpheus Manghezi, of the staff of the Centre of African Studies, returned to Homoine in Inhambane Province to collect the work-songs and the interviews with miners and their wives which are included in this edition of the study. Moira Forjaz went with him to take pictures of peasant life, which augment the collection of pictures she had taken of the miners. This version of the research report was prepared under the guidance of two imaginative and punctilious editors: Gavin Williams and Rosalynde Ainslie. Colin Darch prepared the bibliography and the Mozambique Profile and Chronology of the Colonial Period. The project could not have been undertaken or completed without the assistance of the following: the Minister of Labour, the Governor of the Province of Inhambane, the Rector of Eduardo

Authorship and Acknowledgeiments xi Mondlane University, the Director of the university's Centre of African Studies, the Governor of the Bank of Mozambique, the Ministry of Labour - the Minister's Office, Delegaqio Office - the Ministry of Agriculture, DINECA, and the Provincial authorities of Inhambane. We would like to thank in particular the head of the Governor's Office, the Provincial head of Mobilisation for the Party, the Provincial head of the Ministry of Labour, the provincial agricultural services, the provincial services of surveying and geography. The field wyork of the project was conducted within the Province of Inhambane, Mozambique, at the following places: Quissico-Zavala - two cells within the circle of Canda, and the cell of Mindu in the circle of Zavala Pembe - The cells of Como, Sefane, Vavate and Zacanha Homoine - The cells of Meu and Machava Cambine - The cells of Buvane and Maimela.

NOTES Administrative divisions In the colonial period, to permit the organisation of local administration, the territory of Mozambique was divided into concelhos (councils) formed from parishes and themselves grouped into districts. The administrative divisions of the territory after independence has essentially not been altered. Colonial period District Concelho (council) Administrative post or parish Regulo (senior traditional chief) Cabo (junior traditional chief) Independence Province District Locality Circle (purely a political division) Cell (purely a political division) Currency equivalents Throughout the report wages and deferred pay are given in Mozambican currency of escudos and contos (= 1000 escudos). The equivalents were as follows (September 1977) at the time of the study: RI = 38.5 escudos, £ (sterling) 1 = 58 escudos, US $ = 33 escudos. Sources and references Some explanatory footnotes have been placed on the relevant page. General attributions to a growing volume and quality of work on migrant labour, on mine labour in particular, and on the effects on the peasant economy, are listed in the general bibliography at the end of the report. .J N'WAMAROSA IS DONE FOR - MINERS' WORK SONG Leader: Come Rosa. Chorus: Hivaa! Rosa is done for, what is this'? Leader: Rosa, the daughter of Rosa. Chorus: Hivaa! Rosa is done for, what is this'? Leader: She is done for, the bloody fool, my father. Chorus: Hivaa! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: Come, let us go, Rosa, my father. Chorus: Hivaa! Rosa is done for, what is this'? Leader: Rosa will be taken away. Chorus: Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: Let us go to Muchira. Chorus: Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this'? Leader: The drill, how do you use it? Chorus: Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: Hei! She is done for, the bloody fool, father. Chorus. Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: 0! Welcome you fucking shit. Chorus. A hee! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: He has had it my mother's son. Chorus: Welcome. Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: A hee! the pick [pick and shovel] has got him. Chorus: Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this'? Leader: Don't speak, my mother's son. Chorus.' A hee! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: Shut your mouth, I shall tell you [something]. Chorus: Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader. Even if they kill me, what can I say? Chorus: Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this'? Leader: I don't cry anymore, my mother's son. Chorus: Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: There is great suffering under the colonialist. Chorus: A hee! Rosa is done for, what is this'? xiv Black Gold Leader: What can I do when things are like this? Chorus. Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: I am now used to it, my mother's son. Chorus: Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: You have been arrested because of your own problems. Chorus: Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: I am leaving for home, my mother's son. Chorus: Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: They have sacked me, my father's son. Chorus: A hee! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader. They say I don't know how to dig. Chorus: Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: I have worked a great deal in Manhia [ i.e. chibalo = forced labour]. Chorus: Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: And I have done lashing in Muchira. Chorus: Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: I am burdened with colonial passes. Chorus: Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: I am burdened with the road grader, my mother's son. Chorus: Hiyaa! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: He who is unlucky dies here. Chorus: A hee! Rosa is done for, what is this? Leader: They have sacked Hosiya's son. Chorus: Hivaa! Rosa is done for, what is this? (The following remarks and phrases are interjected between the leader's line and the chorus, by members of the chorus) - Welcome, father! - I will weep for you. - We shall finish this job in no time. - Look at that! Look at that! Hold here, leave there! - Why do you work like this'? Pasop! [take care!]. How can you use the shovel like that, you fucking shit? - Go on! It is very nice here! - We, the sons of Mozambique, are lost. - Don't return to Joni [the mines]. - Don't have your leg chopped off: don't let your hand be chopped off! - Return home my children! - We shall finish [this job] even before the sun rises. IF

'N' wainarosa is Done For' - miners' work song Interviewer: Where do you sing this song? Silvester: We sing this song on the mines in South Africa. When we are working underground the Boers want bonus m,,ney. The Boer [foreman] therefore makes sure that we work ourselves to death because he is going to get a bonus. The boss-boy must ensure that everyone works hard otherwise he gets into trouble with the white foreman - he can even be whipped if the lashers* [this is a lashing song] don't work hard enough. The boss- boy has the responsibility of starting and conducting work-songs which the workers must learn and sing. The Mozambican becomes Rosa because he leaves his own country and offers himself [to the mining company] in Joni [Johannesburg] due to poverty. You become Rosa and you are done for because, having offered yourself, they can do anything they want with you and you have no say. Interviewer: But Rosa is a woman's name, not so? Sihrester: Yes. The man becomes Rosa when, to escape suffering in Mozambique, he goes to the mines. The woman Rosa, because she feared her husband, because she wanted her freedom from him, and because he was unable to offer her the good things she had expected from their marriage, decided to desert him and travelled to Beira to seek her liberty and fortune. (The song tells us, then, what happened to Rosa, the miner. But Alpheus Manghezi writes: 'In a conversation with a friend in Maputo, I learned that there is more in the analogy than meets the eye: the Mozambican miner becomes "Rosa", the woman, on arrival on the mines because he is more or less inevitably subjected to homosexual rape there. The new recruit is not just vulnerable, he is utterly powerless when he is confronted by the boss-boy during working hours, deep down in the dark tunnels of the mine.') *The worker who shovels the broken rock into skips.

INTERVIEW WITH AN EX-MINER, RADIO MOZAMBIQUE, SUNDAY, 11 MARCH 1979 (translated from Tsonga by Alpheus Manghezi) RM: How many contracts did you work in South Africa? Miner: I did four contracts between 1963-72. Since then I have not been to South Africa. I have not gone there since we gained our independence. But there are still many brothers in South Africa who are afraid to return to Mozambique because they are not yet convinced that the Portuguese colonialists have gone and that we are now really free. RM: Can you tell us about the place where you worked and the conditions of work on the mines'? Miner: The way of life is very hard. Because we had to escape [from worse conditions in Mozambique] we felt that it was better in South Africa. You have to work long hours. You may have to work underground where there is little air - and you suffer - we had to accept those conditions, but what for? The pay in those days was very little - it was nothing. Sometimes you only received R12 at the end of the month after you have worked so hard. Sometimes you had to start work at five in the morning and work until four in the afternoon. Sometimes you had to start at four in the morning and finish at four in the afternoon. There was nothing that we could do about these bad conditions in those days: that was the way of life then. . . Some people work in very narrow tunnels where they have to crawl on their knees while others work in windy tunnels: it differs from place to place. RM: What were the conditions on the mine where you yourself worked? Miner." I worked in the tunnels, but some of my brothers had to work in even more dangerous places. This is what I would say. RM: While here at home, have you ever met any of those who still work in South Africa? Miner: I've met and talked with some of those who are still working

Interview with an ex-miner in South Africa. They tell me that wages have gone up since. They say that even on the mines things aren't what they used to be in the past, because in those days a black man was nothing. Because of the wars of liberation now going on, they have now come to respect black people. RM: You have talked about the wars of liberation now going on. What do you think is the objective of these wars - do you think they hae an objective? Miner: Yes, they have an objective and the objective is to attain self-respect. Today South Africa, Zimbabwe, are countries which are still under oppression - they are still made to suffer. The objecti\e of the wars is to make them free like Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania. Our country is no longer what it used to be in the past. In South Africa they are still in the midst of the struggle for independence - so that they will be like us. We should be prepared and willing to go and help them. RM: In reference to those who live outside [Mozambique], those who have run away to South Africa, how do you think we should help them? Miner: The important thing that I would like to say is that our long-lost brothers need to know that things have changed. When they first went to the mines, they suffered. The working conditions were so bad that some of them even escaped from the mines to look for work in the city where conditions were better. Today they have secured better conditions after years of suffering. It is the same with us because although we have achieved our freedom we cannot change everything for the better at once. They [our lost brothers] mustn't be afraid to return - we are still reconstructing. I think it is important that they are told that Mozambique is independent and ours; we are free. They can return and settle down peacefully so that we can all build a prosperous country. This is my opinion. MOZAMBIQUE TANZANIA NIASSA -- Rivers Provincial Borders SOFALA Provinces VILA CABRAL Colonial Names GOVURO Districts (Inhambane only) SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH AFRICA ZIMBABWE

MOZAMBIQUE PROFILE Official name A rea Population Goi'ernment Legislature Political and popular organisations Capital Republica Popular de Moqambique (People's Republic of Mozambique). 308,734 square miles (799,830 sq. km). Over 12 million; 1970 colonial census underestimated at 8.2 million; results of 1980 census awaited. 90 per cent live in rural areas. People's democracy ruled by a single Marxist-Leninist vanguard party, Frelimo. President of the Republic and of Frelimo is Samora Machel (b. 1933), assumed state office 25 June 1975, party office May 1970. Assembleia Popular (People's Assembly) of members, elected by the provincial assemblies, in turn elected by district and locality assemblies, which last are directly elected by universal suffrage. The Assembleia Popular is the supreme state organ. Grupos Dinamizadores (mobilising groups); Conselhos de Produqdo (workers' councils); Organizaqo da Mulher Mo~ambicana (organisation of Mozambican women); Organizaqfo da Juventude Moqambicana (organisation of Mozambican youth). Maputo (until 1976, Lourenqo Marques) in the extreme south, a major port for Mozambique, Swaziland and Transvaal.

Mozambique Profile Other cities and major to wniS Transport sYstem Language .A dult literacy School enrolment CurrencY Per capita GNP Agricultural economy Beira, a major port for Zimbabwe- Inhambane; Chimoio; Quelimane; XaiXai; Nampula. Adequate road network in the south only. Railways connect Maputo with South Africa, Beira with Zimbabwe, and Nacala and Nampula with Malawi. The national airline, LAM, connects fourteen main internal centres and flies to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Europe. Portuguese. the national language, is promoted through the literacy campaigns. Ten major African language (-groups) include Chope, Thonga, Shona, lower Zambezi complex, Maravi, Lomwe, Yao, Makua, Makonde and Nguni. 1978: around 7 per cent. 1975: 0.7 million, 1978: 1.4 million, in primary schools. Changed in 1980 from the escudo ($) to the metical (MT, plural meticais). 35 MT = US $1. 1977: approximately $150.00. Main products are cotton, cashews, copra, rice, maize, sugar, sisal, tea, beans, potatoes, sesame, sunflower. Over 80 per cent of exports consist of these products, particularly raw cotton, raw sugar, cashew, copra, sisal and tea. 1975: 73 per cent of labour force in agriculture, 90 per cent of population in rural areas. About 5 per cent of land area is under cultivation. Land is nationalised; 5- 10 per cent of rural population live in Aldeias Comunais; 2-4 hectares is maximum area for private cultivation.

A CHRONOLOGY OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD This chronology attempts to place the main events of Mozambican labour history, particularly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in the context of the more general political and economic history of Mozambique and of Portuguese colonialism. For a detailed chronological analysis of the migrant labour conventions between the Mozambican colonial authorities and South Africa, see Appendix I, pp.212-22. Political and Labour history economic history 1497-8: The Portuguese navigator, Vasco da Gama, reaches Mozambique en route to India. The importance of control over the southeast African coast, to ensure continued Portuguese dominance over the sea-trade with the East Indies, provides the initial impetus for the conquest of a series of ports and coastal fortresses from the Ilha de Moqambique as far north as Mombasa. 16-17th Portugal continues to centuries take over the important ports along the coast, to exclude the Dutch and the English from the Far

Black Gold East by control of the sea routes; the attempt is only briefly successful. She also begins to challenge the domination of Arab-Swahili merchant capital in the interior. The advanced military technology available to the Portuguese enables them to dominate the various African states and to prevent them from forming effective alliances. Portuguese merchant capital controls the gold and ivory trades, which maintain their primacy until about 1785. The eighteenth century was characterised by the growth of the system of the prazos, under which Portuguese settlers acquired vast tracts of land and virtually unlimited legal powers of taxation, forced labour and forced migration over the inhabitants of their area: the prazos were located mainly in the Zambezi valley. A period of the emergence of new states in Mozambique, of which the most important are the Yao chiefdoms of the A period of systematic and brutal slave-trading, with slaves becoming Mozambique's most important commodity. Initially the trade was primarily with the French to provide labour for the plantations on Madagascar: later the main partners were in Central and South America, especially Brazil, where the slaves were used in sugar and cocoa plantations, and in the gold mines. The movement of Mozambican migrant 1785-1869: 184( -85 1857

A Chronology of the Colo 1869 far north between Lake Nyasa and the sea; the Gaza kingdom of Gungunhana in the south; and the by now independent prazos of the Zambezi Valley. The Portuguese move to destrov these states only when it becomes essential for them to do so during the period after the 1885 Conference of Berlin, which required European colonial powers to exercise effective control over the whole area of the territories to which they laid claim. Period of the establishment and consolidation of the 'dual economy' in Mozambique, in which the southern part of the country becomes a labour reserve for South Africa and the north and centre are leased out to Chartered Companies, which run the plantations in return for taxes and shares paid to the Portuguese state. Portuguese domestic capital remains too weak to organise accumulation to meet its own requirements, even though administrative control was at its most effective by c.1915. Formal regulation of labour migration from Mozambique to South Africa is introduced for the first time. The founding of the Rand Native Labour Association establishes a monopoly for the recruitment of Mozambican miners. Introduction of the Labour Regulation obliging able-bodied 'natives' to work. Unemployment, defined so as to include family agriculture, becomes a crime, in an attempt to coerce workers onto the plantations. nial Period xxiii labour to Natal is formally permitted for the first time. Slavery is abolished in the Portuguese empire, but the practical impact of the measure is severely limited; new laws require freed former slaves to contract their labour to their former owners the first step towards chlibalo. Decree allowing Mozambicans to work in Cape Province. 1875 1885-1926 1897 1899

Black Gold for surplus Portuguese labour. But the colonies had to be self-financing so that accumulation within the metropolis could proceed unhindered. Ideologically a period of the forced spreading of 'Portuguese culture'. the propagation of Lusotropicalism', etc. End of the prazos and the Chartered Companies. The Second World War cuts Portugal off from access to far eastern sources of cotton supply. A secondary school student organisation, NESAM, led by Eduardo Mondlane and others, is founded; it forms con- of deferred payments in gold; stipulates progressive reduction of total number of miners to 80,000 by 1933: sets up medical inspections; and increases length of contracts by an optional 6 months to 18 months: however miners must return home for 6 months between contracts. Junta de Exporta do do Algodao (cotton export board) orders native families to cultivate a minimum per capita acreage of cotton as well as an equivalent acreage of food crops. Resulting social disruption, government harassment and famine, forces many peasants into migration, where some succeed in accumulating oxen, ploughs, etc. Legal basis is the Native Labour Regulations of 1930 (replacing those of 1899). The Mozambican government decrees stricter enforcement of the Labour regulations - all ,natives' must work 6 months for the state. Cotton production increases sharply. 1930 1942 1949 xxvi

A Chronology of the Colonial Period sciousness of African national culture among intellectuals and youth and sets up a nationwide network which Frelimo later uses. Wave of decolonisation by Britain, France and Belgium in sub-Saharan Africa, and the development of neo-colonialist relations. Massacre of Mueda. Villagers asking for better working conditions are gunned down by Portuguese troops in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. A series of decrees are promulgated, removing the distinction between 'natives' and Portuguese. The Department of Native Affairs is replaced by the National Institute of Labour. This provides the ideological basis for the 'Overseas Provinces' defence of continued colonial domination. Foundations are laid for 1950s-60s Strikes and other forms of struggle are used by the working class to improve appalling working conditions. More than 500,000 Africans are growing cotton; production in Mozambique tops 14,000 tons p.a. Portugal joins the International Labour Organisation, her membership involves a formal commitment to abolish chibalo. (Although the legal basis is removed, the system persists until 1975.) l9sOs 1960-64 1960 1961 1962-4 xxvii

Black Gold the armed struggle against Portuguese colonialism. June 1962: Frelimo is formed as a coalition of nationalist movements at a conference in Dar es Salaam; Eduardo Mondlane elected President. September 1962: first congress of the Front held in Dar es Salaam. 1963: first Frelimo military training camp is set up in Tanzania. Period of the armed struggle for national liberation. Also a period of massive capital penetration, industrialisation, mechanisation and labour shedding. By the end of the period Frelimo controls about 35 per cent of the country, and has set up clinics, schools and commercial networks. Struggle between two tendencies within Frelimo results in the victory of the revolutionary line arguing for protracted war, revolutionary transformation of Mozambi- The Agreement of 1964 continues along lines established by earlier conventions. Clauses protecting migrant workers are strengthened Mozambican miners are put on an equal footing with South African blacks, and Portuguese consular protection is extended to them. An agreement is reached on the establishment of border posts and control of cross-border movement. This breaks WENELA's monopoly, three new agencies, ATAS, ALGOS and CAMON, are set up. 1964-74 1965 1968-9 xxviii

4 Chronology of the Colonial Period 1969 can society. The second congress takes place inside the country. The reactionary group resort to slanders and assassinations, and are expelled. On 3 February Mondlane is killed by a Portuguese parcel bomb in Tanzania. Samora Machel is elected president of Frelimo by the central committee. The military turning point of the war comes when 'Operation Gordian Knot', a massive Portuguese army offensive, fails to wipe out Frelimo or its structures in the countryside. On 25 April the MFA (armed forces movement), a coalition of Portuguese officers, overthrows the Caetano regime- Frelimo intensifies the war. By September Portugal has agreed to unconditional independence for Mozambique under Frelimo: a transitional government with equal numbers of Frelimo and Portuguese ministers is sworn in under Joaquim Chissano. NL)7) The 1964 agreement is modified in minor respects. By 1970 Mozambican workers in South Africa fall into four main categories: workers in the gold, coal and platinum mines recruited by WENELA; miners and farm-workers recruited by other agencies, farmworkers recruited on the border; and long-term residents with suspended repatriation orders. Period of unrest and class struggle: a wave of strikes in urban centres, an attempted UDI by reactionary whites, a military mutiny in a Lourenqo Marques bar- 1970-1 1974-80 xxix

Black Gold 1975 1976 1977 1980 Mozambique is declared an independent People's Republic, with Samora Machel as first President, on 25 June. Early measures include the nationalisation of land, education, rented housing, health, funeral services, natural resources. Huge literacy campaigns, restructuring of the party and of women's and youth organisations. Systematic campaigns against racism, tribalism and sexism. Economic planning emphasises communal villages, cooperatives and state farms in an attempt to transform relations of production in agriculture. Frelimo's third congress decides to transform the Front into a MarxistLeninist vanguard party and to begin the construction of a socialist society. Mozambique continues to struggle to cut herself free from the domination of South Africa in the southern African subsystem. The decade 198090 is declared the 'Decade of Victory over racks, and a massive exodus of Portuguese settlers mark the transitional period. The settlers had controlled most cash crop production (except cotton and rice), food supply for the cities, marketing, industry and exports. Migrant labour numbers swell to nearly 130,000, partly as a result of Malawi's boycott of South Africa. This disguises the impact, especially in the south, of the crisis of Mozambican capitalism which follows Frelimo's victory. The number of recruited miners drops suddenly to a third of the previous year's figure (43,000); a severe agricultural production crisis and high unemployment follow. The system of deferred payments in gold for Mozambican miners expires. XXX

A Chronologv of the Colonial Period XXxI 1980 Underde c lopment', and industrialisation plans and svstems of regional co-ope ration are adopted. A Frelimo slogan states "The struggle continues!'. Soui ices Pedro Ramos de Almeida, História do colonialismo português em 4frica: cronologia, vol. 1, Séculos XV-XVIII, Lisboa, Estampa, 1978. M. Simões Alberto and Francisco A. Toscano, O oriente africano portugués: sintese cronológica da história de Moçambique, Lourenço Marques, Ed. Minerva Central, 1942. Carlos Serra, Notas para uma periodização da penetração capitalista em Moçambique (1505-1974), Maputo, mimeo, 1979 (unpublished). Marc Wuyts, Salazar and the Colonial Econom'v, Maputo, Centro de Estudos Africanos, 1979 (texto de apoio No. 29).

INTRODUCTION: THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY The life and experience of the Mozambican migrant miner, and the condition of the rural economy from which he was drawn, is part of the reality of contemporary struggle not only in southern Africa but in the world of our time. Europe's industrialised economies, despite the cutting back of production and employment during the crisis that began in the 1970s, continue to depend on millions of migrant workers, the majority from former colonial territories. John Berger and Jean Mohr wrote about and photographed Europe's Seventh Man: in some European countries one in seven manual workers is an immigrant. In the South African mining industry in the early 1970s the foreign migrant workers were not one in seven, but three in four. More recently the number of foreign migrants has been reduced, but the mining industry continues to use a labour force that is not permanently proletarianised, that is forced by law to oscillate between home and work place, and that comes from peasant societies which have been under continuing pressure to send men of working age out to work. Migrant labour has never been a temporary expedient in southern Africa, always a permanent necessity; migrant labour, drawn from within South Africa's industrialised economy, but also during this century from as many as a dozen territories beyond its geographical frontiers, has been indispensable to the accumulation of South African capital. The South African economy thus found the power to command the labour forces of numbers of dependent countries in the sub-continent, which furnish to South Africa an industrial reserve army of labour. Of all these labour-supply areas, Mozambique has been the most important. There was a time, during their critical formative years, when the Witwatersrand mines could not have been worked without Mozambican miners. Immediately before the Boer War, 60 per cent of black miners came from Mozambique. In 1906 the proportion had risen to 65.4 per cent. After Union in 1910, when the South African state was perfecting its coercive machinery for labour-

Introduction: The Purpose of This Study supply from within South Africa's internal labour reserves, the total of Mozambican workers dropped, but they regularly made up more than a quarter of the total number of workers in the goldmines and collieries affiliated to the Chamber of Mines. In the years when the mines diversified their labour-supplies, and spread their catchment area half way up the continent almost to the equator, Mozambique continued to be the most constant and the largest single source of mine labour. There is no family in the southern part of Mozambique - which was the principal recruiting zone - that has not sent a father and most likely a son to the mines. This study will show that there are virtually no men in this region who have never worked on the mines, and that many have done so repeatedly, on successive labour contracts. Because migrant labour is not an African or regional but an international phenomenon, an account of Mozambican migrant miners, of the impact of such a system on their society and on their individual lives, will resonate with the experiences of migrant workers in the world economy. But this is not the prime concern of this study. Rather, the purpose of documenting and analysing this system of using the labour-power of migrants is to contribute to the process of breaking out of colonialism and capitalism; of restructuring the Mozambican economy, of transforming production, and especially labour's part in it. Frelimo, which took power in 1975, characterises the present phase of its revolution as the period of the transition to socialism. Mozambique was, of course, a Portuguese colony for five centuries, which means that a colonial-capitalist state economy with all its ramifications has to be dismantled and restructured. This task involves tackling much more than the remnants of the colonial system devised by the Portuguese. From the time of South Africa's mining revolution in the 1880s and 1890s, and the development of its characteristic forms of labour extraction and use, it was not Portuguese capital but South African mining capital that was dominant in the region, and during the later colonial economic history of Mozambique there has been no process which has generated more exploitation of African labour or more distortion and underdevelopment of the economy as a whole. Although mine labour recruitment was limited by law to the three southern provinces of Maputo, Gaza and Inhambane, the effects of the export of labour have affected the political, financial and economic relations of the whole country. This study of migrant labour to the mines grows out of the need to make an historical break with the pattern itself; thus it tries to clarify the processes which entrenched it and which have to be understood

Introduction: The Purpose of This Study if the system is to be dismantled. Because the problem is an immediate one, this study concentrates on the contemporary impact of labour export. How does the system operate today, as an inheritance of the past? How has it changed and for what reasons? What have been the consequences of the repeated labour exodus for these peasant economies'? In other words, the focus is on those aspects which have the most immediate policy implications for the government and the people of Mozambique. This book deals only in passing with the historical roots and causes of labour migration in Mozambique. This is not because the authors do not regard history as important, on the contrary, continuing historical research on migrant labour forms part of the long-term work of the Centro de Estudos Africanos and of the UL niversidade Eduardo Mondlane as a whole, and is part of the task of decolonising Mozambique's history. A history of migrant labour would involke not only the history of the labour recruitment organised by the South African mines with the collusion of the Portuguese state, and those aspects of the actual organisation of the recruitment process that this book refers to, but the process of penetration and control of African societies. It would need to identify the conditions which first stimulated immigration for wages: the imposition of migrant labour by force- and the way in which rural society has come to depend on earnings from mining, so that the system of labour migration has become economically self-reproducing. This would involve a study of the social formations of Mozambique and the impact, in different periods, of the Portuguese colonial state. It would have to analyse the differential impact of these processes of colonial penetration within specific societies and in different regions of the south. Frelimo has repeatedly committed itself to the ending of migrant labour, and to the integration within a transformed and autocentric economy of that part of the Mozambican working class which has been exploited by South African capitalism, and whose skills have been drained from Mozambique. But if an economic process as old, as deeply laid and as widespread as mine labour export is to be dismantled, all its implications must be analysed. It cannot be combatted on an ideological level alone, by an appeal to the political commitment of the migrant. This would be to dismiss the system of migrant labour as an act of will by a host of migrant workers, to miss the essence of a deep-seated economic system that has permeated the political economy of the countryside of southern Mozambique. Migrant labour was part of the penetration of the

4 Introduction: The Purpose of This Study money economy, when the social formations of Mozambique were subordinated to the purposes of the spread of capitalism. This penetration left no corner of rural agriculture untouched. The coercion of the colonial state undermined the reproductive base of the rural economy. Eight decades of the system of migrant labour made it a structural necessity for rural producers living under colonialism. The flow of migration is to a certain extent influenced by the pattern of severe agricultural crises, but on the whole it has remained remarkably stable and constant over the years from 1895 onwards, and especially from 1902 to 1977, as the records about recruitment analysed in this book show. If the ending of labour export, and by extension the subordination of the Mozambican economy to South African capitalism, is a necessary prerequisite for the creation of a material base for the construction of socialism, the re-integration of this workforce within an autonomous economy moving towards socialism could take two complementary forms. The first would be the use of the workforce and the skills it has acquired in Mozambique's industrialisation programme. especially in the heavy industry, transport and mining sectors. The second would be the reintegration within the agricultural sector of this formerly exported labour. But it could not, of course, be an unchanged agriculture. The economic priorities of the first phase of the transitional period were formulated in the social and economic directives adopted in 1977 by Frelimo's third congress. 'Our strategy for development,' said this programme, 'rests on agricultural production'. The Revolution demands that we extend the experience of the liberated areas to the entire country. The organisation of peasants into rural communities is essential for the development of collective life in the countryside and for the creation of the necessary conditions for socialised agriculture. Because it generates a common surplus, collective production is the only way of enabling the Mozambican peasant to pass to more advanced forms of work and to introduce mechanised production and the first forms of industrialisation in the rural areas. The phasing of Mozambique's agricultural policy, the relative weight given to the development of communal \illages (aldeias comunais) with co-operative production as their material base, and to the state farm sector, these issues and their contingent policy decisions continue to be formulated within the political structures of Frelimo and the government. The purpose of this study, which was undertaken within two years of Mozambique's independence, was to assist in the elaboration of a socialist alternative to a system of

Introduction: The Purpose of This Study labour use which grossly exploited the working class, and which disfigured agricultural production in the southern regions of the country. Accordingly, the study concentrates- on two principal aspects which between them comprise the life and work of the migrant: a study of labour flow to the mines from 1902 to 1977, and especially in the period since independence, and of the workforce itself; and an investigation into aspects of the peasant economy from which this mine labour has been recruited. The Mine Labour Force The study of the mine labour force investigated several aspects. Interviews with miners were used to construct employment histories. How many contracts had been worked? Had there been other industrial work experience? How did these miners fit into the work progress? What skills had they acquired? (How these skills could be mobilised in the transformation of the Mozambican economy is the obvious extension of that question.) The regularity of mine contracts also raised questions of class analysis. In many cases successive contracts were interrupted by brief stays in the countryside. Are these people peasants or workers, or both? How to deal with the specific instance, under the conditions of migrant labour, of the proletarian-peasant? What is the consciousness of this class? Did it, between mine contracts, regard itself as unemployed, or simply back home? Where would this class of workers, with considerable experience of proletarianisation, take its place in the struggle of workers and peasants for a transformed Mozambique? The analysis of the labour flow to the mines and related material on mine labour was based on official statistics of WENELA,* which ' WENELA is the labour recruiting organisation of the Chamber of Mines. The Chamber itself represents the collective interests of its affiliate members, who by 1975 included 116 producers - fortv-six in goldmining and forty-three in coal production, also fourteen financial corporations, as well as members in other mining sectors, like diamonds, platinum, antimony, asbestos, copper, and base metals. Actual recruitment and labour supply to individual mines, both from within South Africa and from supplier states, is managed by a parallel organisation, the Mine Labour Organisations Ltd, which includes WENELA. and also the Native Recruiting Corporation which operates in South Africa and in Botswana. Lesotho and Swaziland. The full name of WENELA is the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association (WNLA). For all intent and practical purposes the Chamber and WENELA are one. WENELA was renamed TEBA (The Employment Bureau of Africa) at a time when the 'Native' in the original name became impolitic in independent Africa, but we have retained the older and popular version. WENELA, because this is how it is known to the recruits, and to the African population in general.

Inroduction: The Purpose of This Study are deposited with the Mozambican Labour Ministry or Instituto de Trabalho, and on additional material supplied by WENELA on request. This material was supplemented with archival material and ministry records, but documentary sources apart, the project used extensive interviewing procedures, including with representatives of labour recruiting bodies, but above all with the miners themselves. For although WENELA labour recruiting records are a meticulous stock-taking of the labour flow by week, month and year for almost a century, it is not possible to know from these labour tallies the composition and the spread of this workforce. Did the mines draw on a pool of more or less regular contractees? In other words, did the same men go again and again, or did most men contract for the mines once, spasmodically, or regularly? Only interviews with miners themselves could produce answers to these questions. Miners were interviewed in the WENELA labour compounds of Ressano Garcia and Alta Ma in Maputo, of Xai Xai in Gaza Province, and Maxixe in Inhambane province, where men were waiting to take up new labour contracts, or were being repatriated after the completion of their contracts; and also in the Inhambane countryside with ex-miners and miners at home, some in the intervals between contracts. Interviews were conducted with 368 miners over a period of four months, from June to September 1977. As will be seen from the copy of the miners' questionnaire in appendix 2, the investigation concentrated on the frequency and length of contracts (and thus on material for the construction of employment histories), on the acquisition of work skills, as well as on the miners' family commitments and their earning capacities, and the uses to which mine wages were put after successive contracts. In addition a shorter version of the miners' questionnaire was used in interviews with a larger sample of 716 miners. The peasant base The second side of the study, on the peasant base, is of course intricately connected with the first. The miners are, by law, migrants so that behind every miner is a family in the peasant economy, and the migrant worker himself engages in periods of wage labour interspersed with periods of domestic production, or as part of a household engaged in domestic production. The wage policy of the Chamber of Mines has been predicated on this assumption. The Lansdowne Commission, which investigated African miners' wages and conditions in 1943, wrote:

Introduction: The Purpose of This Study The gold mining industry of the Witwatersrand has indeed been fortunate in having secured, for its unskilled labour, native peasants who have been prepared to come to the Witwatersrand for periods of labour at comparatively low wages. But for this fortunate circumstance the industry could never have reached its present stage of development - some mines would never have opened up; many low-grade mines would have been unable to work with any prospect of profit; and, in the case of the richer mines, large bodies of ore, the mining of which has been brought within the limits of payability. could never have been worked, with the result that the lives of the mines would ha\e been considerably curtailed. There is by now a considerable body of analytical literature which theorises the use of migrant labour as critical to the process of accumulation, and to the high profitability, of South African capitalism. It argues that capital is able to pay migrant labour below the cost of its reproduction precisely because part of this cost is borne by the domestic agricultural production of the household production unit, and that the surplus value appropriated by capital is therefore greater than under conditions where labour is wholly dependent on wages for its reproduction. The means of subsistence acquired by a worker are thus divided into two parts: the direct wages paid to him in and during employment, and the indirect wages which he receives in the form of social support derived from family agriculture - that is, care for the women, children and the aged, and care for himself during sickness and in between spells of employment. In other words, this thesis argues, the access of the migrant labourer and his family to domestic production provides part of the means of subsistence from which the capitalist sector benefits, and the means, thus, by which capitalism derives cheap labour power. An analysis of the forms of primitive accumulation exercised by South African capitalism is indispensable to an understanding of the political economy of the region. At the same time there is a danger that an abstraction of a historical process could be over-generalised and over-simplified. In such an analysis migrant labour could be reduced to a form of cost-minimisation situated out of time and out of place. Is migrant labour in South African conditions, and in the mining industry, invariably cheap labour? If so, why? And cheap to whom? What of the high costs of rotating recruited labour, and of the low productivity of such an unstable labour force'? The special conditions of the South African mining industry are discussed below. Can a policy of utilisation of migrant labour be reduced to a general law of the operation of a set of economic propositions,

Introduction: The Purpose of This Study relating to the reduction of the cost of labour power below its value because part- subsistence is subsidised by the peasant economy? Clearly the use of migrant labour should not be explained by economic calculation factors alone, for it is a system with pervasive political purposes, predicated on the deliberate dispersion of the workforce, with important advantages not only for capital but also for the state: it divides the working class, and sets heavy constraints on its capacity to organise. Is this workforce, in the periods of its dispersal to the rural areas from which it has been recruited, merely or entirely a reserve army of labour'? In different labour supply areas in southern Africa, the extent to which continuous labour export has caused the collapse of peasant production varies greatly from place to place and over time. A distinction must be made between those areas, like the Transkei and the Ciskei in South Africa, and Lesotho, where almost all rural households are dependent for the greater part of their reproduction on the sale of their labour power, and those areas where there is still some productive base for peasant agriculture even if it is insufficient to provide for the population without the cash earnings from mine labour. This study was conceived to test Mozambique's actual, special condition after practically a century of continuous labour export. There were questions of biting relevance to Mozambique's postindependence strategy. Why were men still coming forward in large numbers to contract for the mines'? Was this more true of some regions than of others" Of some social strata than others? What would be the effects of a concerted phasing out of mine recruitment'? The study accordingly tried to trace the extent of mine labour export from various regions, and the pressures behind it, and it tried to question whether or not there were any discernible relationships between the extent of mine labour and the condition of agricultural production. In other words, did peasant households from different regions respond differently to the possibilities and pressures of mine wage labour'? And, within peasant communities in a specific area, did peasant households of differing economic conditions, poorer or somewhat better-off, react differently? This opened up an important area of peasant investigation. What is the extent of peasant differentiation in the countryside? And to what extent does participation in the wage economy, via mine labour and mine wages, explain and contribute to these differences? There vere two possible discernible trends: one was that mine wages served as a means to purchase consumer goods and thus

Introduction: The Purpose of This Study 9 merely to reproduce the family- that the impact of wages had become indispensable in the process of reproduction because agriculture itself had been so diminished or undermined that it could no longer support the family. The importance of money wages for reproduction of the family would thus be an important index to the extent of regression of peasant agriculture. The second trend was that mine wages were not used merely for consumption needs, but that part of their remittances were used to finance agricultural production. In this case rural production would depend for its own reproduction on the investment of cash earnings derived from migrant labour, as well as on the consumption paid for from mine \\agoes. Thus while the exploitation of migrant labour power enables the capitalist sector to secure an increased rate of surplus value, and the African economy stands thus in an ancillary relationship to the capitalist sector, this relationship is not simple or one-directional. If cheap labour power is a subsidy to mine wages from the perspective of mining capital, wages in their turn can be a source of simple reproduction, or even of expansion, for peasant agriculture. For the household of the worker-peasant, wages and agricultural production are complementary sources of income, each necessary to the other, but in varying degrees, given the different conditions of different peasant households, at different times. Throughout, we attempted to keep in mind the larger questions which could inform planning in the transition period. To what extent and under what conditions can the agricultural economy absorb labour formerly exported on a large and regular basis? In other words, during the transition period, how should the economy best cope with what will be, in the immediate period, a phenomenon of labour surplus in the economy - surplus not in any absolute sense, but to the extent that it cannot immediately be absorbed in the rural economy'. Since migrant labour has been the most important part of the penetration of the money economy, how will its phasing out in the countryside affect the series of other activities in the petty commodity sector, of artisan skills and trades and services, which grew and were stimulated by the money economy'? The scenario for this study needs initially to be set at the outset of gold mining on the Witwatersrand, when the industry's need for heavy capital inputs and large and sustained supplies of untrained labour drew Mozambican workers deep into a system of production of a very distinctive cost structure. While the Witwatersrand reefs are the largest ever discovered, they are very deep, dispersed and of low- yield ore. Mining of these reefs is consequently a technically

Introduction: The Purpose of This Study complicated and costly production process, requiring substantial capital outlay. Mining companies do not control the price of gold on the international markets. Between 1933 and 1968 the price was fixed in US dollars (and thus in declining purchasing power) by the United States Treasury at $35.80 per fine ounce. This meant that costs could not be passed on to the consumer, and the combination of the fixed price of gold, heavy production costs and the low average grade of ore have meant that profits could only be secured through low levels of costs and high output. The two imperatives of gold mining were thus the minimisation of costs and the maximisation of output, and the most important cost minimisation lay in the cost of labour. Despite extensive technological development, and the electrification and mechanisation of production, mine-owners still required large numbers of cheap unskilled workers to mine the ore, and only a small number of skilled workers, restricted by the colour bar to whites. After the Anglo-Boer Wars of 1899-1902 the British administration reconstructed the state, and the class relations of South African society, to serve the requirements of the mining industry. They went as far as to recruit indentured workers from China from 1904-6, which enabled them to reduce the costs of African labour and increase the rate of work and output in the mines. even after Africans had replaced Chinese workers. However, from the 1890s onwards the single most important catchment area for the mining industry was Mozambique, and it is with the nature and the consequences of this system of labour recruitment and use that this book is concerned.

PART I THE EXPORT OF LABOUR

Migrant Labour Routes to South Africa 1860-95 NDEBELE I INHAMBANE TRANSVAAL ORANGE FREE STATE DURBAN

COLONIALISM BY PROXY The use of Mozambique as a labour reserve for South African capital is consistent with, and a continuation of, the weak and dependent character of Portuguese colonialism and Portuguese capitalism throughout its history. A detailed periodisation of Portugal's occupation of Mozambique is still in the process of being produced,' but existing work shows that from the sixteenth century onwards the activities of Portuguese mercantile capital, through the trade in gold, then in ivory and later in slaves, were unable to fuel processes of primitive accumulation which would consolidate a Portuguese capitalist social formation and a Portuguese metropolitan bourgeoisie. On the contrary, Portugal's weakness within the world system, and her subjection to unequal international competition blocked her transition from merchant to industrial capital. In the colonies the shortage of Portuguese capital resulted in heavy reliance on British, European and, later, South African capital. This meant that the Portuguese colonial system lacked the capacity to organise production, to valorise the labour resources of the colony, and to control and benefit from accumulation processes inaugurated there. By the 1870s, at the height of imperialist power rivalry in Africa and the consolidation of British interests in southern Africa, Portugal could exploit her colonies only unevenly and by proxy. In northern and central Mozambique, under the system of chartered companies, the Portuguese government leased out great tracts of the country as concessions to private foreign capital which had rights not only of economic exploitation but also of administration and political control. Thus the Niassa Company, established in 1891 largely by German capital, had jurisdiction over an area of 190),000 sq. km the Mozambique Company established in the same year by British and French capital controlled a concession of 155,000 sq. km: and the Zambesi Company, established in 1892 by French capital, together with others like the Sociti du Modal of 1904 and Britain's Sena Susar Estates, constituted a major sector of the colonial presence.-

The Export of Labour While northern and central Mozambique were leased to foreign capital, southern Mozambique was turned into a service economy for South Africa and, later and less importantly, for Rhodesia. The Portuguese colony became one of the largest labour exporters in the region and, by extension of this service role, labour was bartered for transport services: Mozambique's railway and harbour facilities were guaranteed a proportion of South Africa's import-export traffic. This barter was formally sealed by a series of conventions with South Africa that laid down the terms of trade between the two economies. The colonial structure of the Mozambican economy was accordingly the outcome of a double dependence. On the one hand was dependence on a relatively backward Portuguese capitalist economy, in turn heavily reliant on other European capital; on the other was subordination to the needs of the southern African economic complex. It was this latter integration which came to dominate the structure of the colonial Mozambican economy. The principal productive forces of Mozambique were shaped not according to the needs of capitalist development in Portugal, let alone Mozambique, but according to the needs of capitalist accumulation in southern Africa. Portugal as the colonial power derived the major source of her income from 'invisible' earnings, and speculated on the sale of the labour power of its African workforce. It is significant that this dependence on South Africa persisted unchanged even after 1926, when the Salazar regime came to power in Portugal to inaugurate a policy of 'economic nationalism' that was intended to create conditions to serve the accumulation needs of the Portuguese bourgeoisie. The colonies were subjected to a concerted drive for raw materials for Portugal's industrialisation. By then Mozambique's regions had clearly differentiated production roles.' In the north the peasantry was subjected to forced cash cropping, especially of cotton for Portugal's textile industry. In the central regions a plantation economy dominated, using forced labour to produce export crops like sisal and sugar. It was in this period that the Portuguese state took measures to reduce the power of the existing foreign companies and to limit the entry of further foreign capital and thus to assert the interests of Portuguese capital and Portuguese settlers. But it did not challenge the dominant influence of South African capital over the southern part of the colony. The state's income as a service economy was essential to balance the colonv's budget and to subsidise its balance of payments. During the Salazar period, despite the state's commitment to the

Colonialism bY Pro.vY needs of Portuguese capital, mining capital's monopoly over the labour resources of southern Mozambique was confirmed. During this period, as earlier, settlers campaigned against the monopolistic recruiting rights of the mines: for settler agriculture could not compete with the wages paid by mining capital.' But the revenue guaranteed by the trade with South Africa was indispensable to the colonial administration and the Portuguese state. Even when in a later period the imposition of cash cropping on the peasantry of the south came into conflict with their function as suppliers of labour to the mines, the contradiction was resolved in favour of mining capital." The only concession made to the interests of Portuguese and associated capital in Mozambique, including settler farmers, was one which confirmed the already existing division in productive function of the colony's different regions. It set a limit of mine labour recruitment to the regions south of latitude 220, that is, south of the River Save. Mozambique's role as a supplier of labour had already been the subject of a series of agreements with the Portuguese colonial administration, and this two-state system of labour sale was continued throughout the twentieth century, entrenched in legal conventions concluded between the contracting parties. The first formal statutes governing the supply of mine labour were issued in 1897. Those regulations made official an already existing labour flow, for it was estimated that as early as 1887, ten years earlier, more than half the able-bodied male population of Maputo Province was working at any given period in the Transvaal, Natal, or the diamond fields of the northern Cape. When goldmining started on the Witwatersrand after 1886, much of this labour was absorbed there. But this was the period before the effective implantation of the colonial state in the south, when Portugal had nominal claim, though not yet continuous control over, the coastal area, and almost none in the hinterland. Towards the end of 1895 the Portuguese government mounted a military campaign against the Gaza state, the African principality whose writ ran in this region, and only after the defeat of the Gaza rebellion led by Gugunyana, and the subjugation of the Gaza state itself two years later, could Portugal begin to exercise her physical control over the south. It was the coincidence in time between this assertion of Portuguese control and the institutionalisation by the Chamber of Mines of its labour recruitment machinery that opened the way for the tight compact between the two parties which was to persist for the next seven and a half decades.

The Export of Labour On the South African side, the imperative of the gold mines organised in the Chamber of Mines was to guarantee a large and constant flow of African labour at a controlled cost. Attempts in the early 1890s by the Chamber of Mines to co- ordinate recruiting, impose a maximum average wage, and prevent one mine poaching the labour of another, repeatedly broke down. It was an imperative of mining policy, if the low-grade mines were to be developed, that the mines guarantee ways of bringing down the cost of reproducing the labour force. Francis Wilson has recounted the history of the formation of the labour recruiting organisation of the Chamber of Mines: In 1893 the Chamber of Mines established a Native Labour Department with the two-fold objective of assuring an adequate and regular supply of black labour by opening up sources of supply within the Transvaal and by arranging for the recruiting of labourers from Moqambique, and of taking active steps for the gradual reduction of native wages to a reasonable level. (Labour in the South African Gold Mines 1911-1969, Cambridge University Press, 1972, p.70) Three years later, in 1896, the Chamber formed its own labour recruiting organisation, the Rand Native Labour Association, actually to bring workers to the mines. An increase in employment by over 500 per cent in eight years was achieved, and this without any appreciable rise in wages, for the Labour Association enforced an agreement between the mines to reduce wages, and inspected wage sheets. By 1899 the Chamber of Mines had succeeded in raising a native labour force of 99,000 men at a wage considerably lower than had been paid ten years earlier when mining had begun. In 1900 the industry approached the government of the Transvaal with a request that the recruiting of labour be a state enterprise, but the proposal was turned down. At this point the Rand Native Labour Association became the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association (WENELA) in order to monopolise recruiting by preventing mines from competing against each other for labour:7 it was WENELA which was given a recruiting monopoly in Mozambique. Throughout this early period, before and immediately after the formation of WENELA, by far the greater proportion of the mine workforce was Mozambican. In 1896-8, 60 per cent of mineworkers employed by the Chamber of Mines were Mozambican. By 1906, the figure had risen to 65 per cent.

A TWO-STATE SYSTEM After the 1897 Regulations, when the Portuguese colonial government assumed control of the registration of all migrant workers, a whole series of inter- governmental agreements on labour recruitment followed. A modus vivendi was agreed in 1901, which led to a series of Mozambique Conventions of 1909 and 1928. These were amended in 1964, and supplemented by additional agreements on specific issues in 1965, and again in 1970. Appendix 1 is a detailed chronology of these successive agreements and conventions, and of their content. It records the specific changes made from time to time on matters of length of contract, conditions of recruitment, proportion of miners' wages to be deferred for payment within Mozambique, ceiling labour targets, and measures for the transport, control and ultimate repatriation of the labour. The later conventions were more elaborate and detailed, but in essentials the transaction remained unchanged. The Portuguese colonial government was guaranteed an income from the sale of labour. This guaranteed revenue gave the colonial state an enduring vested interest in continuing and enlarging the trade. But more than this: winding through the successive negotiations and the conventions which regulated their terms, were clauses governing not only fixed labour quotas, but the guaranteed routing through Mozambican ports and railways of a fixed percentage of goods. This, then, was a barter relationship between the parties: an exchange of labour for guaranteed port and rail traffic, and thus transport revenue.: The barter deal was initially sealed as the Boer War was coming to an end, and as the British colonial administration took over the Transvaal and its goldmining reef of the Witwatersrand. To the Transvaal Republic with no outlet to the sea, Lourenqo Marques had been an indispensable outlet, but its importance and value might have declined dramatically once the Transvaal had been defeated, for both the British colonial administration, and the Union which was formed in 1910, controlled a unified economy and transport system. Portugal, whose capital' investment in the south

The Export of Labour had been almost entirely restricted to the development of rail and port facilities serving the Transvaal, drove as hard a bargain as she could; the war had disrupted production on the mines and there was a critical shortage of African labour. It was the fear of losing Mozambican mine labour that led the British post-Boer War administration under Lord Milner to make tariff and customs concessions to Portugal under this modus vivendi, for Portugal had used her labour supplies as leverage." In 1901 the Portuguese authorities had promulgated a decree placing a total ban on the movement of workers to the Transvaal, which had an almost immediate effect. The embargo on labour was decreed in May of that year- by December the "tnodus vivendi was reached under conditions decidedly favourable to the Portuguese colonial government. In the 1890s, before the Boer War, Mozambican workers had been spending an average of three years underground; now the period of contract was limited to twelve months, and the Transvaal government undertook that the 'natives' would be given their discharge at the expiry of the contract and that 'no pressure would be put on them to renew their contracts'. The Transvaal government was obliged to use its best endeavours to discourage and prevent clandestine immigration from Portuguese territory. The limitation of the contract period was an important concession to settler interests in Mozambique, but there was a quid pro quo for the Chamber of Mines, for this agreement was accompanied by a secret agreement with WENELA which effectively gave that body a monopoly over labour recruitment in Mozambique. NonWENELA agents were simply refused licences. Thus, for instance, the mining group of J. B. Robinson which before the war had broken ranks with WENELA - a move that had threatened to raise the price of labour - tried in 1906 to obtain authorisation from the Portuguese government to recruit in Mozambique." The negotiations appeared to proceed smoothly, but no licence was ever forthcoming. The labour conventions for Mozambican labour were to pre-date and pioneer a series of similar agreements with other supplier states, but by comparison with these the Mozambique Agreement no doubt out of the affinity between the Portuguese colonial and South African regimes - was the most favourable of any offered a supplier country." In their essentials, each of the successive conventions with Mozambique entrenched the same basic principles of the transaction. In the first instance, the labour had to be migrant- that is, each and every miner had to be repatriated on completion of his period of

A Two-State Svstem service, which was contractually fixed on enlistment. The 1901 modus vivendi stipulated a maximum contract period of one year: the 1909 Convention confirmed this period, but made it subject to renewal. The 1Q28 Convention was in turn more specific: the period of renewal was for a further six months only." In between contracts there was a compulsory period of six months' return home. For the mining industry, the contracting of Mozambican labour for such long periods meant a significant saving on overhead costs of recruiting. transport and installation of the workforce. The employers achieved a term and frequency of work which made it possible to recoup much of the cost of long-distance recruiting and on-the-job training. From the Mozambican side, these prolonged contracts meant that labour migration has throughout been organised without reference to the demands of the agricultural cycle. A minimum contract period of twelve months meant that the migrant could not time his departure or his return, nor the length of his absence, in order to integrate wage work into the production activities of the peasant household. Conversely it meant that peasant agricultural households were over time deeply embedded in this system of labour oscillation, and the cash wages it generated. The character and extent of this inter-relationship is a principal focus of this study. A second fundamental characteristic of the system has been that wages and working conditions have throughout been controlled by the two government contracting parties, and been imposed on the labour recruited under their agreements. The system was in fact one of indentured labour, first devised in the mid-1890s when, if the industry's low-grade ore mines were to be developed, it was recognised as essential to bring down the cost of labour. WENELA's role was not only to recruit labour, but to recruit and employ it at a certain cost. The standard contract was an indispensable part of the labour supply agreement with Mozambique, intended to block any efforts to raise the price of labour. It was by means of this monopolistic recruiting that the Chamber of Mines was able, in the 1890s, to lower the annual wage paid to the black mineworkers from R78 in 1889 to R58 in 1897, notwithstanding the enormous increase in the demand for labour as production expanded. During the Boer War wages were reduced still further to R36 a year, though this level could not be maintained. Wage levels have continued throughout this century to be unilaterally fixed by the Chamber of Mines. In some of the later agreements with Mozambique some attention was devoted to the nominal forms of 'protection' which the lnstituto de Trabalho (the Ministry of Labour) was to exercise over the

The Export of Labour workers. Contracts had to be signed in the presence of administration officers and deferred wages paid out under their supervision. The offices of the Curadoria" in South Africa's mining centres were supposed to make regular inspection visits to mines and compounds. But the essential terms of employment and wages and working conditions were non-negotiable by the workforce. (The 1964 agreement, probably as a result of accumulating pressure from bodies like the International Labour Organisation, ostensibly strengthened the clauses protecting the mineworkers, but it did not depart from the principle that their protectors were the Portuguese state, represented by the Curadoria offices in South Africa.) It was this authority which was entrusted with the supervision of the so-called general welfare of the workers, and even of their safety at work. A clause in this agreement had the specific requirement that the Mozambican worker was not to be treated any less favourably than the local, or South African worker, but it was a doubtful guarantee in the light of the refusal of the South African state and the mining industry to recognise any African worker's rights. A third critical and continuing feature of the labour transaction was the guarantee of a recruiting monopoly to WENELA. What had begun as a confidential compact attached to the 1901 modus vivendi was made a formal part of the 1909 Convention, and sealed in practice thereafter. This recruiting monopoly was circumscribed only by the limitation of WENELA operations to the region south of the 22nd parallel. This restriction was imposed in 1913, when the South African Immigrants Restriction Act explicitly prohibited the Rand mines from employing Africans who came from what were termed the 'tropical Territories'. The prohibition has generally been explained as a response to the appalling death rates, especially among tropical Africans from lung diseases in the mines. In the same year WENELA set up the South African Institute of Medical Research to investigate the pneumonia which killed so many African miners. By the 1930s anti-pneumoccal vaccines had proved very effective, and this medical breakthrough happened ironically to coincide, following devaluation in 1932, with the rapid expansion of the mining industry and its need for all the extra labour it could get. The mines then launched a concerted campaign to widen their labour catchment area, and to tap territories in central Africa. From the Mozambican side, the prohibition on mine recruiting north of the 22nd parallel had been an area of recurring dispute as mining capital and settler interests, mediated by the Portuguese colonial state, competed for labour reserves. For a while, from about 1903 to 1913, the Niassa Chartered Company, then failing in

A Tivo-State System its other enterprises, itself became a supplier of labour to the mines. In 1908 there were 764 men from Niassa working in South Africa. After 1908, when the company converted into Niassa Consolidated and received an input of South African mining capital, it intensified its labour recruiting operations and regularly delivered labourers to WENELA at the coast. But the numbers of men from the north remained relatively small." In 1908, of a total of 79,543 men from Mozambique employed on the Transvaal mines, 71,218 came from the southern provinces. After 1913, the prohibition did not prevent the enlistment of recruits from north of the 22nd parallel altogether, because, while VENELA was prevented from carrying out active recruiting operations in the northern provinces, men could move south of this parallel and enlist at the nearest WENELA station. Thus WENELA's Progressive Comparative Statements of Output (that is, the labour recruiting tallies recorded monthly by WENELA offices throughout southern Africa. See table 1, for an example) record details of the recruitment station where labour is attested, and not home origin. Only a scrutiny of the individual contract forms, and of the record books kept unofficially by some WENELA sub- managers, would reveal the home origins of contracted miners. Certain numbers of men from the northern provinces did continue to move south to contract for mine labour, though the overwhelming labour supply has been from the three southern provinces. For Mozambique, the parallel was no mere geographical limit, but rather the divide drawn by the colonial state between the protected labour reserves for distinct types of capital: for mining capital in the south and for plantation and later settler capital in the central and northern provinces. After 1938, when the mines once again recruited 'Tropicals', these were drawn principally from Malawi, Zambia and Tanganyika (before independence), Botswana north of latitude 220, South West Africa and Angola. Recruiting stations were set up in these areas following the conclusion of labour supply agreements with the governments concerned. But except for the trickle of Mozambicans from the north who signed on at southern stations, and those who crossed to southern Malawi to sign on there, the mine recruiting operations were restricted to southern Mozambique. In the northern territories the colonial state was inducing peasants into cash cropping, and manpower was thus reserved for this function. In the south room was made for labour recruiting outside the WENELA organisation only in 1965. In that year the administration invited tenders, said to have been advertised within the closed

22 The Export of Labour Table I Mine Labour Organisations (WENELA) Ltd east coast administration: progressive comparative statement of output /975-6. Maputo. 30 November 1976 ('amps November Januarv November Increase Decrease 1976 1976 197-5 Maputo Alto Mahe Guijzi Macia Maguda Manhiqa Moarmba Xinavane Gazaland Xai-Xai Alto Chengane Chibuto Inharrime Manjacaze Zavala Inhambane Maxixe Funhalouro Hornoinc Jangamo Massinga Morrumbene Panda Vilanculos Detentions forwarded Rejects Detained Deserted Gold, etc. Coal Total Via R. Garcia Pafuri 537 4154 10,527 - 807 6508 - 1820 6154 - 578 3576 - 863 4726 1656 7293 2642 - 386 2186 2193 15,901 36,319 1623 2915 7498 - 79 1950 - 629 5251 - 425 2134 - 694 7962 - 528 3453 1623 5270 28.248 2037 2658 1057 - 173 2472 - 528 2537 - 539 2731 - 607 3635 502 2339 - 230 938 - 1049 5614 2037 6286 21,323 846 2130 6251 6699 29,587 92,141 12 89 363 932 2230 6432 - 21 90 944 2340 6885 5428 23,959 76.064327 3288 9192 5755 27,247 85,256 - 1212 21,551 5755 28.459 106.807 - 6373 - 5701 - 4334 - 2998 - 3863 4651 - 1800 4651 20,418 - 4583 - 1871 - 4622 - 1709 - 7268 - 2925 22,978 1601 - 2299 - 2009 - 2192 - 3028 - 1837 - 708 - 4565 1601 15,037 - 4121 62.554 274 4202 69 4545 52.105 5904 58,009 20.339 78,348

A Two-State System Camps NI'cber Janarv Novemnber Increase Decrea.se. 1970 1976 1V75 N gold2 684 18.48o 17,802 collieries - 1 263 262 2 os85 I8,749 18,064 circle of administrators only, for the establishment of private recruiting bodies. Ostensibly the purpose was the control of clandestine labour flow to South Africa, for apart from the closely supervised export of mine labour, there has always been substantial illegal migration into South Africa, though controls in recent years have reduced this. The great majority of Mozambicans illegally in the country have been agricultural workers in Natal and the eastern Transvaal. There were also flows of workers seeking mine work, but not through WVENELA channels. Until the mid-1960s the offices of the Curadoria had authority to legalise the worker by issuing him a passport so that he could formally contract to a mine: in more recent y'ears the miner illegally in South Africa has had to return to Mozambique. Three recruiting organisations were subsequently licensed, and they began to supply labour on contract to mines not affiliated to the Chamber of Mines - mostly platinum, other base metals, and some coal mines - and to agriculture, especially in the areas of the eastern Transvaal bordering on Mozambique: Barberton, Nelspruit and White River. These bodies are ALGOS (named after its proprietor, Albano Domingos) ATAS (Agencia de Trabalhadores para a Africa do Sul) and CAMON (Companhia Angriadora de Mdo de Obra Nacional). It took the new small independents a year or two to set up their recruiting operations, and then from 1967 they operated side by side with WENELA. Until 1976 and the post-independence crisis in WENELA recruiting, they at no time succeeded in contracting more than one in five of the Mozambicans who signed on to do wage work in South Africa. Thus in 1967 the combined percentage of recruits of the three agencies was 12 per cent; between 1969 and 1974 it hovered at 18-19 per cent; in 1974 it dropped to 10 per cent; and in 1976 rose to a record total of 25 per cent of all recruits, when WENELA recruiting was cut back sharply. ATAS is by far the largest of the three independents, often doubling or trebling the combined totals of the other two. Its top recruitment was in 1970, with a total of 11,066 men. However WENELA that year recruited over 94,000 men; for if it no longer monopolised labour recruiting it

24 The Export of Labour Table 2 Percentage distribution of workers recruited by WNLA, A TA S, C4 MON and A L GOS 196 7-76 Year Total Recruited Recruited Recruited Recruited Recruited e c no. of hv by other by ATAS by by recruited recruited workt'r \ AWA I1,4 atencite CA MON ALGOS by by other W.VLA agencies 1967 90.059 79.463 1(.596 8221 1555 8201 88 12 1968 96,119 82.506 13,613 7920 1856 3837 86 14 1969 92.7(04 75.425 17.279 - - - 81 19 197(0 115.391 94,525 20,806 11.066 5.488 4312 82 18 1971 91,727 75.517 16,21(0 6(041 4991 517S 82 18 1972 89.612 73.735 15.877 o35l 5551 3945 82 18 1973 - 74.8) - - - 1974 106.937 87,169 19,768 9923 4168 5677 81 19 1975 128.381115,309 13.172 4520 3184 5368 90 10 1976 43.4,8 32.8)3 1(.685 - - 75 1977 ,2 4t)84' 2490" 719' 14S5' Notes: 'to March 'to June continued to dominate it, and its control over the use of Mozambican labour in the most recent period has grown even stronger (see table 2). These latecomers into the labour recruitment business came in on terms already defined by WENELA. Most of the terms of their contracts are the same, and the 1965 agreement formalised their entry by extending the clauses of the 1964 convention to include men recruited bv ATAS, ALGOS and CAMON for mines not affiliated to the Chamber of Mines. The principal difference between the two recruiting systems is that under WENELA the miner, except for his contractual right to reject a maximum of three mines, has no further say over his allocation, under the ALGOS, CAMON and ATAS systems the worker who signs his contract in Mozambique is attested to work for an employer chosen or stipulated at that point. Finally, and crucially, the agreements laid down the means whereby the colonial state in Mozambique derived revenue from the sale of mine labour power. There were several types of revenue: at various times the conventions have provided for the payment to the colonial state of a capitation fee for each recruit; thus under the terms of the 1901 modus vivendi, for each labourer recruited the sum of 13 shillings was to be paid to the colonial administration, with a further fee of sixpence for each month worked after the contract of one year's service had expired. These sums varied from time to time. From 1935 the state received an average annual

A Two-State Svstem amount of 2 4s 6d for each worker. The mines also became tax-collecting agencies for the colonial government: this, for instance, w as guaranteed by the 1909 convention, as in the early 1901 agreement. The principal source of state revenue was achieved through the system of deferred pay, \\ hich was instituted on a voluntary basis in the 1909 agreement, but thereafter became compulsory. The system provided that the mines, as the employer, held back a certain percentage of the wage of every worker until the end of the contract, when the payment that had been deferred was paid to the miner as a lump sum on his return to Mozambique. The percentage of pay deferred varied in the different conventions, by the 1970s 60 per cent of the miner's wages after the first six months of the contract \was remitted to him only at the termination of the contract. Under the agreement in force in 1977, Mozambicans could only recover remittance as: (a) periodic payments, not more often than every three months. to a relative in Mozambique nominated by the \orker, (b) a deposit in a savings account opened in his name and guaranteed by the state, with interest at not less than the current rate of interest in the money market of Maputo, (c) a payment to the worker himself at the time of his return of the total amount transferred bv him. Where the worker did not specify, the third method applied. The payment of remittances was done by the WENELA offices in Mozambique under the supervision of the administration. The miner received no interest on the monies held in trust for him: since the deferred payments were calculated and transferred month by month, and were not paid until the worker's return, the worker was in fact providing interest-free credit to the colonial financial system and state. The system of deferred pay had the obvious advantage for the state in that it required the worker to spend a large portion of his wages in the Mozambican economy, thus constituting a demand for commodities produced or circulating in the colony. There was an additional source of state revenue from mine labour, the most significant by far, and one which mining capital and the South African state made available only to Portugal. This was the commitment in 1940) and afterwards, in an exchange of Notes between the two governments, that the Portuguese government should have the option of receiving from the mining companies the sum of deferred payments in gold bullion at a fixed price in Rands. The gold was in practice sold by South Africa on the world market and the proceeds handed over to Portugal. This official rate for Mozambican labour remained stable, despite increases in the gold

The Export of Labour price on the world market. As the difference between the official and free market prices widened, Portugal's gold holdings made a high - and often spectacularly high - profit from the gold sales; the free market price of gold began to increase dramatically after 1972 from $45 an ounce to $195 in 1974, after which it declined to about $110 in 1976, and then rose again to $146 in 1977. This system continued only for the first two years after independence. When South Africa revalued her gold reserves in consequence of an amendment to the Articles of Agreement with the International Monetary Fund, it was ended in April 1977. This reliance on the export of labour imprinted itself on the entire colonial economy. The colonial state derived revenue not from any productive investment of labour but merely from the sale of labour power.'" so it became a passive and parasitic recipient of labour fees and a service economy within the region: both labour reserve and transit trade network. These were the colonv's sources of revenue and foreign exchange, and only those 'invisible earnings' sustained its economy. The service role of Mozambique also made that economy highly susceptible to cycles and crises within the South African economy, and to the strategies and vagaries, both economic and political, of its ruling classes. Table 3 Balance of payments 1970-4* ('O00s escudos) 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 Goods -3,960.376 -3.804.44s -3.240,161 -2.824,590 -4032.920 Invisible earnings 2.641,534 3,100,874 3.435.717 2.998,328 3.929,214 Transport - 2,362.48 2.834,065 2,794.383 3.269,124 Tourism - 108,344 - 152,440 -488,675 -756.744 Private transfers 2 ,747 317.778 253.976 120.974 Other 363.345 436.314 528.639 1,295,860 Capital -251.116 263.37o -24.019 -319.131 -590.299 Balance -1.569t)58 -440,198 171.537 -217.483 -694.005 * This table reflects only a part of the income derived from labour export since the profits incurred from the sale of gold bullion (from deferred payments) are not recorded, and they constitute the major part of foreign exchange earnings. (These were estimated to be $150 million in 1975, and $100 million in 1976.)

THE ORGANISATION OF THE FLOW OF MOZAMBICAN MINERS The flow of migrant labour into the South African economy preceded, as already mentioned, the effective implantation of the colonial state. Before they entered gold-mining on the Witwatersrand, Mozambican workers were contracting to work on Natal sugar plantations and on the alluvial goldfields of the eastern Transvaal. Imaginative work in progress" on the movement of labour southwards from the mid-nineteenth century is beginning to illuminate the forces which generated labour flows by interrupting the processes of reproduction within these pre-colonised societies. Part III: Agriculture in Inhambane Province, pp. 115-27, sets out some of the economic pressures which propelled men into the labour market. The early migrants were battened upon by traders and private recruiters, or by touts often working in league with the traders. Runners were employed by traders to go from one settlement to another seeking prospective recruits. The runners were identified by their red hats, and some had uniforms resembling those of the administration's police. They carried hide whips and received a per capita payment on their results. They also carried safe conduct passes issued by the administration. This system of private recruiting," legitimated by the administration, persisted until 1912. That year the Department of Neg6cios Indigenas (Indigenous, or Native, Affairs) was set up with the function among others of overseeing labour allocation, not least to meet the internal labour needs of colonos (settlers) who were unable to pay wages competitive with those offered by the Rand mines, and on whose account the colonial state conscripted forced (chibalo) labour via the chiefs and local administration. By then the pattern of labour recruitment by WENELA had already been well established. By 1920 there were thirteen WENELA main reception depots and sixty-four receiving stations operating in the southern provinces. Of the workers sent to the Transvaal, two- thirds were brought by Lourenqo Marques by steamer from Xai Xai in Gaza Province, from

The Export of Labour Inhambane, and from other ports, and sent to the mines by rail. Apart from its official monopoly, WENELA interests in Mozambique were sealed by the working co-operation achieved in the field between its recruiters and officials of the colonial administration. The exact forms of this collusion have not yet been researched, and are in any case probably not available from the written records; however, when in 1962 public officials were banned from participation in labour recruitment, there was a large-scale exodus from the service. From the time that WENELA installed its recruiting machinery, the most striking characteristics of the flow of Mozambican labour to the mines were the size of the labour force, the stability of supply, and the consistency of numbers. This stability was particularly marked after the late 1920s and the signing of the 1928 Mozambique Convention. Figure 1 shows the numbers of Mozambicans recruited during the years from 1902 to 1976, and also the standing force of Mozambican labour on the mines from the same period. The two graphs do not exactly correspond because although the Mozambican minimal mine contract is for twelve months, the contract is renewable for a further six months, so the numbers recruited in any one year will be fewer than the labour force on the mines for the commensurate period. Looking at the trend over these seventy-five years, there are some discernible rises and falls in the supply of Mozambican labour. These need to be interpreted according to different sets of conditioning factors. Clearly the pattern of supply could be related to certain internal changes within Mozambique. In 1908, for instance, the maize crop failed; in 1912 there was a severe drought, there was famine again in 1913, and, very seriously, again in 1913. But as Sheri Young says,"' the extent to which climatic irregularities and the insecurities they brought prompted labour migration is not clearand this is an area requiring considerable further research. At the same time it is clear that changing conditions in the rural economy will not automatically be reflected in the flow of recruits, for the machinery of WENELA was organised precisely to guarantee a regular supply and one in accord with the requirements of the industry. In the period between the two World Wars, except for the dips of the depression years, and rises in recruiting totals in 1927 and 1928 when negotiations between the contracting parties for a renewed convention were under way, and labour was used as a bargaining lever by Portugal, the standing force of Mozambican labour stood at a more or less constant 80,000. Except for three

o 8.4 a) 0 NCD L 1* r0cpx

The Export of Labour years between 1902 and 1977, Mozambican labour was the largest single contingent of labour from outside South Africa, that is of the 'foreign' labour used on the mines,' Throughout the history of mining in South Africa, foreign labour has been used to constitute the lowest paid stratum of the South African economy's industrial reserve army: namely that part of the wage labour force which - depending on the fluctuations of the capitalist economy, industry and consequently the labour market is drawn upon or held in reserve. It was the existence of vast catchment areas of tied labour which enabled the mining companies, operating through their monopolistic labour recruiting body, to force reductions in the wages of mine labourers in the early years of the industry, to undermine the resistance of African workers in South Africa to these reduced levels, and to maintain consistently low wage levels over decades. With labour supply guaranteed by convention with other governments, WENELA could rely on its highly centralised labour recruiting operations to vary quotas and diversify and manipulate labour sources in accordance with the changing labour needs of the industry. Table 4 shows the year by year composition of the mine labour force from 1904 to 1976, and clearly demonstrates its territorial origins, at different phases of the industry." By 1905 labour from outside South Africa accounted for 85 per cent of the total labour force, though by 1908 it had fallen to 60 per cent, and remained fairly stable at that level until the onset of the economic depression after 1929. In this period there remained a high and impressively stable contribution from Mozambique, a growing proportion from other areas, principal among them Lesotho, and a steadily climbing South African workforce from the reserves, where increasing economic compulsion was being exerted on Africans. During the depression of the early 1930s, the pattern of labour recruitment altered as the proportions between South African and 'foreign' labour changed places, and the percentage of the latter workforce dropped to an all time low of 43 per cent. This was the first graphic demonstration - to be followed by others - of the capacity of the labour organisation of the mining industry to retrench foreign labour during times of recession and to bring it back on stream in times of mining boom. It made the economics of the labour supply areas highly vulnerable to the cyclical fluctuations of the dominant South African economy. In the period after the depression as the South African economy expanded, fuelled by a 50 per cent rise in the gold price in 1933, labour demands' increased. The labour flow from inside South

The Organisation of the Flow of Mozambican Aliners 31 Africa and the then High Commission Territories (Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland) was substantially increased, and new sources of foreign labour began to be tapped. Thus, after a conference in 1938 with the Governors of Northern (Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Nyasaland (Malawi), WENELA was given recruiting facilities in these territories. By the Second World War the marked increase in labour from these territories helped to compensate for the war-time suspension of mine labour recruiting in the High Commission Territories. In 1945, the \'ear the war ended, the foreign workers constituted only one-third of the labour force. That year there was an almost record total of South Africans in the mines, and also an especially large total labour force (320,147). After 1946 the complement of foreign labour rose significantly, and continued to do so over the next twenty-five years, until in 1973 it reached an all time peak of 80 per cent. There were a number of factors responsible for the changed pattern. In the aftermath of the 1946 mineworkers' strike, which was the most intense period of class struggle in the industry, the mines adopted a policy of trying to forestall further labour unrest by recruiting less completely proletarianised - that is, more foreign labour. In the decade immediately following the war, major new goldfields were opened on the Far West Rand and the Orange Free State. The new mines had heavy labour requirements and, to compensate for the direction by the Nationalist government of certain labour to agriculture, foreign mine labour was given preference. During this period there was also an expansion of manufacturing industry. From the persistent complaint of the Chamber of Mines that higher wage rates in industry were depleting the mine workforce, it could be deduced that South African workers were selling their labour power at higher rates in manufacturing. Foreign labour could be both guaranteed and cheaper. In this period the upper limit of Mozambican recruits was raised to over 100,000 a year, in contrast to the depression years of the 1930s, when recruiting had been cut back. This illustrates clearly how the Mozambican service economy was subject to the vacillations and crises of the dominating economy, on which it had been made dependent in the colonial period. It is also indicative of the capacity of WENELA's highly centralised recruiting organisation to regulate the labour flow. Some indication of the methods used on the ground may be gauged from extracts of WENELA records which, while not available in sufficient quantity and detail inside Mozambique to compile

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The Export of Labour a comprehensive account, do illustrate some of the measures brought into play to control the rate of recruiting."2 For instance WENELA and the Chamber of Mines have always prided themselves on the scientific standards of physical examination of recruits. During 1946, the year of the strike, when the South African mine labour force dropped to almost half the total of the previous year and there was a concerted drive to step up the complement of foreign \vorkers, a WENELA circular to its medical officers instructed them precipitately to drop their standards. The circular read: Medical Examination of Natives As a result of my recent visit to the East Coast areas. accompanied by the General Manager, and the subsequent visit to Ressano Garcia of the Association's Chief Medical Officer, Dr -, the conclusion has been reached that in many cases the medical examination of recruits is too rigid. The physical standard required has not been lowered, but Medical Officers and particularly Representatives should exercise common sense when judging 'borderline cases' a large number of whom are at present being rejected unnecessarily. This not only means a loss of potential labour to the mining industry but the very fact that this type of native is turned back greatly assists in spreading dissatisfaction against us and is a contributing cause to the increase in the flow of clandestine emigration. I hope the following notes will be of some assistance to you all: Definite Rejects: Under age: These should be judged by appearance and not by any record of age in the native's possession. Flabbv muscles and loose skin: When this occurs in older boys it has been found that extra feeding will not build up the native's physique. On the other hand when it occurs in a young man due to under-feeding, a week to ten days' good feeding will show remarkable results. Such a native should put on 4 to 5 lbs. Defective development: Long, thin, young natives, with correspondingly long thin legs, even though they are over 20 years of age and scale over 108 lbs should not be sent. During 1950 when the drive for foreign labour was still in full swing. the WENELA general manager went on a propaganda tour of Mozambique WENELA stations. Following the tour the stations were notified under the heading 'Propaganda' that a supply of WENELA soap tablets was being sent for propaganda purposes: 'Every effort is to be made to stimulate recruiting so that we may not fall below the figure for 1946, the lowest output since 1940. This [195(] has been a difficult year.' In that year WENELA stations were notified that they had to submit regular monthly reports on recruiting results and prospects, on crops and the value of crop

The Organisation of the F/ow of Mozambican Miners 35 sales, on weather and road conditions, and on relations with the administration. They had also to report on new ideas to stimulate recruiting. In January 1153, recruiting targets were established for each camp (recruiting station) and a prize, the Camisola Amarela, was instituted. The circular sent to all district representatives in Gaza read as follows: Recruiting I kno\\ that the Field Staff always offer their best in their work. However, I realise, too, that there is a certain monotony in routine work and to stimulate interest in recruiting this year I thought it would be useful if a spirit of friendly competition were aroused among the various Camps. With this object in view, I have established a target for the annual output of each camp. At the end of the year the camp whose excess above the target, expressed as a percentage thereof, is greatest will receive the Canisola Amarela. For this purpose, the results reflected in the December Comparative Statement will determine the output of each camp for the year. If enough enthusiasm is displayed in the scheme, it is my intention to bring it to the notice of the General Manager. There followed a list of target 'outputs' for each district for 1953. The Camisola Amarela seems to have produced results. In October 1953 WENELA stations were advised that the general manager had approved a money prize: Camisola Amarela With reference to my circular No.2/53 of the 17th January, 1953, 1 have pleasure in advising you that the General Manager has decided that an amount of £510 will be paid as a bonus to the camp winning the Camisola Amarela. It is anticipated that the normal division of this amount will probably be 35 to the Representative holding the Recruiting Licence for the winning camp and the balance of £15 divided among the members of the native staff concerned. In certain circumstances, however, where there is an exceptionally long native staff, a greater proportion of the bonus might be paid to them. The Camisola Amarela competition was still being operated in 1961 when new targets for 1962 were announced. Camps with targets of 2500 men had been placed in Section A, and the remaining camps were in Section B for which a minimum target of 1000 had been established. This circular warned that: Divisional Agents will already have given instructions to Representatives as to the recruiting procedure to be adopted during the first quarter of 1962. In order to ensure that a proper standard is maintained for purposes of the Camisola Amarela for 1962, there will be a deduction of five recruits from

36 The Export of Labour the output of an\ camp in respect of each recruit rejected at Ressano Garcia on account of Rejection on Medical Grounds. During the 1950s when the recruiting of foreign labour was in full swing, medical standards were re-examined. Thus a WENELA circular of 3) November 1953 stated: Kindly notice that until further notice any Native who is blind in one eye as a result of a mining accident may be forwarded for work on the gold-mines without prior reference to this office provided the native is otherwise fit for work. On his arrival at the Johannesburg compound arrangements will be made for his allotment, if possible to the mine on which he was injured, or if this is not possible, to some other suitable mine. Likewise a Native with a bone scar on the lower leg may be forwarded without reference to this office provided the scar has healed and provided the Native is otherwise fit. Also in 1953 minimum rates of pay and a newly implemented progressive service increment scheme were brought to the attention of Mozambique stations. The service increment scheme required the worker to return on contract within a stipulated period of time. WENELA offices were notified that they could condone late returns if they were satisfied that 'the Native's extended absence is justified by the explanation offered'. It was important, the circular added, that 'Natives who suffer hardships under the Service increment scheme should not be penalised'. In 1958 the WENELA stations were making a special effort to recruit for coalmines. Thus a circular dated 18 June 1958 stated: Colliery Labour During his recent visit the General Manager stressed the need for additional Natives for work in the coalmines, where the system of entrenched minimum rates of pay and the progressi\ e service increment scheme apply in the same manner as they do on goldmines. As you know, during the short time he was at Chai Chai, Mr __ was able to verify that Natives from your Division do go to the Collieries and at Gulelene he discovered that the new Induna there is an ex-collierv Native. Accordingly, Representatives should be instructed when preparing gangs to ask all Nati\ es present N\hether any of them wish to go to work on the collieries where the pay conditions are similar to those on the goldines. In October 1958 the drive to recruit as extensively as possible was still on. Thus a circular: Propaganda - Calico Salt Bags You will shortly receive a quantity of Calico Bags which are to be used for the distribution of salt to Native women. It is considered that a present of salt '\Ill be a useful propaganda item for use when Representatives are camping out.

The Organisation of the Flow of Mozambican Miners 37 Salt should be bought in quantity and the bags filled (111 kilo each) shortly before actual distribution. The cost of the salt purchased for this purposc should be debited to 'Expenses Head Office - Propaganda - General'. And in 1%2 WENELA stations were notified to restrict recruiting as far as the goldmines were concerned. 'Natives for coalmines' could still be accepted freely. Output I w rite to advise v'ou that the present recruiting restrictions, in so far as goldmines are concerned, are to continue. On the other hand, Natives for coalmines can be acceptedfreelv. It is noted that some Representatives are doing more travelling than is called for, under present conditions. .. From this it follows too, that as less contact will be made with Chiefs, etc., the distribution of cash presents will likewise be reduced. The drop in the standing force of Mozambican labour on the mines in 1963 reflects the results of this instruction. Later in the 1960s the figures climb again, and continue to do so, into the early 1970s. In 1973 WENELA found itself embarrassed by the flow of recruits, caused by drought conditions. Recruiting I confirm my telephone instructions of the 13th February. As the flood of labourfrom all quarters continues - probably owing to drought conditions the Manager (Moqambique) has instructed that certain restrictions will have to be introduced in order to reduce the present flow. Accordingly, the following measures should be introduced forthwith: 1) No re-engagement applications should be submitted until further notice. 2) A stricter physical standard must be enforced. Borderline cases among novices should be told to report back in June. 3) Old men and those who have not been to the mines during the last three years should not be accepted. From 2 and 3, it is clear that only recruits who are 100% fit should be sent forward. It is hoped that these restrictions will not remain in force for too long. However, failure to carry out these instructions implicitly could result in more drastic restrictions being applied. The instruction around this time to restrict recruiting had to be repeated with emphasis. In 1973 the foreign labour component had reached an all time high of almost 80 per cent. But after that the proportion of foreign workers in the mines was reduced. This was the result of far-reaching changes within the mining industry which produced in turn a radical change in its labour recruiting policies.

The Export of Labour Work song: Maghalangu Leader: Maghalangu Maghalangu Maghalangu. Chorus: Heeyoo! Maghalangu. Leader: Maghalangu has taken his son. Chorus: Heeyoo! Maghalangu. Leader: Maghalangu has killed his son. Chorus: Heeyoo! Maghalangu. Leader: Maghalangu has taken his wife. Chorus: Heeyoo! Maghalangu. Leader: Maghalangu Maghalangu Maghalangu. Chorus: Heeyoo! Maghalangu. (In between the leader and the chorus the following comments or phrases are thrown in bv members of the chorus.) Drive carefully, we are going to Joni! [Johannesburg, or to the mines] Drive carefully, otherwise our provisions will spill off! Father, please buy your son a pair of trousers! [woman] You must take good care of my field - cultivate it properly and plant every crop ... ! [man] You must write letters, father! I will send the money for hut tax, I shall send the money! Please, don't forget us here at home! [woman] Interviewer: Do you sing this song when you are saying goodbye? Singers: Yes, when we left Maghalangu's recruiting station. Interviewer: And you say Maghalangu is taking my son away? Man: The women are saying that Maghalangu, the recruiter, is taking [stealing] their sons to Joni. Maghalangu was the recruiter for Wenela. Maghalangu is taking away my son who might get killed in Joni and never return. Maghalangu is taking the man away who, upon his return from Joni, may find that his wife has gone with another man! Interview with Zulumiro Meceso (Zulumiro Meceso sang 'Maghalangu' in the 1930s, about the WENELA recruiter. He was interviewed in 1979, aged sixty-one, at his home in Homoine.) As a boy I looked after my father's goats. When it became clear that I could manage my father's flock, I was given the responsibility of herding an additional flock, one belonging to one of our relatives. Then came the time when I felt I was old enough to do something

The Organisation of the Flow of Mozambican Miners 39 more manly. I saw some of my friends go and sign contracts for the mines at the WENELA station, and I wanted to do the same: I was jealous of them. My father did not want me to go to school; he wanted me to look after the goats. One day I prepared some ropes and tethered all my father's goats to trees, and then I did the same w ith our relative's goats, then I went to school, which was at Mheho [Meu], here in Homoine. This was in 1935, and I was already grown up. The next year, 1936, 1 had to payhut tax, so Ileft school and went to the recruiting station to join the bicha [queue] but was rejected by the recruiter, Maghalangu. Maghalangu used to test recruits, who were lined up. by tapping hard on their chests and pronouncing the result on the spot in his mother tongue, Bitonga: 'Oyi mwama, oyi kandi mwama' - this one is a man, but this one is not a man! The experienced miners stood in the bicha wearing their mining boots, and Maghalangu, also in boots, would step on the bare feet of the new recruits who would automatically jump backwards screaming with pain while those who had shoes on stood erect with chests out! As the new recruit withdrew under Maghalangu's heavy foot, the latter would say "this one can't push the wheelbarrow' and to the one with boots on he would say: 'this one can push a wheelbarrow'. I kept trying, but it was not until 1938 that I was permitted to sign on for Joni. But when we arrived in Maxixe, we were told that there were too many people leaving that day and we had to go home and come back a week later. We returned on a Sunday evening in order to leave the next morning on Monday. In those days the boat used to be anchored at the Coconut Tree, and we were taken to the big boat by smaller boats, Maghalangu's boats. On that Monday then, we all stood in a bicha to have our names registered. When that was over, we formed another bicha and were made to sing the following song as we marched towards the water front: Leader: Agree (accept), accept what the white men say, accept, accept what the white men tell [you]. Chorus: Accept, accept what the white men say. Leader: Accept what the compound/company will say. Chorus: Accept, accept what the white men say. Leader: Accept what the white ones will say. Chorus: Accept, accept what the white men say. When we had done this and had blankets and belts distributed to each one of us, we left for the boat, escorted by horsemen on either side of the long bicha. We went towards the Coconut Tree in the

The Export of Labour direction of Xikoki, where the boat was anchored. The boat was never anchored in Inhambane those days, and we were taken to the main boat by smaller boats. Some of the recruits who had never seen the sea before, would turn and run away with their blankets- they were afraid of the boat and thought that they would never return home alive if they entered that boat. The first group had an easier time in boarding the boat, but those who came in the third boat had to lift their blankets above their heads because the salt water was then very high. We boarded the boat by climbing up a step-ladder. The boat then cast off and we immediately became 'drunk' sea-sick - and you saw people lying flat on their backs. When we reached the rough seas they began to give us beans mixed with rice but most people could not eat, and they would shout 'Take away that food, it stinks!', but it was the paint on the boat that smelt. Lots of people were sick and if you lost balance and accidentally leant on someone, he would instantly kick you so hard that you would automatically fall back on someone else who would give you the same treatment! Some would try to go on deck, but that proved even more dangerous because the heavy seas threatened to sweep them away. The sea became calmer after we passed the Chopi country. When we reached Lourenqo Marques we were each given two pieces of very dry bread before we made our way to N'walanga, the WENELA compound at Alto Mae. We then reached N'walanga and got into the compound. The cook at the compound in those days was F.P., who, in addition to cooking the food, was also the barber. He cut our hair with hair clippers. We would spend some days here before we boarded the train to Ressano Garcia. At Ressano Garcia we received our second blanket. The policeman in charge of the compound at Ressano Garcia was then called N'waxitihlwani [the man with the small eye]. because he was blind in one eye. When we got off the train at Ressano Garcia, you would hear a man whistling and men would shout 'New recruits, down!'. We all jumped down and made for the compound running up the steep hill, with the policeman leading the way in front. Some got their toes cut by stones as they ran. We reached the compound so much out of breath that the doctor did not even have to ask you to breathe out! The medical examination took place immediately. We were made to take all our clothes off. That is what they do in Joni to anyone coming from the countryside to work in Johannesburg. You were very unlucky if you'd cut your feet because you would then be sold automatically to the coal- and never to the goldmines! At any rate, it was only the people from Inhambane who were sent

The Organisation of the Flow of Mozambican Miuiers 41 to the coalmines: the Shangaans did not go to the coalmines, the coalmines were worked by people from Inhambane. They were the ones who had to go to the coalmines because they are supposed to be very good at lashing. The leader at the WENELA compound in Ressano Garcia - the assistant to the white man - was a Shangana and he and the white man made all the decisions: the recruits had no say in the matter! So the people of Inhambane were sent to the coalmines, except when the complement for the coalmines had been satisfied with extra hands to spare. It was then that these extras would be put on the same train as the Shanganas for the goldmines. We left Ressano Garcia in the evening and made the journey during the night, arriving at Witbank early in the morning. Here we got off for a cup of tea, and while walking towards the tearoom we sang this song: Young men, we are not many. [come on] ululate! But we are many, we are too many! We are too many, we are crashing against each other! Young men, we are too many, [come on] ululate! But we are many, we are too many! We are too many, we are crashing against each other! After tea, the Johannesburg group went back to the train, leaving behind the group which was going to work on the coalmines in Witbank. When we arrived at Mzilikazi they ordered us to take off all our clothes which they burned. They then poured 'sopa-sopa' in our hair and armpits to delouse us, and sent us to the baths. After this we then made a bicha for medical examination. If they put a cross on your back and on your chest with a chalk, then you had been 'arrested' and you would be sent to bed to spend the night waiting for a chest X-ray. After this we were given some clothes to wear but we had to spend the night at Mzilikazi. We were sold early the next day and you had no choice but go wherever they told you to go. We stood in a bicha and they came and called out the name of a compound. The novices were made to sit, apart from the experienced miners. They would give first priority to those with valid bonus certificates in accordance with the number of workers required by the particular compound that day. The novices would then be divided between the different compounds according to requirements. (Interviewer: What happened if a novice refused to go to any particular compound - could he refuse at all?) How could he refuse? The novice has no direct knowledge about

~-f*~ ~- 42 TheExportofLabour conditions in the different compounds. Has he been to the mines before? Has he any bonus certificate? He cannot refuse! Interview with Jos6 Tonela Kumbe (Jost3 Tonela Kumbe of Khambane enlisted for the mines to evade chibalo. Here he explains why.) When we are on the mines, at work in Joni, we worry about home. It's poverty which has forced us to go to Joni! When we are on the mines and we begin to think about home, I think about my children; I think about my wife. I say to myself, what is happening to them now? [I think this way because] Inhambane is a country of hunger there is nothing to eat there! That means if I don't send money home, nothing will go right - they are going to starve, the poor ones! Therefore, whenever I find a 'ghayisa' - a returning migrant - I ask him to take some money and other bits of clothing to my family; and then I say to myself, I hope he will reach home and deliver these messages because they will be a great help to my family. This is what we worry about when we are on the mines. During those days when we went to the mines, beginning from 1964, chibalo was being relaxed a little. Chibalo was still there, but it was not as hot as during 1948, 1949, because in those years it was really hot! Even going home from the mines was very frightening. When someone who was home on leave wrote [to us in Joni] saying that he had had a good journey home, but that some of the people he came back with had already been arrested and taken away for chibalo, [he would end by saving] you must prepare to receive me, because things are bad here at home - it is hot here because of chibalo! You would return from the mines and you would run and return to Joni because of chibalo, because vou worked for nothing when taken for chibalo. It was a little better on the mines because one was able to buy a blanket; you could buy some clothing for the children and your grandparents - you could buy them a jacket (coat), and this gave you some satisfaction. But there was nothing to be got from chibalo - they paid you 20$ per month,* and this was misery (exploitation). * In general clubalo workers were paid a token 10-20$ per month on the job and received their deferred wages at the office of the administrator at the end of their contract. This served a double purpose: it \\as a reassurance that the man would complete his contract and the administrator \ as able to deduct the amount the man owed in taxes For a long period deferred pay was at the rate of tI0$ per month. It often happened that a man who had not paid his tax for two years when it was 300$, would return home empty handed after doing chibalo for six months since the administrator would grab the whole deferred pay of 600$.

The Organisation of the Flow of Mozambican Miners 43 I was myself arrested for chibalo in 1967 but it was not me who waN actually arrested: my father had a married daughter called Ermelinda who had left her husband and returned home, and my brother-in-law had subsequently demanded his lobolo back from my father. When I came home, my brother-in-law then said that I had to pay him the money, because father had no money, but I refused, arguing that I was not expected to assume my father's responsibility while he was still alive. We couldn't settle the dispute and the case was taken then to Homoine [the administrator] for settlement. The judgment was that my father had to go and do chibalo in order to repay his son-in-law. At that point I decided that I would not let my old father be taken for chibalo, and, in great anger, I offered myself to be taken for chibalo in the place of my father. Actually I hiad the cash on me but I decided to go and do chibalo and only paid my brother-in-law upon my return from chibalo. We did our chibalo on the sugar estate of Xinavane [the Nkomati Sugar Estates]. After we had worked for two days there was a strike - a big strike caused by disagreements over the hour when work should stop. When we arrived the rule was that work stopped at 3.00 pm for all workers. But there was a system whereby you were given a specific job - a certain measure to weed - and you were free to knock-off once you had done that piece of work whether it was 10.00 am or 11.00 am, but those who couldn't finish had to work until 3.00 pm. However, people were often not released at 3.00 pm they were made to work until 4.00 pm, and that's what caused the strike. On the day of the strike nobody was allowed to eat anything it was a big strike! The people went to work but they refused to eat. When the workers demanded to knock-off at the right time, [one of the bosses] said that if they didn't stop complaining he wouldn't punch their tickets: 'You will work for porridge only because I shall not punch your tickets at the end of the day!' And the workers replied: 'Do you think we came here for the porridge?' - and they went on a hunger strike! It was fear of chibalo that, although you had come home from the mines to see your children and help them, made you run back to Joni after only a short time at home.

The Export of Labour Interview with Mauricio Nkome Snr and song My Wife is Suffering Leader: My wife is suffering. Chorus: My wife is suffering, my wife is wandering. Leader: Mv wife is suffering [but] keep quiet my daughter. Chorus: My wife is suffering, my wife is wandering. Leader. My wife has got her head burned by pots. Chorus: My wife is suffering, my wife is wandering. Leader: My wife has suffered a great deal. Chorus: My wife is suffering, my wife is wandering. Leader: My wife suffered from walking (wandering). Chorus: My wife is suffering, my wife is wandering. Leader: My wife suffered having to carry pots. Chorus: My wife is suffering, my wife is wandering. Leader: My wife carried reeds to thatch the chief's house. Chorus: My wife is suffering, my wife is wandering. Leader: My wife is suffering, my father. Chorus: Mv wife is suffering, my wife is wandering. Leader: My wife carried pots of agua dente. Chorus: My wife is suffering, my wife is wandering. (Interviewer: Why does this song talk about the suffering of your wife?) When I realised I was old enough, I decided to run away from home because we were so poor. I thought I'd better go and work for myself, and I signed a contract to the mines to see if I could earn a few pounds to help myself and my parents. I worked on the mines and earned some money. I got married and asked my wife to take care of my parents, especially because my father was an invalid. Then I went back to the mines again. When I wrote a letter home from Main Reef mine where I worked, I got a reply saying: 'No, your wife is not at home. She has been ordered to bring poles to [chief] Bhukuxa; they have ordered her to send thatching grass to [chief] Changu. There is no peace, life is not pleasant here at home!' Then came another letter and it said: 'The baby is ill, and we can't take proper care of the baby here at home. Why? We are being oppressed here at home. There is no end to the demands [by chiefs for tribute and communal labour]. Every day we have to deliver poles, grass and agua dente [to the chiefs]'. I was very upset but didn't know what to do. Should I return home'? But what would be the point in doing that? If I went home, what is happening to my wife will also happen to me - they will make the same demands on me, and that was exactly the reason I ran away

The Oianisation of the Flow of Ahlcambicanm ,llil'rv 45 from home to this country. I thought that life would get better for my family, but this has not happened. There is no happiness at home, there is only suffering. I returned home but was arrested and taken away immediately I arrived. I was taken away for chibalo, then for communal labour. You received absolutely nothing for communal labour - you just worked, \ou were just wandering about without any purpose. While w was doing chibalo. my wife had to bring me a pot of food, she had to \\alk a long way with the pot of food on her head. And when she came to give me the food, who remained at home to take care of the children and my old parents'? Both my wife and I were aimless wanderers. At night I would lie awake wondering what I should do. Was death the answer'? There was no help for us, we just suffered! I married mv wife so that she could help my parents by fetching them water and firewood, but now they were dying of cold'and thirst with no one to help them. This was the reason I made up this song: I am suffering with my wife! Nyankwavane Leader: Nvankwavane, oh! my great misfortune. Chorus: Oh! la! a!, my great misfortune. Leader: It is Nyankwavane who has stolen some inandioca [cassava], what thanks? The thanks or comfort is that I will hold the breast. Chorus: Oh! la! a!, my great misfortune. Leader: It is Nvankwavane who has stolen some mandioca, what thanks? The only 'comfort' is that I have to leave [for Joni]. Chorus: Oh! Ia! la!, my great misfortune. (Between the lines of the leader and the chorus, the folio wing phrases are inteijected by members of the chorus.) He is going away and leaving us at home in poverty (misery). Don't worry, he will come back; he will return [in good health]! I have to remain behind and break stones [chibalo]; I shall never manage! This is a white dog, we don't care about him [the administrator]. I shall remain alone with the small children, do you realise that? Departing husband: Don't let Chumelani [name of sonj abandon my cattle and go to school! Chumelani must not go to school, he must look after the cattle! He must take proper care of my cattle: you must take proper care of my cattle, do you understand? Interviewer: What is the meaning of this song - this Nyankwavane who has stolen some cassava'?

The Export of Labour Man.' We sing this song when we leave for Joni, when we are saying goodbye to our families. It is my wife, Nyankwavane. who has stolen some mandioca and got arrested. This is why I have to leave for Joni because I must find the money to pay the fine* to the owner of the man dioca. And what do I get out of all this trouble'? I shall hold Nyankwavane's breast or I shall be forced to leave for the mines! 'In a case like this, the husband would either pay the fine or be dragged to the administration. The administrator, alwavs on the look-out for "wrong-doers' to send away for chibalo, would immediately dispatch the man to Xinavane, Manhiqa or Moamba for forced labour.

PART Il THE MINE LABOUR FORCE

CHANGES IN THE MINING INDUSTRY IN THE 1970s The 1970s brought a series of changes to the South African mining industry, which had widespread repercussions not only on Mozambique as a labour supplier, but on all the supply states. South Africa has shared in the wvorld-wide recession, but the recession has had different effects on different sectors of the economy. On the one hand it accelerated trends towards stagnation and unemployment in agriculture and industry, because export markets were displaced, on the other hand, there has been a movement of finance capital into gold, w hich led to a rise in its price. Until the 1970s gold-mining w\a considered to be a declining asset, but the prospect was transformed by the international agreement to revalue gold at market prices. A two-tier pricing system which maintained an official price of 35$ an ounce and allowed for trading on the free market had been introduced in 1968. The free market price, however, rose only gradually. In 1972 the official price was fixed at 42S an ounce, and from then on the free market price began to rise quite rapidly. During 1973 it reached around 60$ an ounce, and in 1974 180$ an ounce. As a result the mines had a new lease of life, profits rose dramatically, and there was a considerable increase in the funds available for accumulation and re-investment. Towards the end of 1973, serious African labour unrest on the mines began. In one of the more serious incidents, eleven African miners were shot dead at Anglo- American's Carletonville mine. Between September 1973 and June 1976, 122 African workers were killed and over 700 injured in forty-eight separate incidents (called ,riots' by the mine authorities and government) on forty-one goldmines alone. There were an additional seventeen incidents on coal, platinum, copper, diamond, manganese and asbestos mines, in which at least sixty-five African workers were killed, and almost 300 injured. A total of 520 workers were arrested and many were charged with illegal striking, intimidation of persons in relation to their employment, failing to obey an employer's lawful command, assaults on police, public violence, murder, and incitement to

50 The Mine Labour Force violence.' As a direct result, at least 26,500 workers were repatriated at their own demand to Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana and Rhodesia before their contracts expired. At least twenty of these sixty-six incidents were reported in the South African press to have been the direct result of wage disputes. As Clarke has written: The,;e conflicts affected producer interests in two important ways: Firstly, production levels dropped and costs rose as confrontation spread: and secondly, a 'bleeding' of labour supply took place as repatriation rose, strikers were dismissed and disciplinary action and 're-allocations' were necessitated... The industry was totally unprepared for these sudden and large-scale conflicts. Among a host of other factors, the conflagrations were strongly related to low wages and the high degree of social control necessitated under compound conditions. The 1972-75 'wage reform', although begun before the compound violence escalated, would thus probably have in any event been necessary in some measure to re-stabilise the situation.' The rise in the price of gold made it possible, and worker unrest made it necessary, to pay higher wages to African miners, especially those drawn from within South Africa. Changes within southern Africa (the independence of Mozambique, the defeat of the South African army in Angola, and the escalation of armed struggle in Zimbabwe being the high peaks of this change) were causing the mines once again to review their dependence on external sources of labour supply. In 1973, it will be recalled, foreign labour had reached its peak of 80 per cent of the mine labour force, but after this it began to fall rapidly, until by March 1977 it was only 52 per cent. Changes in mine wage policy had been initiated by the AngloAmerican group, which broke with the wage policy of the Chamber of Mines in 1962. The underlying reason for their change related to the introduction of new technology in the newer mines, especially those developed by the company after the end of the Second World War. As explained earlier, the vast majority of the goldmines in South Africa Oroduce a relatively low-grade ore, buried in extremely hard rock, and which lies in narrow unbroken seams very deep underground. South Africa's deep level underground mining technology is the most advanced in the world (though developments in underground technology have lagged well behind developments in open-cast mining). In general the level of technology in a mine is set when the first shafts are sunk, since the size of the shafts dictates the kind of machines to be used underground. This imposes subsequent limitations on any later major changes in the underground technology of

Changes in the Mining industr in the 1970s existing, especially older, mines. But most of Anglo-American's mines wvere in the newly developed Free State and they had been built during the lQ50s to higher technology specifications than the older mines. When these mines began to reach full production during the late 1950s and early 1960s, Anglo-American's revenue soared, for productivity was higher on these more technologically developed mines. Anglo-American therefore had a particular interest in a more differentiated and advanced labour structure, especially a more stable labour force. On its high- productivity mines it adopted a policy of employing South African rather than outside labour, and it also instituted a different wage structure. The other mining groups, whose mines tended to have lower-grade ore, and lower productivity owing to lower levels of mechanisation, resisted changes in wage policy. Ultimately, however, wage changes had to be instituted both as a response to the wave of labour unrest, and in order to step up the complement of South African as against foreign labour. The strategy of the mines during the 1970s therefore had to take account of the changes in southern Africa, the economic recession, and rapidly rising internal black unemployment; and the changing technology of an important part of the industry. In 1974 R150 million was set aside for a ten-year research programme into developing new techniques of production, and much more was to follov. The mines were already claiming to show the effects of new technology. A mine belonging to Johannesburg Consolidated Investments reported increased production despite a labour reduction of 20 per cent in the mine. This was done by introducing scrapers for loading the ore (instead of hand-lashing), monorail cars which required one worker rather than the previous two, and monorope conveyors for carrying the mineral out of the mine - thus cutting down unskilled labour near the mining, or stope, face. These moves were combined with more efficient management and maintenance systems, and by bringing white miners into management planning so that they could see the importance of working as a team and the role of their team leaders. Courses for the training of African aides to white craftsmen were begun. and some African miners acquired skills in, among others, boilermaking, fitting, electrical work and welding. Much of the research and trials were taking place at or near the mining face. About 40 per cent of the black labour force is employed there and mechanisation is therefore of great importance in reducing the black labour force and improving productivity. Trials were said to be well advanced on the one-man monorail systems and on

The Mine Labour Force monoropc systems to transport timber, sticks, and concrete bricks right to the stope face. Lightweight drills were in operation which eliminate the need for an assistant to the machine operator. On the stope face drilling was being mechanised in two different ways: one was to improve drilling for dynamite blasting; the other was to eliminate the dynamite and to use rock cutting systems. AngloAmerican was introducing large, mechanised, drilling machines. These machines were operated by three Africans under a white supervisor, and achieved record drilling depths per shift on their first trials in 1974. Another mine (Carletonville) improved efficiency by 50 per cent by using short-hole drilling. The major research and development activity has been in nonexplosive methods of rock-breaking. The whole system of the mine is based on the periodic dynamiting of the rock. Already trial equipment has been used which avoids this. One method is drag-bit rock-cutting, which is cutting a 25 mm slot about 150 mm into the rock-face. This slot helps to eliminate rock-breaking with pneumatic or hydraulic picks. Other, though less advanced, methods tried include the impact ripper-mechanical system for ripping open the ground, and the swing-hammer miner. All these three machines perform best in ground which is pre-stressed and fractured, as is the case in the deep mines where the effect of pressure has been to fracture the hard quartzite rock. Another development, more suited to shallow mines, is a system of boring the gold reef with a rotating bore called a raise borer to make small shafts in the galleries near the stope face. The machines cost anything up to R750,000 each. These methods by themselves could probably increase the mining rate considerably. The problems have been in mechanisation of other parts of the stope process - that is mechanisation of roof bolting, laying tracks, automatic waste packing for stope support, and so on. Experiments have been tried with mechanised conveyorbelts to move the rock from a blast site. Some are armoured and move automatically into the stope before the blasts, to catch the rock as it falls. The rock which is not on the conveyor-belt will be lifted on to it by a plough, which is moved up and down the face alongside the conveyor. It is estimated that these conveyors could increase productivity on the stope face three times. In March 1976 a spokesman of the Chamber of Mines research department said that capital invested in stope faces then was about R100 million, which was about R3 million per principal mine. Mechanisation of the stope face would average at about R7 million per mine* it would also involve high training costs and a build-up of the semi-skilled African Changes in the Mining Industry in the 1970s workforce, which would in turn necessitate a stable worktorce. Changes wvere undoubtedly occurring in the industry, though results achieved in trials on one mine were seldom capable of being reproduced throughout the industry, because of the different geological and technical conditions in the various mines. In the new mines, or new shafts sunk in old mines, advanced technology involving major transformations in the organisation of the labour process was possible: in the older mines there was room only for modifications, but these too would have the effect of reducing the absolute size of the African labour force. Higher productivity either through more advanced mechanisation or by rationalisation of the existing labour process would mean that higher wages could be paid, which in turn would have the effect of raising the proportion of South African workers on the mines. Thus, a ke\ structural trend in the industry during the 1970s has been the generalised displacement of labour in production. This has happened in two forms: the substitution of local for foreign workers, and the substitution of capital for labour in production. Upgraded wage scales have been an indispensable part of this process. The changes in wage levels are seen in table 5. In the Table 5 IMine wages (per shift). inimitnum and average 1910-76 Year Minimum 4 verage 1910 18c 1911-16 20c 1921-30 - 22c 1931 <17c 22c 1936-41 - 23c 1943 <18c 23c 1946 22c 29c 1948 24c 29c 1949 27c 29c 1951 30c 36c 1956 30c 43c 1961 30c 48c 1964 34c 1966 - 59c 1969 40c 65c 1971 42c 1972 50c 81c 1973 72c R I 1974 RI.60 RI.78 1975 R2.20 R3.00 1976 R2.50

The Mine Labour Force period beginning in the 1950s, and again in 1969, African wages had risen. This was a period of chronic labour shortage, but it also saw the beginnings of rationalisation of the labour process and the introduction of training schemes for some African workers, especially on the more capital-intensive mines. The wage rises in this period were however considerably outstripped by the rises given after 1973. By June 1976 the industry was paying a minimum rate for underground work of R2.50 a shift. And these changes in wage rates had an immediate impact on the supply of labour. The number of South African workers on the mines rose rapidly. At the same time there was an absolute fall-off in the numbers of contracted foreign workers, and this trend is continuing. It is clear that there are limits to mechanisation of the industry. The new methods will diminish seriously but they will not break the dependence of the mines on a large supply of African labour. On the other hand newer, richer, more capital- intensive mines will follow a distinctly different pattern from that of the older lower-grade ore mines. Within the workforce, differentials in wages and skills will grow. Two of the factors we have dealt with will particularly affect Mozambican mine labour in the immediate period: I the overall reduction in the use of foreign labour; 2 differentiation within the African workforce, and consequent reliance on more experienced and skilled workers. These factors are indeed reflected in the changed conditions of Mozambican labour after 1974.

MOZAMBICAN MINE LABOUR AFTER 1974 1975 was a peak year for \VENELA recruiting, when the figure for Mozambican recruits was 115,309: the highest previous recruiting total had been 94,825 men attested in 1970. The 1975 recruits included 19.589 novices, that is, men contracted for mine work for the first time, who constituted 17 per cent of the total, as shown in table 6. This unprecedented recruitment of Mozambican workers followed the decision in April 1974 by President Banda of Malawi to suspend the recruiting of all Malawian mine labour. That decision had been taken in the wake of the crash of a WENELA aircraft near Francistown in Botswana, in which seventy-two Malawian miners were killed. The suspension decision meant not only that new recruits did not arrive from Malawi, but that Malawian workers already on the mines did not complete their contracts. The number of Malawian workers fell from 130,000 early in 1974 to 182 in May 1976.' The mines were reported at this time to be operating with only three-quarters of their underground manpower requirements. After the labour from Mozambique, that of Malawi (recorded under the category Tropicals or North of Lat. 220 in the official statistics of the Chamber of Mines) had constituted the largest and most reliable source of labour from outside South Africa. From the middle of the 1960s until the end of 1973 Mozambican and Malawi labour together made up between 30 and 40 per cent of the labour force. After the Mozambicans, Malawian mineworkers served the second longest contract periods. It was not until mid-1977 that the flow of Malawian labour was restored, following the conclusion of a new agreement with WENELA and the approval of revised contract terms. The unprecedentedly high recruiting figures for Mozambique for 1975 indicated that WENELA turned to Mozambique to replace in part the labour lost from Malawi. Of course increased Mozambican labour could only partly fill the gap, and it was at this time that Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) was opened to recruitment, and wage changes were implemented in the industry to step up the

The Mine Labour Force Table 6 V,,iiwc, recruited by WNLA 1961-77 "cuar Total of Novices Percentage workers of novices recruited by WNLA 1961 64.145 8359 13 1962 64.941 8509 13 1963 56.780 7019 12 1964 68,503 10,185 15 1965 72.92 11,859 16 1966 85.203 10.574 12 1967 79,463 9466 12 1968 82.506 8910 11 1969 75.425 7586 10 1970 94,525 8386 9 1971 75.517 80(16 11 1972 73.735 8983 12 1973 74,689 5840 8 1974 87,169 10,445 12 1975 115,309 19,852 17 1976 32.803 735 2 1977' 8,825 470 To March complement of South African labour. In Mozambique itself, throughout 1975, a steady monthly flow of recruits was maintained, with exceptionally large numbers of men contracted in September, October and November. Table 7 compares the monthly recruiting totals of 1970, the previous highest recruiting year, with the results of 1975-1978. Mine wages earned by Mozambicans in 1975 are reflected in deferred payment sums for 1976. For that year the total of deferred pay was 1652 million escudos. The deferred payments for 1976 and 1974 were 1200 million escudos and 711 million escudos respectively. The pattern changed dramatically in 1976. That year the numbers of mineworkers recruited by WENELA totalled 32,803. The monthly average of recruits was only 2733. By then spectacular changes had taken place in Mozambique: with the victory of Frelimo and the installation of independent government, far-reaching changes began to be instituted in all spheres of life" and with these came corresponding changes in the administration. From the time that WENELA had achieved a monopoly over labour recruiting in Mozambique, that body and

Mozambican Mine Labour after 1974 the Portuguese colonial administration had operated in collusion in the attestation of mine labour. As we have already explained, the Mozambique manager of WENELA had controlled a tightly organised system, run by district managers or divisional agents, compound managers, and paymasters. WENELA recruiting stations and their staffs had maintained close liaison with chiefs and cabos within the Portuguese administrative system. WENELA stations operated in twenty-one different centres in the three southern provinces and had a network of sub-stations and recruiting agents. In the mid-1950s a record system had been installed in the principal Johannesburg WENELA compound which retained a complete history of all men going forward to the mines. Target figures for recruits were set for the various recruiting divisions or camps. The WENELA general manager personally inspected the Mozambique stations from time to time. When recruitment lagged, .propaganda', as we have seen, was stepped up. Recruiting targets were adjusted to labour supply requirements within the industry. Medical standards required of recruits were raised and lowered as the labour demand rose and fell. All this required not only highly efficient organisation within the labour recruiting organisation itself, but also close liaison and collaboration between that body and the Portuguese administration. Not only recruiting, but the immigration facilities connected with it, were in fact centralised within the WENELA stations: as WENELA signed up a recruit the processing and issue of his passport was virtually automatic - the immigration officer was required merely to append his signature. Table 7 Monthly recruitment, WENELA, /970-7S Month 1970 1975 1976 1977 1978 January 7079 8291 4416 4942 2021 February 8217 9613 2581 3584 1922 March 90170 8980 2803 1992 1,;16 April 8412 9872 2641 4648 1913 Ma' 9384 11 .620 1289 4762 3233 June 9542 6412 763 3644 4338 Julk 9097 4662 1824 3419 3714 August 7459 8368 1731 3785 5661 September 8647 12,1155 1763 3297 4758 October 8248 14.411 2844 2751 6265 November 6230 13.729 5755 34101 4217 December 3938 8502 4344 3227 2753 94.525 115,319 32,8103 43,862 42.590

The Mine Labour Force In 1975, as the transitional government made way for the installation of a Frelimo government in power, the new government prepared to print and issue its own passports, and to reorganise the issue procedure. The old stock of passports was, in any case, exhausted, and during this interim period immigration offices were empowered to validate existing passports only for a limited period. By the time the new passports were ready to be issued, local immigration offices were no longer authorised to issue travel documents in any but four approved centres: in Maputo itself, in Xai-Xai in Gaza Province, at Maxixe in Inhambane Province, and at Ressano Garcia where the main WENELA border camp operated. These control measures restricted the powers of all but a limited number of immigration officers and thus ensured tighter control of the flow across the borders. Additionally, Pafuri, on the Rhodesian borderwhich, together with Ressano Garcia, had been one of the two principal entry and exit points for recruits - was in the Zimbabwe war zone; the passage of mine recruits had automatically to be suspended, and from March 1976 onwards no further recruits passed through this border camp. This control of immigration procedures meant effectively that all but four of the previous twenty-one WENELA recruiting centres could no longer operate. It was October 1976 before the new system was fully instituted. Recruiting figures from Gaza and Inhambane dropped heavily, even came to a standstill. Thus in April only 124 men were recruited from Gaza. In the four-month period from June to September that year not a single Mozambican went to the mines from Gaza or Inhambane. The flow through those WENELA centres was oneway only, as men returned after their contracts, collected their deferred pay and went home. At the end of January 1976 the standing total of Mozambican mineworkers on the mines under WENELA contracts had been 114,385. By the end of December of that year the total had dropped to 48,565. This reduction in the complement of Mozambican labour recruited during 1976 altered the geographical origins of foreign labour on the mines. Until 1975 the mines had placed extremely heavy reliance on three countries for their labour supply from outside South Africa. Between them Malawi, Mozambique and Lesotho provided in 1973 as much as 91 per cent of the total foreign labour complement (Malawi 37 per cent; Mozambique 28 per centLesotho 28 per cent). After the withdrawal of Malawian workers, Mozambique and Lesotho remained primary suppliers, and in mid-1975 their combined total comprised 53 per cent of the foreign labour supply. It was at this time that the Chamber of Mines must

Mozambican Mine Labour after 1974 have reviewed its strategy for the supply of Mozambican labour. Within the Chamber's Mine Labour Organisation (effectively WENELA) careful long-term supply projections are made annually. Decisions are taken about the number of recruits to be obtained from each established recruiting area. Targeted totals are matched to expected production needs. The purpose of this planning is to inform key officials within the industry and to provide guidelines for the NILO's own decisions about labour supply. The MLO Budget and Objectives for 1977 applied a country limit of 30,000 to Mozambique: this was within a total recruitment level of 466,000 African workers for that year (the 1976 figure had been 453,000). Thus by October 1976 when the new Mozambican passports were ready for issue, and the WENELA camps, though heavily reduced in number, had begun to resume more normal operations, the South African Chamber of Mines had devised a new policy towards Mozambican mine labour. That month the Mozambique manager relayed to his district offices a set of instructions he had received from Head Office. Applications for underground employment could be accepted for a stipulated list of mines, fourteen in all, each of which had laid down a figure for a weekly complement of Mozambican recruits. Hartebeesfontein was prepared to accept 890 workers per week: Blyvooruitzicht 700: Durban Deep 300; Winkelhaak 250; Western Areas and its Elsburg section 1000 between them. No novices were eligible for recruitment and nor were workers with previous experience on other mines. Since from this period onwards the contracting of Mozambican mine labour was made entirely conditional on the possession of engagement, or re-employment, certificates it is essential at this juncture to explain the system. The Re-Employment Certificate The re-employment guarantee and early return bonus certificate is a system operated by mines affiliated to the Chamber of Mines to give workers being repatriated an incentive to return to the same mine. The system has operated for a number of years, though it was up-dated and somewhat amended in November 1975. The exact form of the certificate has varied with time and with the region of labour recruitment in which it is operated. A sample certificate, 'For issue to an East Coast Labourer', though this form is probably now in disuse, states: The undermentioned employee to whom this certificate is issued, if he applies to return to the issuing mine for underground employment within a

The Mine Labour Force period of EIGHT MONTHS from [issuing date] and provided that the mine is open to the engagement of labourers at that time, will be re-employed on underground work and will be entitled to the basic rate of pay he was receiving when he left that mine and in addition the service increment for which he may have qualified. In the event of the issuing mine being closed to re-engagement at that time and not wishing to re-engage him, he will be entitled to the privileges of this certificate on such other mines as may. be designated by the MLO from time to time. (Our emphases.) Other re-employment guarantee certificate vary their formulation somewhat: At the discretion of the mine concerned, this certificate may be issued to an employee on the termination of his service with any mine, a member of MLO (WENELA), only if he was employed on underground occupations for not less than 45 weeks during that service. If the employee to whom this certificate is handed and whose identifying details are given hereon applies to return to the issuing mine for underground employment within a period of EIGHT months from [date of issue] he will be re-employed on underground work and will be entitled to the basic rate of pay he was receiving when he left that mine as set out hereon, and the service increment, if any, for which he may have qualified. (Our emphases.) Some of the certificates record considerable detail about the miner, including his record of service number, his pass or reference book number, particulars of his father, his left thumb impression, his marital status, his children, his years in education, the year he first worked on the mines, particulars of his work group, his daily rate of payment, the dates of his previous spells of employment, the number of underground shifts he completed, the basic rate of pay he received at the time of discharge, the service increment for which he may qualify, and even particulars of his rating in aptitude testing. In other words the certificate - which Mozambican miners refer to as the Bonas, or Bonus Card - is a record of the mine employment experience and skill of the individual worker. Its particulars are recorded in the computerised data-bank now maintained by the Chamber for all its employees. The issue of the re-employment guarantee is however entirely discretionary. An employing mine may issue such certificates as it judges fit. Furthermore the certificate does not guarantee reemployment, since this is offered only provided that the mine is open to the re-engagement of workers, or that other mines are prepared to take the holder. The possession of these certificates became the critical factor in the contracting of labour after October 1976, when the instruction sent to WENELA offices in Mozambique states that these certi-

Mozambican Mine Labour after 1974 ficates w ould for the time being at least (our emphases) continue to be honoured by the issuing mines. The quota figures for the various mines would be varied and up-dated weekly by telex, but the figures quoted would stand and new figures would be added only when there were additional labour orders. It had to be emphasised, the circular pointed out. that recruits could be engaged only for the mines listed. If they did not accept employment on one or other of these mines they would immediately be sent home, and therefore there \%as no point in their proceeding further if they were not prepared so to engage themselves. At the beginning of 1977 this new restrictive instruction was emphasised again. Head office notified its Mozambique offices that there had been an 'unprecedented influx of labour' that year, so from 7 February 1977 until further notice 'only holders of valid, repeat valid, re-engagement guarantee certificates may be engaged and forwarded'. No novices were to be contracted. Miners holding expired or invalid re-engagement certificates would not be accepted, except as part of special orders. Durban Deep would accept only its ex-employees to the extent of its orders. Western Platinum Mines was prepared to take expired certificates provided they were held by machine or spanner operators. Marievale would accept the holders of certificates who had worked for other Union Corporation Mines. The highest orders for labour were from Blyvooruitzicht, but they had to be spread over several weeks at not more than 200 a week. Orders for coalminers dropped like a stone. A very few coalmines placed some orders for labour, but these were extremely low, under twenty men at a time in some instances. Anglo-American coal mines excluded Mozambican coalminers altogether except for very exceptional orders, as from Coronation Colliery?. when they could not dispense with the services of experienced Mozambican coalminers such as Torkar drivers, coal-cutting machine and electric drill operators. The policy of the Anglo-American Corporation of phasing out Mozambican labour was far more generalised than this. Between them the mines owned by Anglo-American carry the largest African labour complement - 110,000 African miners in 1974 out of a total of 225,000 employed by the seven mining groups affiliated to the Chamber of Mines. It is Anglo-American mines which also led the field in the 1970s with the strategy of raising mine wages in order to lure South African workers back into mining. Anglo-American's foreign labour has been drawn chiefly from Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland. In 1974 this mining group employed the smallest percentage of Mozambican labour: 16 per cent compared with the 25 per

62 The Mine Labour Force cent employed by Rand Mines, 26 per cent by Goldfields mines, and 24 per cent by Anglo-Vaal mines.' According to miners interviewed during the course of this investigation, miners ending their contracts on Anglo-American mines were not being issued with reengagement certificates. This would have the effect of making them ineligible not only for re-employment on the mines owned by that mining group, but for re-employment altogether. The decision to take miners holding re-engagement certificates only had an immediate and large-scale effect on recruiting. For the workers who did qualify, the telex orders for mine labour towards the end of February 1977 looked fairly promising, at least from those mines which were continuing to recruit Mozambican experienced labour. By March, however, the WENELA offices were advised that there had been some *confusion here on orders for recruits', and a number of telex orders were cancelled. Some mines were not prepared to accept any Mozambican labour, including East Daggafontein, S.A. Lands, Goldfields Proprietary, Vlakfontein and City Deep. The list of mines that continued to contract Mozambican labour during 1976 and 1977 was rather diverse. These mines are owned by different mining groups and mine variously high-grade, medium-grade and low-grade ore; they have varied life expectancies, though none, apparently, over twenty years; and they have installed mechanisation to varying degrees. What they had in common for the greater part was their previous reliance on Malawian labour. Of the six largest mines taking Mozambican labour in this period, four had been seriously affected by the withdrawal of Malawian labour. The mines were the following: ERPM (owned by Barlow Rand): had been heavily dependent on Malawian labour and experienced serious Malawian unrest at the end of 1974. This is a mine that dates back before the First World War, has a 10-20-year life expectancy, mines low-grade ore, has a low level of mechanisation, and receives state aid. Blvvooruitzicht (owned by Barlow Rand): started in the late 1930s but also has a low, 10-20-year life expectancy. though it mines relatively high-grade ore and has a relatively high level of mechanisation. Durban Deep (owned by Barlow Rand): started in 1898, has a 10-2(J-vear life expectancy, mines very low-grade ore, and receives state aid. More than 40 per cent of its workforce had been drawn from Malawi. Hartebeesfontein (owned by Anglo-Vaal): mines a relatively highgrade ore, and was heavily dependent on Malawian labour. It has a j-f

Mozambican Mine Labour after 1974 life expectancy of under ten years. Stilfonttei't (one of the four mines of the General Mining Group): mines an average-grade ore, and had drawn more than 40 per cent of its workforce from Malawi. Randfontein Estates (owned by Johannesburg Consolidated Trust): started in 1974. has a life expectancy of over twenty years, mines high-grade ore and is highly mechanised.' The one Anglo-American mine that continued to contract Mozambican labour in this period wvas Western Deep Levels. Started in 1962. with a life expectancy of over twenty years, and mining a relatively high-grade ore, this was, until the early 1970s, the deepest and possibly the most highly mechanised mine. But because it is very deep it is extremely hot for underground working and is thus highly unpopular. Given a choice, in terms of the WENELA contract, miners generally opt for mines other than this one. Confronted with shrinking employment openings, Mozambican miners have little option but to sign on for Western Deep Levels, and Anglo-American's policy of dispensing with Mozambican labour seems to have gone by the board in this instance. (ERPM, which is also an old, very hot and unpopular mine has been going out of its wav to make openings for Mozambicans and has been issuing new Re-employment Certificates, sometimes by post, to ex-employees whose certificates have already expired.) Throughout 1977 there were restricted openings for Mozambican mine labour. No novices were acceptable. Many mines would employ only their ex-employees. Expired re-engagement certificates were honoured only when the mines needed additional labour orders. Some mines, principally those belonging to the Anglo- American group, had not issued re-engagement certificates to Mozambican workers who had finished their contracts, except in special cases like that of Western Deep Levels which had labour recruiting difficulties. This meant that the pool of bonus holders has been shrinking. Many of the re-engagement certificates expired during 1976 when the new immigration administrative processes were being set up, and when recruiting came to a standstill in the two provinces of Gaza and Inhambane. Many of the miners who applied for work at the Maxixe WENELA Depot in mid- 1977 appeared to be holders of expired bonus cards. According to the clerks of the WENELA offices, orders for labour from specific mines willing to waive the clause requiring return within the eight-month period were filled in a matter of a day or two, even when the orders were for very specific

The Mine Labour Force skills. But the great majority of work seekers were turned away. Despite this, miners continued to present themselves at WENELA recruiting stations throughout this period. At the Maxixe camp there were as many as 400 to 500 queuing each Monday morning in the hope of job offers (the number fell slightly on the remaining days of the week). In the Xai Xai compound during the last few weeks of 1976 a crowd of miners protesting at the shortage of jobs prompted the WENELA officials to call in the administration to calm them. The news subsequently spread that novices were not being engaged at all, but experienced miners - many with expired bonus cards - continued to make their way regularly to WENELA offices. Some, rejected in one province, would travel to another to try again. (An instruction from the Instituto de Trabalho dated December 1977 permits a miner to be contracted in the province of his birth only.) In 1977 just under 37,000 Mozambican miners were enlisted by the Chamber of Mines. For the next two years the totals were 35,234 and 38,995 respectively. They were slightly more than half the 1976 total. In this period, Chamber of Mines strategy on Mozambican mine labour has been predicated on a number of factors. These were the overall reduction of the proportion of foreign as against South African mine labour: a policy of maximising the number of labour supply states and of distributing, and controlling, the demand for labour across them: and a decision, in which the AngloAmerican Corporation has taken the lead, to reduce dependence on Mozambican labour sooner rather than later for fear of Frelimo's capacity to pre-empt the labour-supply decisions of the South African mining industry. The reduction in foreign labour complements did not apply to Mozambique only of course. Swaziland had its labour quota reduced, as had other supply countries. Lesotho, on the other hand, had a certain degree of 'favoured' treatment. Importantly, in all labour agreements concluded by the Chamber in recent years, there has appeared a clause safeguarding the right of the industry to offer employment 'subject to the availability of South African labour'. The industry thus reserves to itself total control over any decisions it may judge necessary to run down further the numbers of 'foreign' workers recruited. And capital and state in South Africa are afforded an opportunity to mop up a section of the African unemployed in the country. Yet the policy as far as possible to internalise labour supply does not involve an end to the 'foreign' labour force. The mines will have to continue to use labour from outside the country, though it does

Mozambican Mine Labour after 1974 seem likely that there will be a continuing fall in demand over the coming years. The precise quantitative trends will depend on the balance of various factors. Already it is clear that the demand has become more selective. The mines are set on recouping as much as possible of the costs of their investment in their labour force, hence the system of re-employment certificates which guarantees the miner's return within a stated period. In recent negotiations over labour supply, the Chamber of Mines has attempted to refine this system so as to ensure that the experienced miner not only returns to his former employment, but that he does this on a particular date after an agreed leave. This the mines call upholding the 'principle of permanence' envisaged by the system of re-employment guarantees. Further, the recent spectacular rises in the price of gold have radicallx altered the industry's perspectives. One can no longer talk in the same terms as previously about goldmining declining over the next fifty years as long as the gold price makes it profitable to mine South Africa's massive gold reserve. The rising gold price means the industry is in a position to plan its labour supply over a long period, and that its quota system for balancing different supply sources can be refined and operated according to how the industry and the South African state assess not only the labour needs of the industry, but the political considerations. Whereas Mozambican labour was once favoured for its stability of flow, experience and work discipline, as well as for the special relationship between South Africa and Portugal, the pendulum has now swung the other way. It is possible that in the period when the price of gold soared so astronomically, the special arrangement for the transfer of deferred pay in the shape of gold bullion would have been cancelled even with Portugal. In the event it rebounded against Mozambique's independent government in April 1978, when South Africa passed a special legislative measure to revalue her gold and cancelled the special agreement. While the special gold arrangement was in force, the gold which paid for Mozambican labour constituted about 5 per cent of the annual gold output of the Chamber; this made Mozambican labour more expensive than any other labour contingent. The cancellation of the special arrangement makes Mozambican labour cheaper for the industry and thus more competitive with other labour inputs. Whether that will influence the Chamber in future to raise its target for Mozambican recruitment is doubtful; the quota of 30,000 appears to have remained fixed, and though the actual recruitment figures have been slightly higher, that does not seem to represent any changed quota policy on the part of the Chamber.

66 The Mine Labour Force With the return of Malawian labour, which on a number of mines and especially the low-grade ore mines appears to have been used in competition with Mozambican labour, it is possible that the Chamber will try to play off one state against the other: this would be consistent with its general strategy towards supplier-states in the sub-continent.

A PROFILE OF THE LABOUR FORCE The statistics of the Chamber of Mines make it possible to plot the flow of Mozambican labour to the mines for the whole of this century according to Province, district and locality. But the data do not reveal the pattern or frequency of contracts in a single miner's lifetime, nor do they make it possible to calculate average contract length - although we do know the minimum and maximum legal contract periods - or average wages. There are, furthermore, no records available in Mozambique on the work categories of Mozambican miners or their skill acquisition; this information had to be collected by means of sampling methods during the field work investigation. In order to investigate the character of the mine labour force, the project undertook two sets of interview investigations (set out in appendix 3). The first set was based on the miners' questionnaire. 368 miners and ex-miners were interviewed. These interviews took place in WENELA compounds among recently recruited miners on their way to South Africa, and among 'repatriates' (the WENELA trade-term for miners who have served their contracts and are on their way home). During the field investigations in Inhambane Province, the miners' questionnaire was also used in peasant households when there were ex- miners present or men at home between contracts, and at mass meetings where miners and ex-miners were present. The second set of interviews involved a smaller set of questions put to miners present in compounds or at mass meetings. There were five questions in all: age of miner; number of contracts worked on the mines; year of first contract; year of last contract; and length of period of each contract in months/shifts. 716 miners were interviewed. Both sets of interviews provided the basic information needed to analyse the average number of contracts worked; the average length of contracts; and the span of working life spent on the mines over a succession of contracts - in other words a work profile of the labour force. The longer interview also provided data on the social charac-

The Mine Labour Force teristics of miners (marital status, extent of polygamy, number of dependants, and number of generations involved in mine labour); earnings; work histories; and acquisition of skills and experience. In addition, the longer questionnaire provided information on the use of mine wages in the peasant household. These data are not analysed in this chapter, but form part of the discussion of the role of migrant wages in the peasant economy. In this chapter we are concerned with the mine labour force as such: with a profile of the worker-peasant as worker. Some Social Characteristics of the Mozambican Mine Labour Force From the biographical information collected from the questionnaire it was possible to establish: The marital status of mine recruits Of a sample of 368 men, only thirty-six were single, that is, approximately 10 per cent. Of this sample twenty-three men had two wives, and six had three wives: the extent of polygamous marriages can thus be seen to be extremely limited. Dependants The questionnaire included a great deal of information on the size of the nuclear family, and the number of less immediate family members dependent on the miners' wages - that is grandparents and parents, cousins, nephews and nieces. Miners supported an average mean of 4.2 persons on their wages. Generations Of the sample of 368 miners interviewed, 91 per cent were sons of miners. Of the miners over the age of fifty, 84 per cent were second generation miners. (In the Pembe field research the brigades interviewed old men who had worked in the mines before the beginning of the First World War, and who recounted how they had used hand-hammers to make holes for dynamite blasting.) Other industrial experience Although this information was incomplete in many of the questionnaires, it was clear that many miners had other industrial experience. This included work on the railways, in mechanical workshops, in some factories, as well as in domestic service, and, of course, on chibalo. These aspects are reflected in the selection of miners' work histories.

FREQUENCY AND LENGTH OF CONTRACTS As we have already shown, the essential characteristics of migrant labour in southern Africa consists not so much in the fact of migration over long distances, as in the phenomenon that the migrant labourer is never completely divorced from his means of production. The labourer remains rooted in the peasant economy, which continues to constitute in part the material base of his and his family's existence. The creation of this class of worker-peasants obviously has far- reaching implications for the division of labour within the family in relation to agricultural work. It results, in particular, in a distortion of the production forces on the land because of the extraction of labour power for the mines. The degree to which the peasant economy is interfered with by migration will depend on the average length of the miner's contract, and the frequency of contracts in a single lifetime. Indeed, the length of contract on average will indicate whether or not the miner can participate in the yearly agricultural work- cycle: while the frequency of contracts will indicate to what extent the workerpeasant has been proletarianised: that is, his own working activity has been divorced from agriculture, and his family become dependent on his wages to supplement their subsistence and cash-crop income. Obviously, the process of proletarianisation is a complex social phenomenon which cannot be reduced to mere quantitative indicators, and in this section we shall be concerned to present these indicators only. The Ebb and Flow of Migrant Labour In this section we shall summarise briefly the main results of the analysis of the mine labour questionnaire with respect to the frequency with which mine labourers tend to go to the mines in their working lifetime. Our surveys give us two different categories of worker-peasants, which need to be analysed separately: (a) holders

The Mine Labour Force of valid bonus cards who have been re-contracted and were interviewed at the WENELA compounds in Maputo, Ressano Garcia and Maxixe before returning to the mines; and (b) those interviewed in the districts of Inhambane, many of whom no longer held a valid bonus card. The former are indicative of the present-day workforce at the mines, while the latter, supplemented by the open-ended interviews with miners scattered through the book, give us a richer impression of the work history of worker-peasants in Inhambane Province. The mean share of the active working-life spent in the mines for the 127 miners for whom we have completed information was 49 per cent. A miner aged fifty years who had spent half of his working-life in the mines, would have worked about thirteen contracts of an average of fifteen months each, while a miner of sixty would have done nearly seventeen contracts. If we include time spent travelling to and from the mine, we find that a miner who has just completed his contract would have spent 32 per cent of his working-life span at home between contracts, and 68 per cent either on the mines or travelling to and from them. Equally striking were the results of the random survey conducted in the districts of Inhambane among worker-peasants, many of whom no longer held a valid bonus certificate. Of the 145 interviewed in this category we found that on average (mean or median) they had spent about 42 per cent of their working-life on the mines. Thus a typical worker-peasant might be expected to have completed four contracts (of fifteen months on average) by the age of thirty; about seven by the age of forty; eleven by the age of fifty; and fourteen by the age of sixty. In the time span between the beginning of the first contract and the end of the last, the peasant-worker would on average have spent 56 per cent at the mines, and 44 per cent at home. Table 8(a) shows the proportion of working-life spent on mine labour by 145 miners interviewed in Inhambane Province. Table 8(b) provides similar data on 146 miners with re-engagement certificates. The differences arise partly because the second group was interviewed immediately after completing their contracts and because they were younger and had therefore completed fewer contracts than the first group. Only about one quarter of the total labour force interviewed had spent less than 30 per cent of their active working life on the mines. At the other end of the scale one-third of the miners had spent more than one half of their active labour time on the mines. The agreements made between the Portuguese colonial state and

Frequency and Length of Contracts Table 8 Proportion of working-lfe spent on mine labour by a sample of miners in Inhambane Province (a) (b) % (age) of active No. of miners " (age) No. of miners 4 (age) working life spent interviewed interviewed on mine labour 0-9 3 2 3 2 10-19 13 9 15 10 20-29 22 15 15 10 30-39 30 21 23 16 4(-49 29 20 22 15 5)-59 18 12 2h 18 (-20 14 16 11 70-79 6 4 8 6 80--100 4 3 18 12 Total 145 100 146 100 the South African state in 1964 specified that a normal contract period would be twelve months, which could be extended by another six months. Thus, except in exceptional cases, the Mozambican miner normally worked for a period of 12-18 months. In our study we tried to determine more precisely the average length of contract. To do this we used WENELA information on monthly recruitment and the size of the standing labour force on the mines, and we used a simple method of successive approximation to calculate the total number of months per contract that would be necessary for the number of these recruits during these months to equal the standing labour force at the end of the previous month. On the basis of this calculation we obtained the following results: Average Contract Period Year 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 Months 15.7 15.3 16 16.3 16 15 12.6 13 The yearly average dropped immediately after independence, but appears to have risen thereafter. In 1977 we interviewed 215 returning miners at the WENELA compounds at Alta Ma and

The Mine Labour Force Ressano Garcia, and ninety-two at Maxixe. The mean lengths of contract for the former was 16.5 months, the latter 15.1 months. It is clear that migrant labour has historically become deeply rooted in the peasant economy. This is reflected in the long average length of the contracts, and in the considerable proportion of the worker-peasant's life spent at the mines. The advantages of this situation for the South African mining industry are clear: (a) the more the overhead cost of recruiting and transporting the miner as a percentage of total labour cost drops, the longer the contract period at the mines. (b) Long contract periods and high frequency of the individual miner's contracts reduce training costs and guarantee a stable workforce and high level of productivity. This again has always been a distinct characteristic of the contribution of Mozambican labourers to the South African mining industry. Seen from the Mozambican side, the picture is very different. A large part of this labour force has become more and more divorced from actual participation in the agricultural production cycle so that the burden falls almost completely on the women. Work on the construction of houses, storage places and water-pits, which was traditionally done by men, has increasingly been left to local artisans paid from the wages of migrant labour. Our discussion of the peasant economy will illustrate these trends. This dilemma of the proletarianised peasant (the migrant worker-peasant) was summed up by a peasant interviewed in Homoine district: 'I am a worker and I cannot do without a paid job. Everyone here has been to the mines - our grandfathers went. I do agriculture when at home because the wages are never sufficient for a decent life. But there is no security in agriculture because you cannot control the rains.' The Present Mozambican Mine Labour Force As previously indicated, current recruitment is limited to those who have valid bonus certificates entitling them to re-engagement. What then are the specific characteristics of the present-day Mozambican labour force? First, it is essentially a young workforce. A sample of 146 miners who, in mid-1977, possessed re- engagement certificates gave the age distribution shown in table 9(a).

Frequency and Length of Contracts Table9 ..A itc distribution of 146 miners possessing re-en gagement certificates," and 236 who hav'finished wiith mine labour (a) Vo. ol wiorkers 39 45 4 12 6 S 1 146 (b) No. of workers 14 33 48 35 35 33 24 14 236 It can be seen from (a) that more than half the workers were less than thirty years of age, whilst over two-thirds were less than thirtv-five. This by contrast with (b), drawn from a sample of 236 former miners in the villages of Inhambane Province who had not been to the mines since 1970, and who were therefore assumed to have finished with mine labour, among whom it can be seen that only 20 per cent of the interviewees were less than thirty at the time of their last contract, whilst only 40 per cent were less than thirtyfive. As we have seen this group, like their elders, has spent a high proportion of their working-life away at the mines. 30-4 AS-V 35-9 40-4 45-9 50-4 55-9 60-4

THE WAGES OF MOZAMBICAN MINERS This study has not investigated wage levels and their relative importance as cash income in the peasant economy for the whole period of the export of mine labour. This would have to be part of a larger long-term study. Here we are concerned with the more recent levels of earnings of the mineworkers, and with the problems and contradictions within the Mozambican working class which may arise in the current period of transition, which Frelimo has defined as a period of transition to socialism. Changes in Wage Levels since 1962 The major problem in determining average earnings is that the only documented information available is in the WENELA returns on deferred payments made to Mozambican workers from year to year.' Deferred payment, as laid down in the 1964 agreement, consists of 60 per cent of the earnings of the worker after the first six months of the contract. Thus after the first six months of the contract the worker receives only 40 per cent of his wages at his work place, and the remaining 60 per cent in a lump sum when he returns to Mozambique, at the WENELA recruiting station where he attested. The advantages of the system to the Portuguese colonial state have already been explained (see p.24-6). If we assume, for convenience, that the mean length of completed contracts each year is sixteen months, we can estimate total mean earnings and mean monthly earnings for all workers who finish their contracts. This is done for the period 1962-77 in table 10. Table 10 shows that before 1966 wages were extremely low, whereas during the latter half of the 1960s and up to 1972, wages began to rise, though they were still at relatively low levels. As a result of the African miners' strikes in 1973, and other developments internal to the mining industry, the mineowners were forced to grant considerable wage increases. This has led to the impression that mine labour has become a highly lucrative occupation, but as can be seen from our calculations, even at its peak (1977) mine-

The Wages of Mozambican Miners Table 10 4 erage deferred pay and average earnings per worker, per con tract (escudos)' Deferred payment per worker ('(otlract 1434S25 1465$39 1505$40 1884$5) 3113$02 3887$80 3921$86 4104$29 4351$23 449$29 4541$23 5696$75 9131$5) 13,388$00 17,264$78 27,704549 .4 verage earnings per worker contract 3825$56 3905$35 4013$66 5023$20 830 1$44 10,367$32 10,456S52 10,944$68 11,603$2) 11,865$64 12.110$09 15,189$40 24,348$00 35,701$28 46,037$64 73.876500 A verage monthly earnings 239$00 244$00 251$70 314$95 519S40 648$96 653$47 684$ 14 725$20 742$20 757$88 949$25 152 1$75 223 1$59 2877$76 4617$25 .Note3 ' In August 1977 the official rate of exchange was R26.31 (= £(sterling) 17.54, US$30.30). 'To August. I conto (1000 escudos) = workers still received a wage of only approximately 4 /, contos (R 118) a month for work which is notoriously hard, and dangerous to the worker's health. It was this 42 contos which represented a 500 per cent increase on 1973 levels! The Spread of Wages As we have already shown, not only have wages risen rapidly in the most recent years, but there has also been a marked increase in wage differentials between different categories of mine labour. To get some impression of these differentials, we selected a sample of the miners' questionnaires which included those miners returning from their last contract in the 1976-7 period, and whose information on deferred payments was especially reliable. This sample gave us 235 miners. Table 11 shows the frequency distribution of this sample with respect to sums of deferred pay. The survey shows that one half of the workers interviewed earned less than 15,000$ in deferred pay, while the pay of three-quarters was less than 25,000$. The lowest paid group includes some workers who, because of illness or for other reasons, did not complete their Year I962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1971) 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977"

76 The Mine Labour Force Table 1 Spread of deferred payments from mine labour 1976-7 Deferred payments % of workforce 10O0-5000$ 16 5000-10,000$ 16 11,000-15,000$ 19 i 5,000-20,000$ 16 20,000-25,000$ 8 25 ,000-30,000$ 7 30,00-40,000$ 11 40,000-50,000$ 3 50.000-70,000$ 4 70,000-100,000$ 1 100,000$ 0 contracts. At the other end of the scale about 5 per cent of the workforce was paid between 50-100 contos. Most miners are among the lower paid, unskilled and semi-skilled workers. They bring home 15-20 contos in deferred pay from a normal contract of sixteen months, from a monthly pay of about 2500-3500$ (about R6-90). The better-paid workers are from two distinct groups: more skilled workers and supervisory workers. Five per cent of workers bring home 50 contos or more, from a monthly pay of 8400$ (about R220) or more - considerably more than unskilled and semi- skilled workers. This is nevertheless a very modest wage for skilled, onerous and dangerous work, and they, too, are compulsorily repatriated after eighteen months. The two groups who receive the highest wages are sometimes taken to be representative of all miners, thus fuelling the myth of the rich miner bringing back large sums of money- money that has been 'quick and easy' to earn. As our evidence shows, this is far from the truth. The supervisors, variously termed boss-boys, indunas and tribal representatives, are of several kinds: some are labour supervisors, helping to organise the gangs of miners delegated to specific jobs; others perform a policing role, acting as agents for compound managers and the mine authorities in general, preserving law and order and ensuring the 'tribal' territorial segregation of the workforce which the mines continue to use as a powerful agency of social division, and thus control. Boss-boys themselves acquire varying degrees of skill and organisational experience, depending on the work they supervise. Wilson (1972, p.20) says that 'Although difficult to document, there is little doubt that, because of the rigidity of the South African caste system, many "boss-boys" are considerably more skilled in mining than some of the [white] men above them'.

WORK EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS The Mozambican miners have been part of an industrialised workforce with considerable experience of industrial organisation and work discipline, and one which could make an invaluable contribution to the industrialisation of Mozambique. However, the reintegration of this workforce within the Mozambican economy would require a careful study of its work experience and skills. The proper place for a detailed study of the growth of specialisation of the unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled workers is, necessarily, at the place of work, which was not open to the research project. Studies of the work process would normally begin in the mine with a total breakdown of all functions, and all the purposes of a particular function. Instead, the researchers had to depend for their information on the miners themselves. Miners who were interviewed about their work experience responded in varying ways. Many did not think they could explain precisely what they did away from the mine and their work gang, tools and equipment; understandably, they could not credit that the investigator would understand how a mine works. Others did make long explanations and, usually with the use of paper and pencil for diagrams, detailed the routine, and their duties in the mine. To discover the level of skill required for any job is not easy - even in the same job in the same mine the level of skill or semi-skill is determined by the extent and the manner in which the white artisan or miner decides to use his team of African labour. According to information acquired from a former official of an Anglo-American mine, different artisans train their aides in very different ways. Some white miners expect aides simply to pass their tools, while others might get down to teaching the whys and the hows. Thus two African miners working as artisan aides could have totally different skills. Accordingly the skills of these artisans' aides could vary according to the method of training, to the relation between white and black miners in a particular work gang, or performing a specific function, and to the attention being paid in a particular mine or

The Mine Labour Force mining group at a specific period to the upgrading in skill and technical competence of a semi-skilled class of African operatives. In recent schemes for the intensified training of African semi-skilled miners, it has been recognised that language is crucial. AngloAmerican mines, for instance, have introduced both a language requirement for inclusion in training schemes and a series of job- specific vocabularies. When we use the terms 'skill' and 'semi-skilled worker' in this study, we are using these in a strictly comparative sense. In the South African mining industry the 'skilled' labour force is exclusively white. All work classified as skilled has been restricted to white workers and, until very recently, most semi-skilled jobs were held by whites and restricted to them too. According to Wilson, in 1960 67 per cent of the African workforce were in unskilled work, 20 per cent in semi-skilled work and 11 per cent in supervisory work. The white labour force has accordingly constituted a sort of labour aristocracy, because their monopoly of skills has been entrenched in the law. Recent increases in mechanisation have extended the range of tasks undertaken by African workers and the skills required of them: whereas in 1965 only 20 per cent of the black labour force on Anglo-American mines were categorised as semi- skilled, in 1974, after the introduction of a new method of job evaluation, 50 per cent of the Anglo-American black underground workers were in this category. The second reason for using skilled and semi-skilled in a comparative sense only is that we do not wish to suggest that miners who have been trained and have acquired a certain measure of skill in a mine can necessarily and immediately take up equivalent work in Mozambique. On the other hand it is clear from our interviews that since the changes in the division of labour in the 1970s in particular, many Mozambicans have acquired skills and industrial experience which will be indispensable to Mozambique. The mining industry retains detailed, computerised labour records, and conducts intricate job evaluation exercises in order to adjust the composition of the labour force, to stabilise policy between mines, and above all to minimise shift losses. Neither the Chamber of Mines, WENELA, nor individual mines to which Mozambican labour has regularly been contracted were willing to make available any data which would permit an analysis of the wage and skill structure of the Mozambican workforce. By 1977 the wage structure of the African mine labour force was organised according to the categories of work indicated in figure 2.

Work Experience and Skills Job Descriptions We describe below some of the semi-skilled jobs performed by Mozambican miners. This information was obtained in interviews with miners. Senior training instructor These have normally previously been senior boss-boys in stoping operations. They are selected for their ability to organise the work on the stope face, and to explain to new men on the stope face what is required of them. They do a four- week training course in teaching methods, and then give the lectures and practical classes in the mine school for stope workers. Feeder-bov * A feeder-boy is a mechanic's aide. Under instruction from the white miner he helps to repair machines inside the mine. The machines used in each section of the work process have specialised feederboys, and they know the machines of that section only. They learn the rudiments in the mine school in a period of four weeks. Riggers These have two functions: (a) repair and maintenance of elevators (all elevators must be checked at least once a week); (b) repair of broken winches, and other related tools. Broken winches are often pulled out of the mine and taken to repair workshops out of the mine, but still in the rigger's department. Thus a rigger could work below or above ground. Pipe-boys These men lay pipes and can solder simple joints. Electrician's assistant These miners lay electric cables (wiring), repair broken wires, repair transformers and the electrical parts of elevators. The training is for a period of 4-6 weeks. Storemen These men are in charge, under the white supervisor, of a number of sections in the stores department. They check the store lists as goods are returned to the stores, and keep records of returns. They register every item requested by each section of the mine by writing * The vocabulary used in the South African mining industry is a reflection, at the level of language, of the African miner's subordinate position. Africans are insultingly referred to as 'boys' - whether 'boss-boys' or 'pipe-boys'. (See the descriptions of jobs in figure 2, Step 3.) In recent years boss-boys have, for example, become 'team leaders'.

The Mine Labour Force Fig. 2 Mine work related to wage grades (Rands per Shift/day during 1977) Step 8 Senior training instructor R6.15 Step 7 Senior boss-boys in stoping R5 --Step 6 Artisans' aid I R4.95 fitters, carpe I bricklayers, Step5 Senior boss-boy j R3.90 Step 4 Loader-drivers, Ioc R3.40 gang-supervisors Step 3 Stoping teams (machin R3 cheesa boys. lashers an es (boilermakers and nters, plumbers, electricians, smelters) o-drivers, hoist-drivers, e and spanner boys, d trammers) Step 2 Belt-minders, timber construction, pipes and R2.65 tracks, untrained loco-guards Step 1 R2.50 Labourers: sweeping, transport, tipping, pumps, stores LSurface workers RIS Source: Witwatersrand Nature Labour Association down the number of that section against the items requisitioned. A storeman thus has basic store and recording skills. Loco-drivers After driving the loco for about six months, some of the good drivers are selected for a month's training programme in maintenance and repair. Coalminers' skills Among the few coalminers still being contracted in the AngloAmerican and other large coalmines in South Africa are certain skilled workers. They include operators of electro-mechanical, coal-cutting machines; mechanical loader operatives: loader drivers and shuttle car drivers, and artisans' aides.

Work Experience and Skills The Relationship between Schooling and Level of Experience and Skill Our study collected from every miner information about his level of education. When we tried to relate education level with job category, we found that there was hardly any relationship between the two. It is true that Mozambican miners who have reached the grade 4 in school are not in the class of lowest paid workers, and are certainly not labourers. These men work as 'team leaders', policemen, drivers and artisans' aides. At the same time men without any schooling at all are randomly distributed across all ten categories of % ork and payment. We found that the level of educational attainment among workers in grade 4 and above is not very different from the mine labour force as a whole. Among the senior training instructors (grade 8) who organised short orientation courses there was one Mozambican miner who had had no education. None of those in this group had reached the grade 4 in the Portuguese educational system. Among the artisans' aides 43 per cent had received no education in school in Mozambique.

WORK SONGS Thandazela Leader: Have courage! I do not want to be the engineer's boy Chorus: Oh! pull down, engineer's boys, pull down! Leader: I have worked for many years, myself. Chorus: Oh! pull down, engineer's boys, pull down! Leader: I lift things you can only lift with a full belly. Chorus: Oh! pull down, engineer's boys, pull down! Leader: I lift a great deal myself, father. Chorus: Oh! pull down, engineer's boys, pull down. Leader: I am ordered [about] by the white man. Chorus. Oh! pull down, engineer's boys, pull down! Leader: I am here because of the need to work. Chorus: Oh! pull down, engineer's boys, pull down! Leader: I am here because of the need for money. Chorus.- Oh! pull down, engineer's boys, pull down! Leader: I am here because of my family. Chorus: Oh! pull down, engineer's boys, pull down! Leader: I am the engineer's boy, myself. Chorus: Oh! pull down, engineer's boys, pull down! Leader: I have worked for many years with the white man, myself. Chorus: Oh! pull down, engineer's boys, pull down! Interviewer: When do you sing this song'? Singers: At work underground when there is something heavy to lift; when we fix the railway sleepers and when we offload very heavy things. Thandazela means 'don't be afraid, persevere', you are the engineer's boy, and this is your job! Interviewer: Aha! I am the engineer's 'boy'. Singers: Don't be afraid; pull and hold fast because if you are afraid you will meet or cause an accident. We are here to work for our families so we must be courageous, we must persevere and face the suffering!

Work Songs Xikwembu xa Muhliwa Leader: The god that is being cheated, [back to] my mother. Chorus: Lasher, mechanical loader (shovel)! Leader: I work without pay, myself. Chorus: Lasher, mechanical shovel! Leader: The white men of Joni have got me. Chorus: Lasher, mechanical shovel! Leader: I work without pay, my father. Chorus.- Lasher, mechanical shovel! Leader: Because it is the black skin working, my father. Chorus. Lasher, mechanical shovel! Leader: They point with fingers; I am tired, father. Chorus: Lasher, mechanical shovel! Leader: I am suffering, I am exhausted indeed! Chorus: Lasher, mechanical shovel! Leader: I came to Joni because of poverty, indeed! Chorus: Lasher, mechanical shovel! Leader: I earn half escudo per day. Chorus. Lasher, mechanical shovel! Leader: Because I am the god that is being cheated. Chorus. Lasher, mechanical shovel! Leader: The Boers make us work; I am exhausted, father. Chorus: Lasher, mechanical shovel! Interviewer: What does this song say? Man: The song means that it is by fate [the will of God] that we have landed here in Joni. The miner becomes, inevitably, an exploited person because he has been forced to come here by poverty. He is an exploited worker because they make him work hard but he does not earn as much as they earn. He earns very little compared to what they earn - those who loaf about or do nothing while he does all the work. Interviewer: Who is 'thev'? Man: The white man of Joni. He sits down and points with the finger (do this, do that!). He does that because I have a black skin. Push! Push! Leader: Push, push to my side again! Chorus: Push it! Leader: Push, [and] lift it again! Chorus: Push it! Leader: Push, push to your side again! Chorus: Push it!

The Mine Labour Force (This song is accompanied by a great deal of whistling during which the following comments are heard.) Hei! hold here! Oh! oh! I have got my fingers caught [under thing being lifted] Stop! stop! this person is injured! Quick! first aid! he is badly injured! stop the blood! He is a fool, he is stupid! why did he work like that? No! no! don't hit him, don't hit a patient! Do you see this Shangana? He is too stupid! Do you think this is Portugal [i.e. Portuguese East Africa]? Be damned! black Samse kaffir! Do you think this is your mother's place? Intervieiver: When a worker is injured, would they go on to pile insults on him, calling him a stupid Shangana, etc.? Singers: They would beat him up. Interview'er: They would? Man: Then someone would intervene and appeal for mercy on behalf of the injured worker. Another man: Yes, they would tell you that this was Joni and not Portuguese East Africa. The boss boy [from another ethnic group] would say this. He would say that you are feigning injury and you should stand up and continue with lashing. And the Boers would call you a stupid kaffir! The Small Foolish White Man Leader: The small foolish white man who does not even have a jacket. Chorus: The small foolish white man. Leader: The 'hei! hei!' small foolish white man who does not even have a jacket. Chorus: The small foolish white man. (This short song is accompanied by a great deal of whistling and many commands given by the white foreman and his boss boy, to which the workers give immediate responses, which are in turn directed at the white man via the boss-boy.) Hei! you, be quick! Pick up that block [of wood] and bring it here! Be quick, you, bring that machine quickly! Hei! piccanin, bring my food! I am hungry and I want to eat! This white thing is a drunkard. He [white man] abandons his job; he's crazy!

Work Songs You boss-boy must know that we are here to work for ourselves. We are not here to work for you. Your Boer is crazy. We shall beat him up and leave and go home! Pull! Pull! (Sika-Sika!) Leader: Pull, pull! Pull to your side! Chorus: We are pulling it. Leader: Push, push! Push to my side! Chorus: We are pushing it. Leader: Drive, drive! Drive to your side! Chorus: We are driving it. Leader: Drive, drive! Drive to my side! Chorus. We are driving it. (The song is accompanied by whistling and a dialogue between the work-gang and the boss-boy, with the boss-boy again playing the role of mediator between the workers and the white foreman.) Gang: Boss-boy! it is time up; we are hungry! Boss-boy: Work hard, and fast! Gang: It is time to knock- off, man! This white man of yours is crazy! Man, it is time to knock-off! Time is up! Stop, stop! Time is up, boss-boy!

SIX MINERS' WORK HISTORIES 1. Ernesto S, thirty-six years old and the son of a miner. He began his first contract on the mines in 1960 having already done chibalo in Manhiqa. On his first labouring job he received 30c a day. By his fourth contract he had been made an instructor in the mine school, teaching new miners about the machines they would work, and what their job entailed. On his last contract Ernesto received R7.50 a day. As a consequence of his skilled job and high wages Ernesto has three wives (lobolo of 2500$, 3800$, 2800$); a large machamba with coconut trees, cashewnut trees, and citrus trees (he paid 8000$ for this); an almost completed brick-block house; a plough and oxen. Some oxen he initially bought died but he intends buying more. He has purchased two sewing-machines which he hires out to colleagues on the compounds for R20 a month each. Of his cashewnut harvest, he sells about twenty-five sacks a year. Year of Place of work Wage per day contract and job description 1 19611 Simmner & Jack mine 30c Pushing trucks 2 1962 Buffelsfontein 45c Winch driver 3 1963-4 Buffelsfontein 55c Loco driver 4 A Free State 80c mine Boss-boy instructor in the mine school 5 ...... R1.20 6 ...... R5 7 ...... R6 8 ...... R7.50

Six Miners' Work Histories 87 2. Zefania M, a widower aged sixty-six, started going to the mines in the mid- 1940s and finished his last contract in 1964. Born in Massinga. When his father died, his mother abandoned the children because of poverty. His father's cousins looked after him in Massinga, and later they moved to Buvane. Rocha, the latifundario, was already established in the circle of Mucambi when Zefania went for his first contract to the mines. After each contract he was obliged to pay 100$ to the cabo, (headman) and in addition had to pay a portion of his crop as tribute in kind to Rocha and the cabo. Labour tribute of a certain number of days each year on Rocha's plantation x as also obligatory. During his first contract he sent back 2500$ to pay lobolo for a wife, and on his return he married and started his own machamba. He had to work for Rocha and received 50$ for thirty days worked. Even though he was newly married, he only spent six months at home before returning for his second contract. He became a pipe box' this time and his wage increased from 1/5d per day, which he received as a "pickanin' on his first contract, to 2/5d per day. He worked for sixteen months and paid out 2500$ for a new house. The tax was 250$ and the obligatory 100$ to the cabo reduced his savings even further. It was a year with little rain, so he was obliged to buy maize, groundnuts and beans in addition to soap and petrol. Zefania had two small children by this time. After seven months at home he returned for his third contract. At the end of this he had 3900$, but he was robbed of it on his way home in Ressano Garcia. Whilst still on the mine he had sent home 1000$ which his wife used, among other things, to invite her friends to help her work the machamba in return for an eating and drinking party. After this contract Zefania stayed home for six months, again working for Rocha and receiving 50$ for thirty working days. If he did not go to work for Rocha one week he would be arrested at night. At times he would be beaten with the palmat6ria. On his fourth contract he received a rise to 3/6d a day. This enabled him to send 3000$ home and he brought with him on his return 2900$. This money was spent on drink, food and payments to the curandeiro (African doctor). A visit to the curandeiro could cost 300$. After six months he went back to the mines. He worked eleven months on his fifth contract. This shorter period enabled him to send home only 1000$ and he brought no money with him on his return, having spent it in South Africa on blankets and trousers. In addition to her work for Rocha, his wife had been obliged to cultivate cotton, under the policy of enforced if; The Mine Labour Force cotton production. Zefania stayed at home only six months to avoid this obligation. Throughout his twenty contracts on the mines, the highest wage he received was 3/6d per day. At the end of a life of mine work he was poverty-stricken and he could afford to eat meat once only a year, either on Independence Day or at New Year. But he had become a heavy drinker, and this sapped his earnings and work capacity. (At the end of every three-day labour spell for Rocha, the workers were given free sugar-cane alcohol. Throughout Zefania's area there were colonos producing this beverage, selling it at 40$ for 2(1 litres. ) When he arrived at the mines to start his ninth contract he Contract Place of A Wagelday Contract Place of A Wage day workandjob BMone' workandjob BAlonesent description sent home description home C Deferred C Deferred pay pay 1 194)s Cons lain Reef 'Piccanin 2 CMR Pipe boy 3 ('MR Pipe Boy 4 CMR Pipe boy 5 CMR Sampler Boy 6 CMR Feeder Boy 7 C(MR Engineer's boy X CAIR Engineer's boy 9 CMR Tram boy Ambulance boy 10 ('AIR Engineer's boy A 1/5d B C 2500$ A 2/5d B 1000$ C 3900$ A 2'5d B C A 3/6d B 3000$ C 2900$ A 3,0d B 100$ C A 3/6d B 1500$ C 1800$ A 3/6d B 2000$ C 1800$ A 3/6d B 2900$ C 1600$ A 1/5d B 1/Sd C 500$ A 3/5d B 900$ C 1500$ 11 Cons Main A 3/5d Reef B 1000$ Engineer's boy C 1400$ 12 CAIR A 3/4d Shaft boy B 400$ C 400$ 13 CAIR A 3 5d Feeder boy B 1000$ C 1400$ 14 CMR A 35d Feeder boy B 800$ C 1000$ 15 CMR A 3/5d Feeder boy B 1400$ C 1800$ 16 CMR A 3/5d Feeder boy B C 17 CAIR A 3/5d Feeder boy B C 18 CAIR A 3/5d Feeder boy B C 19 CMR A 3/5d B C 20 1964 CAIR A 3/6d Feeder boy B C-

Six Miners' Work Histories was drunk and shouted at the shift 'Boss'. As punishment he was put on a hard job with low pay (1/5d per day). He eventually managed to transfer back to a better job bv bribing the boss-boy. In all, the family had five children, but nine had died. Zefania's wife died in 1972. He still works his machamba. He lives alone, but gives the meagre production from his fields to his daughter-in-law who prepares meals for him. 3. 1Vasco C, thirty-three \,cars old, married with two young children. The son of a miner, he began his first contract on the mines in 1965. Since then he has completed seven contracts, six of these of eighteen months duration. Usuallh he spends only two to four months at home between contracts. The exception was his second contract when he \\as repatriated early by the management because of illness. In Mozambique he then took a job in a timber mill for 400$ a month. This lasted ten months before he went back to the mines. He returned from the last contract in 1976 and is now trying to go back to the mines. He has been several times to the WENELA offices in Xai Xai, then to Moamba and finallv to Alta Ma in Maputo. The machamba never produces enough for lack of rain. Vasco has been used to working continuously and he says that for him there is no life without work. His bonus card expired in March 1977. Contract Place of work and Wage per day Comments job description 1 1965 Rand Leases 47c Gave money to father Loco guard and paid lobolo. 2 1967 Western Areas Became sick with ? a leg infection and was repatriated. 3 1968 Stilfontein 70c Bought two oxen. Loco driver, boss-boy 4 1969 Western Areas 60c Shaft-boy 5 1970 President Brand R1.60 Free State Fire patrol 6 1972 President Brand R2.65 First-Aid 7 1975 President Brand R4 First-Aid (deferred pay 23,000$)

The Mine Labour Force Although he considers that work on the mines permits some to grow rich and buy oxen, tractors, bigger machambas, and to build cement block houses, in his case, in the last few years, floods and drought have meant that his wages have mainly been spent on food. Vasco also noted that prices had risen high: ploughs used to cost 500$, now they are 2000$; a calf costs 5-6 contos. 4. Jos Taola N, the son of a miner, forty-one years old, married, with three children and has two sisters living with him. Between 1953 and 1976 Jose completed ten contracts, all but one of eighteen months duration. He usually spent six months at home between contracts. His work history shows him to be a miner with a rising range of skills permitting him to increase his earning power. Beginning as a 'piccanin cheesa boy', he became a plumber's aide, a feeder-boy and finally a boss-boy. Earning only 450$ a month in the beginning, by 1975-6 as a team leader his weekly salary was R39 a week. Contract Place of work and Wage Comments job description 1 1953 Cir,' Deep "Pickanin Cheesa Boy' 2 1955 3 1956 Vaalreefs Plumber's aide 4 1958 West Deep Level Feeder-boy 5 1960 Coalbrook Feeder-boy 6 1964 Durban Deep Boss-boy 7 1968 Durban Deep Boss-boy 8 1971 Durban Deep Boss-boy 9 1973 Durban Deep Team leader 10 1975 Durban Deep Team leader 450S/month 600$/month 800$/month 900$/month Lobolo. Bought an ox. Bought some land (1 hectare). Left his father's home and built his own house. 1250$/month 900$/month Bought plough and two oxen. 1000$/month 1500$/month 1500$/month R39/week (deferred pay 26,600$: sent home 29,000$) Bought blocks to construct a house. Began to build his house. Completed his house for a total expenditure of 22,500$.

Six Miners' Work Histories As a feeder-boy at Coalbrook Mine in 1960, his salary was 1250$ a month. After this contract he stayed longer than six months at home and had to change mines. This time he worked in Durban Deep as a boss-boy, but received less than his previous salary - only 900$ a month. In all he completed five contracts in Durban Deep as a boss-boy (later renamed 'team leader') with a steadily rising salary. When there is rain his machamba produces enough food, and in good years he sells up to fifteen sacks of groundnuts. His earnings from mine labour have enabled him to build up his agricultural base. But he says he has to keep returning to the mines not from choice, but out of necessity. 5. Sinai P. forty-five years old and has completed nineteen contracts on the mines; his father was also a miner, and worked regular contracts. The family is large, with three wives, nine of his own children under six years old, and three others belonging to his brother who has deserted them. In addition his mother lives with the family. His first attempt at going to the mines was thwarted because he was too young, so he worked instead as a servant in the Public Works department at Ressano Garcia, earning 475$ a month. After he had signed his first contract he began work as a labourer on Randfontein Estates, earning 1/6d per day. In 1948 he worked a contract on a coalmine. In 1950 he began the first of seventeen contracts at Springfield Collieries. Sinai's first job here was oiling the wheels on a conveyor belt, earning 2/6d per day. On the next contract he became a 'piccanin' to a mine captain, earning the same wage; subsequently he became boss-boy to a mine captain on 3s a day. By 1965, after twelve contracts on the mines, he was receiving only 9s per day. In 1972 this had risen to R1.50 a day; then the large wage rises after 1973 made their impact felt, and on his last contract he was receiving R7.32 per day (1975-6). Contracts varied between 11-19 months. Between contracts he usually spent between 1-7 months at home. Twice only did he stay one year in Mozambique. On returning home he regularly paid tax and 100$ to the cabo. By the end of his nineteenth contract he had saved enough to buy a tractor. He now runs his own small transport business.

The Mine Labour Force Contract Place of A Wage/day CommenLs work and job B Money description sent home C Deferred pay 1 1946 Randfontein Estates Timber-boy 2 1948 New Largo Coalmine Assistant electrician 3 1950 Springfield Collieries 9 4 1951 Springfield 'Piccanin' to Mine captain 5 1953 Springfield Boss-boy 61955 7 1958 8 1960 9 1962 A 1/6d B 1000$ C 1500$ A 1/6d B 1500$ C 1850$ A 2/6d B 2000$ C 3900$ A 2/6d B 2100$ C 3900$ A3s A 3s B 1200$ C 3200$ A5s B 4700$ C 4100$ A7s B 5-6000$ C 7054$ A 8/6d B C 8000$ His money was virtually all handed over to his father. He was living at home and their machamba was on the estate of a latifundio where he and his father worked for three days alternate weeks to fulfil their labour obligation. Sinai received 40$ for thirty days worked, and his father 150$. The family left the latifundio land in 1947 to escape this labour obligation. 1000$ was given to his father, he paid 1300$ lobolo, and used the rest to buy clothes for his wife. Bought a bed and six chairs. Saved 1200$. Gave his father 500$ and two blankets, and his mother a blanket. Saved 5500$ which his father kept for him. Gave 2100$ to his younger brother to lobolo a wife. Bought a mill in South Africa (3450$ with transport costs). Gave 400$ to father, saved the rest except for 1500$ he spent on cement to make blocks for a house. Left father's home. Had to buy food (1000$) because his wife had not worked the machamba: she had left home. Paid lobolo of 1600$. The new wife left. Used 15,000$.to construct a cement house. His father had, in addition, 50,000$ of his savings. Paid lobolo of 6500$.

Six Miners' Work Histories Contract Place of work and job description 10 1963-4 11 1965 12 1966 13 lI t7-S 14 1970 15 1971 16 1972 17 1972 18 1974 19 1975 .4 Wag tgday Comments B M~oney sent home C Deferred pay ., A S 'Od B 3400$ C 6500$ A 9s B 7000$ C 5800$ B 8600$ C 5800$ ARI B 15,000$ C 13,000$ A R1.20 B 6000$ C 9500$ A R1.30 B 30,000$ C 14,800$ A RI.50 B 20,000$ C 14,200$ A? B 30,000$ C 20,000$ A R5.46 B 10,000$ C 25,052$ A R7.32 B 40,000$ C 50,400$ Bought sewing-machine (4500$). Gave father 500$. His wife saved 6000$ for him. Spent 11,000$ on furniture and transport costs from South Africa. Wilc saved the rest. Saved all the money. The mine company gave him a watch. His wife died. He had paid 2500$ for a thirteen year old girl to work in his house, the money going to her parents. After his wife's death he paid 6000$ lobolo for this servant. Paid 3000$ to make blocks for another cement house. Spent money on his wife's funeral. Saved his money. Bought gramophone (1700$), and radio (3800$). Constructed second house (39,000$). Lobolo 4600$. Funeral of father (1000$). Saved the rest. Bought food as both wives were pregnant and could not work on machamba. Lobolo 2000$. Bull and cow (4000$). Saved money. Put all his money together and bought a tractor (145,000$). 6. Rodrigues P, fifty-seven years old, has a wife and seven children, two of them married. He has worked nineteen mine contracts. Most

The Mine Labour Force of these were of eighteen months' duration. He first went to the mines when he was seventeen, in 1937, and finished his last contract in 1976. In his working-life of thirty-nine years, 241/2 years were spent on the mines. Despite this long working life, Rodrigues never succeeded in earning much more than the minimum wage. He worked as a labourer, assistant electrician and on the pumps. His starting salary was 2s a day in 1937, and the last contract paid R2.77 a day. lie wishes to return to the mines, but has no valid bonus certificate. His father was a miner before him. Contract Place of 4 Wage/day Comments work and job B MoneY description sent home C Deferred pay i 1937-9 West Rand Mines Labourer 2 1940--1 Simmer and Jack Feeder-boy 3 1942-3 ? Labourer 4 1944-5 Springfield Collierv Assistant electrician 5 1947-8 6 1949-51 7 1952-3 8 1954-5 A 2s B 2000$ C 101(1$ A 2s B 3000$ C 1000$ A2s B 2000$ C 600$ A 3s B 1500$ C 1700$ A3s B 2500$ C 1500$ A4s B 3000$ C 1500$ A4s B 3800$ C 1400$ A5s B 4000$ C 1900$ Lobolo (1500$). Father died and he became head of family supporting his mother. Bought food because there was a shortage. His first wife drank and had spent the money he had sent home by the time he arrived. Lobolo for second wife (1500$). Bought a mill (3500$). Bought kitchen scales. (When people slaughtered an animal. they would use them to weigh out the meat and give him a kilo of meat as payment.) Gave 3000$ to younger brother studying to be an evangelist. Paid 2700$ for house in total after seventh and eighth contracts.

Six Miners' Work Histories Place of work and job description ,4 Wageid, 1. Comments B ,onerIsent home C Deferred 9 1956-7 10 19 58-9 11 1960-1 12 1962-3 13 1964-5 14 1966-7 A 5s B 5000$ C 1500$ A 5s B 6000$ C 1700$ A7s B 4000$ C 1700$ A7s B 8000$ C 1600$ A 7s B 4000$ C 1400$ A 8s B 2000$ C 600$ 151968-9 A 8s B 4000$ C 1500$ 161970-1 ARI B 7050$ C 8000$ 171972-3 ARI B 3000$ C 1700$ 18 1974-5 Springfield A RI.70 Pumps B 4000$ C 8000$ 19197-5-6 AR2.77 B 7000$ C lO,O0O$ Bought ox (1500$). Paid carpenter 700$ to make window for the house. Bought a door (200$). Bought cement (3200$), transport of cement (600$). Paid 370$ for blocks to be made. Bought a sideboard from local mission (3500$). Began construction of alvineira house (8000$). Saw his house had been badly made, so paid another 4000$ to have it put right. Son died on mines, but authorities said of bilharzia,* hence paid only 600$ compensation. Spent the money on the funeral. Paid 3500$ to the builder for the house. Had to pay for the education of three children. Built water storage tank (3120$ for materials, 750$ for transport of cement). * Chronic disease, endemic in parts of Africa, caused by intestinal parasite. Contrac I

The Mine Labour Force Interview with Jos6 Tonela Kumbe (The son and grandson of miners, Jose Tonela Kumbe worked mine contracts in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and could talk about changes on the mines and continuity over nearly thirty years.) I first went to the mines in 1951. We went to the mines because of poverty and misery and there was nothing here at home (no food, no jobs). When time came we went to Five, the recruiting station of Maghalangu, and joined the bicha. We weren't certain we'd succeed because we were quite young, but they measured us and accepted us! We then came home to prepare for the journey. We travelled to Ressano Garcia, and Ressano Garcia was still a difficult place. The new recruits were made to prepare peanuts in a stamping block and we had to sweep the courtyard. The new recruits were also made to sit apart from the experienced miners. They then sent all the experienced miners to Johannesburg and all the new recruits - except the lucky ones - were sent to the coalmines. I was among the lucky ones who were sent to Johannesburg. We arrived and waited for the sale to begin - when they would sell us [ to the different compounds]. They would then begin calling out the names of the compounds [where workers were required], and we would be squatting on the ground listening to whispered advice [from experienced miners] - 'My brother, don't go to that compound - it is hell there!' they would say. We novices were heavily dependent on this information. Ncayincayi would shout: 'Those who are going to Randfontein!, those who are going to Durban Deep! [Stand one side, etc.]!' If no one stood up in response to the call, Ncayincayi, who could send you anywhere, would move forward and say, *From here to there, you all go to Randfontein!' and you had no choice but to obey. In this way I was sent to Durban Deep in Roodepoort where I worked a contract of seventeen months. During my leave at home in 1958 1 was arrested by the white colonos who took me to the army where I stayed until 1961. I then stayed at home until 1964 when I went back to the mines. But this time I did not go to Durban Deep, I went to the Bracken Mine in Bethanie and worked on this same mine until 1970. The popular mines are at Bethanie where I worked from 1964 to 1970- all the mines in that area are good because in a good mine you don't see the stretcher very often; you do see it, but only from time to time. But all the mines in Johannesburg - we don't. know if it is due to their old age - are bad because you see stretchers far too often! This means accidents, when people are injured. The mines in ba / \ Plate I: As he crosses the frontier back into Mozambique, his mine contract at an end, a miner gives the FRELIMO independence salute.

Plhe II & I//: Miners' Portraits: Of the miners interviewed, nine in every ten were sons of miners, and many were third-gcncration miners. They form part of an increasingly stable labour force although by law, they have to be repatriated to their villages at the end of each work contract to submit afresh to the recruitment procedure. Proletarianised at the work place, they regard themselves in between contracts as work seekers.

TO, 10.

I- Plate IV: In the Compound: The compound is essential to the system of strictly controlled labour. It is fenced in, closed to outsiders, and the miners need permits to leave it outside working hours. The 'tribal' ideology enforced by management is most pervasive in the compounds. Workers are segregated along 'tribal' lines and discipline is enforced through 'tribal' representatives who report to the compound manager. Mine management acknowledges that an extensive network of informers exists, reporting to both the compound manager and the South African police. In compounds built before 1939, of which this is one, on a Reef mine, beds are not provided and workers sleep on concrete bunks. The number of men per room ranges from twelve (in compounds built after 1945) to ninety (in compounds built before 1914). In 1969, 71% of Africans were housed in the newer compounds and 15% in the pre-1914 type.

7u ) ~1 Plate V: At work: The best mines, so the miners tell their wives, are those where 'you do not often see the stretcher'.

Plate VI: ¢ lh.~Iap~l ( r,,tral I're Ph,,h, I gimiicd On Shift: African miners work six days a week, twenty-six shifts a month. The daily shift is the eight-and-a-half hours spent at the rock face. With travelling time to and from the surface, the average time spent underground is ten hours a day, and often very much longer. African workers frequently have to wait underground for four or five hours at the end of their shift, before being raised to the surface. Mining is hard, dangerous work. African miners work as deep as 4,000 metres (13,00 feet) underground, in temperatures reaching 50'C (120'F). The average height of the stopes in which they must work is just over one metre (31/2 feet). Workers have often to lie on their backs and hold the drills against the rock face with the pressure on their feet. The echoing noise of the drills is deafening. Drilling and blasting keep a constant film of dust in the air and there is the ever-present danger of rock falls, pressure bursts, flooding, gas explosions and other accidents. African gangs on the gold mines are usually supervised by white contract workers whose own wage depends on the total output of the gang. This encourages the use of direct compulsion by the supervisor to force the gang to work harder, in order to raise his wages. These rates of pay for white contract workers are used to establish the pay scales for other white miners, thus setting the pace of work throughout the entire mine. Z)

Plate VII." -pp-77 aw mow-

Plate VIII: The Pay-Off: Under the deferred pay system, miners receive the greater part of their wages only on completion of their contract, and return to their home country. The pay-out is made in the WENELA depot, and just out of sight of the pay window, the miners count their notes.

Plate IX: The Cash Nexus: Miners' wages are used to purchase ploughs, grinding mills, sewing machines, bicycles and transistor radios, as well as a wide range of household necessities, including food in times of shortage.

Plate X: The goods are loaded on the tops of buses for the long journey between mine labour depot and the village. w Plate XI: Members of the research team of the Centre of African Studies interview miners returning from the Witwatersrand in the WENELA labour depot of Ressano Garcia, on the frontier of Mozambique with South Africa.

4 Plate XII: The Interviewees Jose Tonela Kumbe, his wife and child (top photograph). Mauricio Nkome, Senior (lower photograph). fil Plate XIII: Lulsa Agosto Mbatint Mauricio Nkorne, Junior Ernereciana Mazivi

Plate XIV: The Peasant Base The songs of the miners and of the women left behind in the villages are known and sung by the whole community. The song leader in the village (top photograph). The members of the village political 'dynamising group' who helped organised the interviews and the singing (centre photograph). Alpheus Manghezi (on left) interviews a village informant (bottom).

,, Plate XV: The generation that will not be recruited for mine work: in the village school (top photograph). Members of the field research team: the author is sitting on the chair in the centre (bottom).

Plate XVI: Times of Change As part of FRELIMO's offensive against the state bureaucracy, the immigration procedures at Ressano Garcia were simplified, and the children of the local school came each week to the WENELA depot to help the miners fill in the official forms (top photograph). Returning miners at Ressano Garcia are addressed by government ministers on the campaign to improve conditions in the recruiting compounds and the transport of the miners to and from their homes (bottom photograph).

Six Miners' Work Histories Bethanie are good because six months may pass without an accident, and sometimes even a year can go by without an accident. But the mines in Johannesburg - from Durban Deep [Roodepoort, West Rand] to ERPM-Angelo [East Rand] are bad. (Interviewer: So a good mine is one with few accidents!) Oh, well! Other things which make a mine a good mine - the fact is that in those days it was dangerous working on the mines because the white men we worked with, those Boers, they didn't handle or deal with the workers properly. They would make workers go into parts of the mine which were faulty and dangerous and make them work there. As a result there would be a collapse and many people got killed that way. Since then there has been a great improvement with the introduction of iron props which are much better at preventing collapses and rock- falls. The foremen are also more conscientious about their work because they now examine the sites more thoroughly, and they make sure that there's adequate propping with timber or iron props before sending the workers to do their work. As for the compound, it depends on the compound manager whether a compound is a good or a bad one because it is the compound manager who is responsible for it. If the compound manager doesn't take care of his compound, the food will be bad. The compounds are good now after they received directives that 'hotels' must be built on every compound. This means that when you come up from underground, you can wash yourself and then you take only your mouth and your stomach to go and eat there! In the past you had to take your plate and spoon and, after collecting the food, you came back to eat in your own dormitory. After that you washed your plate and kept it in the dormitory, but all this has now come to an end. In the past we used coal braziers for heating our dormitories there, where we slept! But now the heating is done by electricity hot water pipes have been installed in the dormitories. In the past if you wanted some tea, you had to make it on the coal brazier in your dormitory, but now you go to the main kitchen, make your tea, and bring it back to your room to drink. (Interviewer: They used to keep the different ethnic groups in separate dormitories didn't they? They would say 'Shanganas sleep here! Sothos sleep there?') Yes! yes! They used to keep the Shanganas in one dormitory, Xhosas in another, Mpondos in another, and Sothos yet in another, and so on. The long dormitory was then divided up into selfcontained units like this: the units were numbered and occupied in

The Mine Labour Force the following way: 1 Xhosa, 2 Shangana, 3 Sotho, 4 Zulu, 5 Shangana, 6 Mpondo, 7 Tswana, etc. Each unit had its own door and members of the same group weren't allowed to occupy next door units. For example, if the first group of Shanganas (all Mozambicans!) occupy Unit 2, then the second Shangana group can't occupy Units 1 and 3. They [the authorities] were afraid that if they allowed too big a group from the same 'tribe' to live as very close neighbours, then this group is likely to hatch trouble! There were twenty inmates in each unit. It's still like this; it hasn't changed. (Interviewer: What do the workers have to say about this arrangement? Do they accept it, or would they like to choose their own room mates?) The workers accept this arrangement - they think it's a good arrangement: there is a big cupboard with big shelves in each unit. The cupboard is divided into two equal parts with each group of ten inmates sharing a section. Each inmate has his own key to the cupboard, and all these are provided by. the mine. In the past workers had to put their work clothes inside cardboard boxes under their beds. Yes, their dirty work clothes! They [the authorities] now realise that this caused friction or dissatisfaction, and this is why they've built wash-houses at the minehead where workers can wash and change into fresh clothes before they come to the compound. The dirty clothes are left in the wash-house and the worker who wants to wash his work clothes then goes back to the wash-house to do this. (Interviewer: So these are the changes which have been made in an attempt to improve living conditions!) About the changes to improve our work conditions, we have to say that it was Frelimo which has liberated us from slavery because we didn't see these changes for many, many years. All these changes to improve our working conditions have taken place since the arrival of Frelimo. We also get more money now than before - there was no money on the mines on those days; we worked for nothing, and anyone who earned 1000$ [per month] was thought to be earning a fantastic wage, but in fact that was nothing to him! But the wages have improved since Frelimo came and so we say that it's Frelimo which has liberated us from slavery! (Interviewer: We have heard that one of the things which worried the compound manager in the past was the possibility of some workers deserting the mine to seek employment outside the mining industry. One way of preventing escapes or desertions was to light the compound with very powerful lights so that during the night the compound looked like day. Did this happen, and does it still?)

Six Miners' Work Histories The lights in the compound are indeed placed in the same way as they are at the prison in Homoine - with the lamp-posts spaced a short distance from one another, and yes the lamps brightly illuminate the compound when it's dark so that when you go round to visit friends, you really walk in brightness! Even in the dormitories the lights are not switched off; the rooms are kept bright and the lights are only switched off in the morning. But the lights used to be switched off at night. In Durban Deep they switched them off by 9.00 pm after sounding a warning 'piti! piti!'-they were switched off by 10.00 pm at the latest - after that you couldn't switch on the light, even if you wanted to. Today, most compounds have a regulation which forbids the switching off of lights at night. (Interviewer: What explanation have they given for keeping the lights burning all night, even in your bedrooms?) The reason for letting the light burn the whole night - well, we have to say it was because of [our] father who liberated us from slavery - it was Frelimo! We preferred to sleep with the lights on because that was good. We work in shifts, with some workers going to work at 2.00 pm, and the man who starts work at this time knocks off at 10.00 pm. Now it would be very difficult for this person to prepare his tea and find his bed if the lights were switched off. Sometimes this man comes back at 11.00 pm because it's common to return late from work because of lifts breaking down, or other things going wrong. If the lights were switched off, this man would have to use a paraffin lamp or candle and these would be at his own expense! If you come back late, you find the electricity on and you can get ready for bed - with the light as your eyes. The first time I went to the mines I was sent to Durban Deep where, on my arrival, we underwent some aptitude testing - we were made to play some games. We played, indeed, and I passed. On the basis of this testing I was given the job of a tally clerk underground where I made entries of the waggons which cart the earth away from the work sites. This was my job at Durban Deep; and I held the same job when I went there for my second contract. When I went to work in Bethanie, I was made a boss-boy in the tunnels. * - this was the first time I worked as boss-boy - at Bracken Mine, Bethanie, and it was from 1964 to 1970 that I held this job. If you are a boss-boy you must work together with the gang in that particular section: if you are a boss-boy in the tunnel, or where they instal pipes, or where they lay railway sleepers - then you must work * His second name, Thonela (which is in fact his father's name), is the Tsonga (Shangana) version of the word 'tunnel'. This is now a very common name in areas of heavy migration to South Africa.

The Mine Labour Force together with the gang. If you are lashing in the tunnel - of course the lashing is now done by the busimani [the mechanical shovel]. (Interviewer: Is lashing no longer done by men?) It is done by the busimani. So you mustn't think or take for granted that because I'm a boss-boy, I don't have to work - no, you must work like the rest of the gang. You've been put there as a boss-boy because there must be a leader in every section of the mine so that when something is required, the white man can quickly call on you, but you are expected to work like anyone else. You can't just stand there, pointing with your fingers and giving orders! That won't do! (Interi'iewer: This is exactly what we have been told about boss-boys - that they give orders, and don't have to work themselves.) This happens but there is a penalty, and some boss-boys have lost their position. (Interviewer: When you returned from the mines in 1970 you were still a boss- boy. How much were you earning then?) In this section of the mine where I worked, we earned between 2()-24 pounds a month [2000-2400$]. Ha! the money we earned from the mines'? We did not earn anything very much to invest in anything - we spent it on food to keep the wolf from the door! Interview with Mauricio Nkome Jr (Mauricio Nkome Jnr. aged twenty-four, recruited for mine work for the first time in 1975.) When I went to the mines I first went to the WENELA station at Homoine. (Interviewer: The WENELA station was still open then?) Yes, it was still open. When we got there we stood in a bicha and a selection began. Some were turned down, but I was amongst those who were told that we could proceed to the mines. Before we left Homoine we were ordered to enter a building where they examined us. We left the building after we were pronounced 'healthy', and then went for another test. One of the officials raised his hand and said: 'How many fingers?', and when you said 'Five', he immediately dropped four of his fingers and asked you the same question. Then you said: 'One', and you had passed the test. From Homoine we were taken to the WENELA Compound in Maxixe with all our luggage, where we spent the night. At the sound of the horn very early in the morning, we all got up and formed a bicha. It was a very long bicha - it's a pity that you don't know this area as you won't understand if I told you that the bicha stretched from such a place to I00) Six Miners' Work Histories such a place! As we stood on the bicha they started passing our luggage from hand to hand along the bicha. If your own luggage reached you and you identified it, you then grabbed it and went to join another bicha. You had to watch out carefully! After you got your luggage you went to the next bicha where you waited for your passport to be rubber-stamped. After this you then sat down and waited for the bus to take you away. This means of transport was different from that used in the time of Maghalangu [see the song about the recruiter, Maghalangu, page 38]. (Interviewer: Who was there then, instead of Maghalangu, when you left?) We don't know, after all we were just new recruits. (Interviewer: Did you sing on the way?) No! no! (Interviewer." You mean you just went away like that, silently like goats? Your elders sang when they left for the mines!) Yes, they sang. That was the time of Maghalangu, but we were in the independence period! We travelled and reached Ressano Garcia where they gave us blankets. At that time the new recruit still had to face many problems - for example, in Ressano Garcia they made us - the new recruits - crush the peanuts [for the sauce, which is strictly a woman's job!]. They also made us sweep the whole compound. When the time came we took the train to Komatipoort. When the train stopped, it was boarded by many Swazi policemen armed with hippo whips. We [the new recruits] had no idea why these policemen boarded the train and entered our compartment, and so, when they confronted us saying: 'Hei, we want to see your clothes!', we were puzzled and simply gazed at them with mouths wide open. The old miners amongst us then said 'To avoid any trouble, you'd better open your luggage for inspection!' We got off all right, we were not arrested because they didn't find anything they were looking for. We realised that 'colonialism' still existed over there, because these policemen could take your provisions and eat it in front of you but you couldn't do anything against them. If you dared ask why. they would arrest you, alleging that they had found some dagga [marijuana] on you. If you opened your food parcel they would search your luggage and if they did not find anything undesirable, they would eat your cashew, they would eat your bananas. And if you said 'Why do you eat my provisions?', then they would take dagga out of their own pockets and say 'You, let us go [you are under arrest] because we have found this dagga on you!' He would do this because you have dared ask why he was eating your provisions. So he ate my provi-

The Mine Labour Force sions, and I kept quiet. What could I have done? After they had finished searching our compartment, they came to me and said that I should get down with them, and I did that. I was made to stand in a bicha on the platform with some of my fellow recruits. We were then ordered to go and push a cart loaded with bread and jam which we then gave out to all the miners on the train. Each miner was given half a loaf of bread and a tin of jam. We had expected that those of us who had been made to work would get an extra portion - a whole loaf of bread - but no, we only got half a loaf like all the others! I worked for nothing, indeed! This was part of the struggle in order to go to the mines! However, we ate our bread and continued with our journey until we reached Mzilikazi [WENELA depot in Johannesburg] where they still used the sjambok [hide whip] to organise the new arrivals into bichas. Many of the new recruits had caught cold on the journey. When you got off the train, they made you form a bicha in order to march to the compound. When you reached the compound you had to show your passport which you had to hold in your right hand. Then you went inside the compound where, after some waiting, you were given some soft porridge for breakfast. They gave you an old plate which was so battered you just could not tell which part was the inside and which the outside and they dished out your soft porridge into that plate. We could not eat the stuff and we dropped it into a big container which stood by. The old miners told us that nobody cared whether or not you ate the stuff. To our disgust, we found out that the soft porridge that was thrown away was being retrieved and given to those behind us in the long bicha. We ate some of our provisions. While the others were eating their soft porridge, we sat and looked around in this big hall where we saw something very surprising. Lined along the walls were heads of different animals. Some of them looked like hyenas [the most evil of all animals in southern Mozambique folklore] and others had faces like those of human beings. When we asked what kind of animals these were, the old miners said that it was on the meat of all these that we were going to be fed on the compound. We just couldn't believe that anyone would make us eat meat of animals which looked like donkeys, but the old miners insisted, 'Listen [new recruit], long before you were born, your father ate that meat, your grandfather ate that meat, and your great-grandfather ate that meat on the mine compound, and if you say you will not eat the same meat, just who do you think you are'?' We then realised that we would have to put up with all this, since this was going to be our home from now on. We then fell into

Six Miners' Work Histories 103 another bicha for a medical examination [for a chest X-ray]. As soon as you entered the room they made you stand on this thing with your neck pinned up like this! Then this thing would lift up a bit, but you don't know what it is that it is doing. And before you knew what had happened they told you to get down and go away. Then they started separating you - those who 'failed' went one way, and those who 'passed' the other way. But at this point you didn't know if you'd 'passed', you just went where they told you to go. (Interviewer: When they examine you, do they make you take your clothes off?) You do not have a single thing on! (Interviewer: What do they say to you as they separate you?) With those who are told to go this way [i.e. back], you quickly realise that they've been rejected - they send them back after marking their backs with a different colour [chalk] from those who are told to proceed. When we came out of the examination room we found some policemen waiting outside. Some of them carried fly whisks - from what animal, we didn't know. As we came out, some of these policemen remarked that the place was full of new recruits today, but we couldn't understand how they could tell that we were novices. The other policemen would nod their heads and say 'The newcomers have had it, they will be fixed!' We didn't answer but walked away to form a bicha. Then came the man who does the selling of the miners. He held a paper in one hand and a rubberstamp in the other. He would start at one end of the bicha, count a number of persons, put a rubber-stamp on the paper and send them off- he has sold them; you'd been sent somewhere! The first batch were sent to West Driefontein, and I was the first one in the bicha for the second group. He put the rubber-stamp but I couldn't see anything - I didn't know what it said. I can't read. When he'd rubber-stamped the next person, this man told me that both of us were going to the same place, but when I asked him how he could tell, he said he didn't really know. But there were some old miners who had been sold along with us because their bonus certificates had expired [and they had therefore forfeited their right to go to the mine of their own choice] and only had their travel documents. And these old miners said to us 'Hei, young men, we are going to ERPM-Angelo'. And again some of them said to me, 'Boy! are you going to Angelo? You're finished, you have had it!' I was puzzled and perplexed, but they didn't elaborate. Well, I said to myself, wait and see! It is no use now because you've left home, and you've found what you were looking for! We

The Mine Labour Force should have stayed at home; we shouldn't have left our independence back home! Then they got on with the selling until everything was over. Then came the policemen and they said 'Those who are going to ERPM stand this side!' The policeman said he was going away and that we were to stay put until he returned. He warned that if any of us had moved when he returned, that person would have had it: he would be left behind to fend for himself. When I looked around, I saw some people wearing blankets. When I politely asked some of the old miners to tell me who those people were who wore blankets, they said 'Look here, young man, these are Xhosas, but we call them "Swigege". If they hear you call them by this name [which means an invalid] you're dead!' We sat and waited for the bus for a very long time before it came. By then our lips had cracked [with cold] and we were very hungry. We did not dare open our food parcels and eat some of our provisions in case the bus appeared as we were eating and we would lose some of our food because of the commotion that would follow. Eventually the bus arrived and took us away. We arrived at the compound at night and went into the hall where we sat down. And suddenly the whole place was flooded with people all shouting that they had come to see and welcome the new arrivals. These people didn't want to know who we were as individuals, they simply welcomed us with open arms: 'Our fellow countrymen have arrived!' They brought us a drink of mahewu [non-alcoholic drink made from porridge and sugar] and passed this round until every one of us had had a drink. Then they asked how our journey had been and how things in general were back home. About our journey, they especially wanted to know what happened at Mzilikazi, and how we coped with that! Then we went to bed. Early in the morning, which was a Saturday. we were taken for aptitude testing. Some of us passed, but others failed. We went to the compound at lunchtime, and, being a Saturday, there was nothing else expected of us- we were free. When we went for lunch, we discovered that they still had the practice of setting aside special plates for newcomers - and these plates were not washed. We weren't very happy and only ate a little. (Interviewer." What sort of food did you get that day?) They gave us vuswa - thick porridge, well, they called it porridge! They added a lot of sauce - all red with carrots! I didn't like carrots, but I still had to eat it. On Sunday morning I woke up and washed my clothes, hung them on the line and went back to sleep. When I woke up again I found that all my clothes had disappeared from the

Six Miners' Work Histories line - they'd been stolen. I was left with only the clothes I had on me, the clothes and a pair of boots which were given to us when we arrived at the compound. When I tried to find out what I should do to recover my stolen clothes, all the old miners discouraged me from making any enquiries, saying that if you approached anyone and asked if they had seen your clothes, they would immediately think you were indirectly accusing them, and there would be trouble. Well, I kept quiet. On Monday morning we started with the dance. Yes, we danced all right! The dance is something like a march, and you do the dancing in a big hall and you have to wear clothes with different colours. My clothes were pale blue. But before you enter the hall, they give you some pills to swallow and they make you 'bite the iron'. (Interviewer: What's an 'iron'?) It's for checking if you have illness. (Interviewer: For taking your temperature - a thermometer?) Yes, yes! After this then you go and dip your feet into some water containing some permanganate of potash. You have to stand in this solution for one minute, and from there you go into the dance hall through a door which is closed immediately you've gone into the hall. Once inside they hang a small piece of wood round your neck, and on this piece of wood your number has been printed and your temperature recorded. Then the dance would begin and we would dance for four hours. When I came to the mine, we danced four hours each day for eight days. When we had completed the eight days, we were then ready to start work. We started work on a Saturday and this was on the surface - we didn't go underground. On Sunday we sat around in the compound and made contact with people from home. Some of them were ready to lend me some of their clothes when they heard that my own clothes had been stolen. Yes, the work had now started. (Interviewer: The people you met on Sunday - did they come from Inhambane?) Yes. Some of them knew me. They were born here in Hon'wini [Homoine]. We went underground for the first time on a Monday. We were standing in a bicha at the mine head when I noticed the group in front of us enter the lift. A red light came on, followed by a clicking noise, and the lift went down. I saw big wheels and long cables turning round and round right above us, and I couldn't understand how this lift worked and who was operating the whole thing. When I tried to find out from my companions, they were not co-operative: 'You ask too many questions. Remember you have

The Mine Labour Force come here for money and nothing else!' they said, while they pushed me into the lift. After our lift had started going down, it suddenly jerked violently, shot up again and came to a halt right on the mine head! I was terrified, and nobody could say what was the matter with the lift. I was relieved when I realised that the Boers in the next compartment below were chatting and laughing among themselves because I thought, well, if they're not worried, then we're not in danger. Once underground, we were taken to our work site and all the time we were bombarded with warnings: 'You see those tunnels? If you get lost, that will be the end of you because you can never find your way back to the underground station.' We were now becoming very frightened and many of us started asking questions which only irritated the boss-boy. As time went by, we came to realise that the boss-boy was not well disposed to Mozambican recruits in general. The reason - which we discovered later - was that a group of young Mozambicans had come to this same mine earlier in 1975. They had created problems and became very unpopular. The group called itself the 'Bokani' (bandidos). These bandidos had gone to the mines from Maputo. They went as a big group and they had been bandits here in Maputo before independence. After their arrival at Angelo, they started boasting about Mozambique's independence by shouting some of the Frelimo slogans. In the process they formulated a new slogan which drove the Xhosas and Sothos up the wall, and this slogan was 'abaixo blanket!' [abaixo means 'down with']. Our boss-boy, we discovered, was Xhosa, and he gave us a long lecture on the 'Bokani' problem as our introduction to the work underground. The boss-boy said: 'You Bokanis are troublemakers. You obviously think this is your home, but you are making a big mistake. When we are out in the compound you keep saying 'Abaixo blanket, abaixo blanket!'. But you never say this when you're here, underground, why? In the compound if there is a dispute, no matter how insignificant, between one of you and one of us, and purely on a personal basis, this always ends with the lot of you Bokanis shouting "Abaixo blanket!". Why? What do you expect us to do? Do you expect us to abandon our traditions and give up our blankets?' (Interviewer: What language did they use?) Fanakalo. We learned Fanakalo in the compound during the first week. The boss- boy went on and asked: 'Young men, what is the meaning of "Abaixo blanket"?' We said we didn't know, and as newcomers we had not been involved in and we knew nothing about the 'abaixo blanket' group. Then he said: 'Look here! we have

Six Miners' Work Histories 107 worked for many years with Shanganas and these were called Jofo or Sabdo, but the Joio[s] and Sabdo[s] don't come to the mines any more, and instead we have people who come here and call themselves by one collective name, "Mabokani". And when they come here they start shouting "abaixo blanket!". What are we supposed to do about it')' Again, we answered that we didn't know, and that we had nothing to do with the Mabokani. He then asked where we'd learned our Fanakalo, and when we told him that we were taught at the mine school, he said we were lying and we were trying to hide the fact that we had been attending secret meetings of the Mabokani in the compound. He said he was determined to discover the truth and he would make us talk before the day was out! With this he took us to a different work site to get on with the lashing which we'd been doing before. The rule is that, before lashing begins, the area must be sprayed with water in order to keep down the amount of dust fall-out, but this boss-boy made us do the lashing without spraying the area with water first. When we protested and asked why he was doing this to us, he answered: 'You are going to shit today! When we are out in the compound you keep shouting "abaixo blanket", don't you?'. We worked in this spot for one week, but it was only this once that we were made to work without water being sprayed first. It was a punishment. We were being punished because we left Mozambique, and, according to our boss-boy, tried to play big in the compound by telling the Xhosas to discard their blankets and wear jackets like the Mozambicans. When we told the story of our punishment underground to our friends in the compound later that day - that we were nearly choked to death by dust - they told us that we should count our blessings because Angelo used to be a more notorious mine a few years back! After this experience we continued to work in a regular way - we went down the mine every day and worked. When I received my first pay I showed it to the others in my dormitory and they told us that those of us who come to the mines today are very lucky, and that we shall never know how much the older generation suffered. My first pay was £125, and my companions told me that my grandfather never received that much money to the last day of his work on the mines. When I asked if that meant that we were now rich, they simply said, well, it was okay! Then my contract came to an end and I returned home.

PART III THE PEASANT BASE: INHAMBANE PROVINCE

REGIONAL PATTERNS OF RECRUITMENT Provincial and District Patterns Our investigation into the size and character of the mine labour force involved an examination of labour flows over a period of time in order to establish the size and the regional/district/locality origins of the force. Labour flows from Mozambique as a whole for the period 1902-77 are seen in figure 1, and have already been discussed in Part II. The recruiting statistics of the three labour exporting Provinces, Inhambane, Gaza and Maputo, show that the volume and the rate of recruitment in the three Provinces have not been uniform. Inhambane Province declined in relative importance during the 1960s after being the major source in the 1940s and the 1950s. Gaza Province has been the most constant source of the three, with a noticeable rise during the 1960s and the 1970s. Lourengo Marques/Maputo Province, on the other hand, has increased in importance in the more recent period. It has not been possible for us to analyse the processes at work which led to these different patterns of labour supply. This would involve an investigation of the economic history of each Province, changes in land distribution and use, different impacts of colonialism at different times, and other issues, all of which would fall within the scope of a larger project. To explain the labour supply for the mines from Gaza Province for example, it would probably be necessary to investigate the process of the colonisation of the Limpopo Valley in the 1960s, and its impact on patterns of land distribution. Inhambane Province For Inhambane Province, which consistently had a higher proportion of migrants in relation to the male population of working age than the other supply areas, mine labour seems to have declined relatively since the beginning of the 1960s. Thus, for instance, in the period 1940-9 the percentage of migrant recruits to active male

The Peasant Base. Inhambane Province No of worker, 6500 5500 4500 3500\ /* it 1500 500 1960616263646 6667686970717273 74 75 76 Mass'nga years - Morrumbene - Zavala ... Homoire Fig. 3 Worker migration to South Africa, from Massinga, Morrumbene. Zavala and Homoine Districts, 1960-76 population was 28 per cent, and the percentage of migrant workers to active male population was still higher because contract periods exceeded twelve months. If we assume mean contract length of sixteen months, this percentage of absent men would be approximately 37 per cent, or more than one-third of the active male population. For the period 1950-9 the percentage of recruits to the active male population was 23 per cent, which implies mean percentage of migrants/male population of 31 per cent. For the period 1960-9, on the other hand, the ratios were respectively 15 and 20 per cent, and for the period 1970-5, they were 13 and 17 per cent respectively. During our field investigation, certain indications were given in interviews and group discussions which may help to explain why migrant labour fell in importance during the 1960s. It was said that the forced cultivation of cotton, combined with the institution of chibalo labour, caused men to flee to the mines. The abolition of forced labour and forced cultivation in the early 1960s - due to the

Regional Patterns of Recruitment 113 rise of the liberation struggle, and mounting international criticism of Portuguese colonialism - took two forms of pressure off the peasants. However, one out of every five men continued to be away working in the mines at any one time. The importance of migrant labour for the districts of Massinga, Morrumbene and Zavala is shown in figure 3. The percentage of Table 12 Percentage if'migration to South A.trit.a fom Inhambane Province 1940- 76 Year .[ale active population Number of migrants c of migrants (age 20-60) 1940 89.944 23.597 26 1941 90,975 25.522 28 1942 92.006 23.776 26 1943 93,037 24,874 27 1944 94,008 29,272 31 1945 95.099 27.824 29 1946 96.130 27.405 28 1947 97,161 2o.447 27 1948 98,162 25,582 26 1949 99,223 27,789 28 1950 100,258 23,876 24 1951 102,320 27.449 27 1952 104,382 21,260 20 1953 106,444 26.144 25 1954 108.506 27.115 25 1955 110.568 25,814 23 1956 112,630 23.716 21 1957 114,692 22.899 20 1958 116,754 - 1959 118,816 23.308 20 1960 120,877 18.499 15 1961 124.084 18.269 15 1962 127,291 17,754 14 1963 130,498 19,274 15 1964 133,705 24,108 18 1965 136,912 19.444 14 1966 140,119 25,054 is 1967 143,326 20,144 14 1968 146,534 19,950 14 1969 149,741 19.021 13 1970 152,950 24,664 16 1971 157.860 19.045 12 1972 162.770 20.309 12 1973 167,680 18,722 11 1974 172.590 20.420 12 1975 177,500 24,003 14 1976 182.410 8733 5

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province recruits to active male population was similar in three districts: 15 per cent for Massinga, 17 per cent for Morrumbene and Zavala, although within each district there are large variations. We were unable to get reliable population figures for Homoine. An attempt was made to check whether recruitment in Inhambane showed seasonal variations. We selected a sample of three distinct years, 1966, 1971 and 1973 (of which 1966 represented a peak recruitment year, and 1971 and 1973 low years) and we examined the spread of recruitment over the different months of those years. Table 13 shows the results. An even spread over the months would make each month's percentage of men recruited 8.33 per cent. The table shows, thus, that seasonal variations are not strongly evident, except for a drop at the end of the year during the planting season. This even spread is to be expected in a system of labour contracts which last a full year and make no concession to agricultural seasons. Table 13 Spread of recruitment by month in Inhambane Province Month % of total recruitment January 8.8 February 11.3 March 9.0 April 8.8 May 9.1 June 7.7 July 8.3 August 8.4 September 8.3 October 8.4 November 6.9 December 4.6

AGRICULTURE IN INHAMBANE PROVINCE The distinctive feature of agricultural production in Inhambane Province, and one which distinguishes it from the other labour exporting provinces of the south, was the extent of the land cultivated by latifundario (landowners) using tenant labour. Despite the fact that 28 per cent of the cultivated land was reserved to large estate/settler agriculture, a fully-fledged plantation system, based on wage labour, did not manage to establish itself. This was essentially because the settlers could not pay wages competitive with those paid on the mines, and accordingly had to use forms of tied labour, and also, up to the 1960s, forced labour or chibalo. So settler agriculture continued up to independence to be based on forms of labour tribute, with tenants paying rent in kind as well as labour service. The Inhambane peasantry thus supplied mine labour and was also tied to the latifundario in those parts of the Province where this system of landholding prevailed. Additionally, in the later colonial period after the 1940s, the Inhambane peasantry, as in the rest of Mozambique, had to meet cash-cropping compulsions imposed by the state, and thus became both a cashcropping and labour-supplying peasantry. Yet settler and peasant sales combined still made Inhambane the lowest producer of all the provinces of arable crops for sale. Inhambane peasants in the 1970s grew 17 per cent of the national production of groundnuts, 8 per cent of the country's cashews,' 6 per cent of the cassava, and 14 per cent of its maize, but peasantgrown marketed sales constituted only 3.4 per cent of national peasant marketing. Settler agriculture in Inhambane was also feeble, with only copra production being of any significance. Since large part of Inhambane are free of the tse-tse fly, it was relatively rich in cattle and other animal holdings, these accounting for over 10 per cent of the national total, though the settlers owned only 10 per cent of the cattle. Throughout the colonial period land productivity was low - far lower than the national norm - and even the relatively vigorous

The Peasant Base. Inhambane Province peasant sector showed low productivity, about half to one third of the national average in crops as diverse as cotton, groundnuts, beans, cassava, maize and rice. In perennial cultivation, however, Inhambane is the leading province in production: 56%, coffee trees leading province 22% cashew trees second leading province 37% coconut trees 52% pineapples leading province 57% guavas .. 34% orange trees 82% tangerines 65% mafurra The introduction of trees (a permanent crop) reinforced the tendency for private ownership of land. Inhambane's land is mostly low-lying with largely sandy soils, irregular rainfall and no large rivers or lakes; all factors that set constraints on agricultural production. The rainy season varies from 4-8 months, depending on the area. It is most favourable along the coastal strip, especially in the southern part, and much less so inland. There is least rain in the districts of Massinga, Panda and Vilanculos. Four main soil types may be distinguished, with the following general characteristics, a) Sandy-clay soil or 'red' earth: This is relatively poor soil which produces maize, groundnuts, beans, sweet potatoes, citrus fruits, cashew and coconut. b) Sandv soil or 'white' earth: This is the poorest soil, which can produce only groundnuts and in some places, cashew. During the colonial period it was these soils that were used by the peasantry for cash-crop production. The more fertile land was mostly occupied by the colonial latifundario. c) Nhaca soil: This is very fertile soil since it has a high organic content, and it is well supplied with water. Cotton, maize, sunflower, sesame, beans, cassava, citrus fruits, sweet potatoes, onion, cashew, coconut, all grow well in this type of soil. But since it is a heavy soil, it requires the use of a plough, and so cannot be cultivated by peasants who possess only hoes and have insufficient income to rent a plough. d) Machongo soil: This is the most fertile, alluvial soil, found alongside streams. It produces, apart from these crops cultivated on nhaca soil, rice, sugar cane and vegetables. The coastal regions have small pockets of richer 'red' soil, and

Agriculture in Inhambane Province some nhaca richer black soil. The machongo produce without fail each year; they alone are not constrained by the irregular rain pattern, but they comprise only a small quantity of the total land area. But though Inhambane's soil and rainfall mean a relatively low natural potential for the Province, that potential was not evenly or fully exploited during the colonial period. There were at least three different forms of land use. Areas of relatively open frontier land remained under peasant production in the inland and northern areas of the province, but in these regions regular severe water shortages meant that they had a low population density. The areas along the coast where coconut and cashew trees thrive supported a larger population with tree proprietary rights. Finally, within both these types of region were areas which had been alienated for settler agriculture. These different land-use systems need to be examined as they developed historically, in an attempt to periodise and understand the processes behind the agricultural exploitation of the Province. The Penetration of the Money Economy A constant factor in the history of peasant production has been the necessity for cash income during the whole of this century, and even earlier. There is some evidence that during the period preceding the beginnings of nineteenth-century migrant labour in Inhambane, sales of surplus agricultural produce took place, and even that as far back as the 1860s, there were changes in crop patterns to serve the needs of ships calling at Inhambane ports. Records show that Inhambane in the 1860s exported increasing quantities of rice, groundnuts and cashew nuts. Between 1861 and 1867 exports from Inhambane increased as follows (in 1000 litres): 1861 1862 1863 1864 1867 Rice 15 60 44 122 200 Cassava 3 18 - 43 ? Millet 10 - - 20 110 Groundnuts - 4 24 9 1000 Cashew - - - 313 However, after the 1870s and until well into this century, there is no evidence available of substantial peasant crop sales, though towards the end of the nineteenth century the larger-scale penetration of Portuguese colonialism accelerated the peasants' dependence on money income. Four major mechanisms induced by, or resulting from, colonial policy can be distinguished.'

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province a) The introduction of commodities, such as imported hoes and other agricultural implements, blankets and cloth, as a result of prolonged trading contact, especially, but not only, along the coast. b) The introduction of hut tax. With the consolidation of the colonial presence, the financial necessities of the colonial administration increased greatly. Taxing the peasantry was an obvious source of income, as can be seen from the following table: Budget of Inhambane District for 1913-143 Total receipts 1,072,550$ (100%) Source of receipts: Hut tax 650,000$ (61%) Migration tax (paid by miners) 200,000$ (19%) Miners' wages paid not only the direct migration tax but the hut tax as well, so that minework paid at this time 80 per cent of the cost of administering the province. Tax payments could even be made in South African pounds. In 1920 the hut tax was replaced by the .coming of age' tax, levied on all men from the age of eighteen - the minimum age of mine recruiting. A short study of the Homoine district in 1924 published by the Lisbon Geographical Society' described the following situation: a total of £22,000 was earned by mining labour, £15,000 paid out in tax and the remaining £7000 used for other expenses - mainly lobolo. The same study indicates that the lobolo price at this time was fifteen times higher than the annual tax (annual tax at £1, lobolo £15). From about 1920 onwards, lobolo was generally paid in money, which itself is a reflection of the degree to which money had entered the peasant economy. The chronic need for money on the part of the peasant led to a continuous rise in the lobolo, as well as to premature marrying of daughters, because of the precarious financial position of the family. Furthermore, in most cases, fathers no longer gave the lobolo obtained from the marriage of their daughters to their sons for their marriages, as was traditionally the. custom. Thus, the young men turned to migrant labour in order to earn the necessary money. c) The relative land shortage induced by the entry of settlers, and their occupation of the better land, above all the machongos or irrigated strips. Portuguese settlers had begun to appear in Inhambane bv 1910. Settler crops were to be principally copra and sugar (used for alcohol, largely). Coconuts were grown along the coast, with the settlers concentrated in the Maxixe, Inhambane and Morrumbene districts. As sugar was planted in the machongos, African producers were pushed on to the sandy soils that were totally dependent on rainfall. E xZ. 50, " 4 r- 0 0 -4) 1.~ e-

'0 0:= ,--.2 - bo .5 *0 4.>. I~ 4) 4)4.) E .0 bo 4 .0 .4)m 0 , ,_ <

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province INDIAN OCEAN N Note zones indicate that 40 per cent or more of the basic food crops grown are as shown. Map based on Mario de Carvalho, Agricultura tradicional de Mo(ambique, Lourenqo Marques. 1969, vol 1, appendix III Fig. 4 Distribution of Crops in Inhambane Province

Agriculture in Inhambane Province By 1917 the principal exports from Inhambane were whale oil (2800 tons), copra (300 tons), groundnuts (1347 tons), mafurra (700 tons) and sugar (480 tons). Groundnuts and mafurra were peasant crops. Settler production increased after 1918 when new plantations of coconut and of sisal were started, but the depression caused the abandonment of many of the land concessions. At this time Africans were permitted to move on to abandoned concessions under the control of the agricultural authorities, and instructed to use selected seeds - this in an attempt to ensure self-sufficiency in African food production in the province. d) With the start of settler agriculture, the need for cheap agricultural labour arose. This was provided for in several ways. One was under the system of forced, chibalo, labour. Chibalo became itself an important mine labour recruitment mechanism, for to escape chibalo either the family had to move from land threatened by labour requisition (which meant accepting more onerous conditions of agricultural production), or the men could sign on for minework and thus acquire dispensation from the annual labour service of six months at a time. But settler agriculture did not rely on chibalo labour for a workforce, for the latifundario system was in itself a solution to low productivity agriculture.' Under this system the settlers turned part of the land into plantations for plantation crops, and for some food crops, and they imposed a system of labour tenancy on the areas occupied by peasants. The peasant-tenant paid rent either in kind or in cash from a share of his own production, or he gave the landlord a period of labour- service, or often both. Production on these latifundia, many of them large-scale, was low, as was productivity- but the best land had been alienated from the peasantry, and only those strata of the peasantry with sufficient resources to produce food surpluses could find the resources to rent the land for their own use, and avoid labour service. There was almost no agricultural workforce in the province. (In 1967, the last year with data, there was a paid agricultural labour force of only 765, compared with over 19,000 in Lourenqo Marques and close on 11,000 in Gaza provinces.) Settler agriculture thus relied on tied labour, with chibalo the additional resort; even labour tenants had to render spells of forced labour. Penetration of rural society in Mozambique by the money economy took a new form during the Salazar period - in the case of Inhambane Province, between the years 1935 and 40. The imposition of a system of enforced peasant cash-cropping around this time was Portugal's first concerted attempt to use the colonies to produce

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province raw materials for the metropolitan economy, and since cotton for its growing textile industry was the first priority, throughout Mozambique, whether on good land or bad, peasants were forced into cotton cultivation. In parts of the south peasants were also induced to grow rice to save the cost of importing this for the urban population. So though its soil is generally poor, Inhambane did not escape forced cultivation. Apart from quotas set for their own production, abandoned land concessions were parcelled out to peasants to grow rice in the machongo valleys, and cotton on higher land. Agricultural officers and African overseers ensured that peasants irrigated these crops when the rainfall was inadequate. In some areas of Inhambane, a high proportion of the labour of peasant families was expended on these labour-intensive crops, and there is evidence that the cultivation of low-labour food crops, especially cassava with its notoriously poor nutritional content, increased as a direct consequence of forced cash-cropping. In 1940 two cotton concessionaries operated in the Inhambane, Morrumbene, Homoine and Inharrime districts: these later amalgamated to become Algodeira de Sul de Save. It seems that cotton production reached its highest level at 9300 tons, but Inhambane-grown cotton was never a significant percentage of the national total - the economic senselessness of growing cotton becomes clear after 1960-2. In 1947, only 900 tons of rice were delivered for dehusking, making 5 per cent of national production: after that the total fell to an insignificant level. Even at the height of the campaigns for forced peasant cropping, there is no evidence that this was seen as an alternative to the Province's labour export to the mines. Forced cropping was an additional stimulus for mine labour, because peasants needed cash wages to buy flour, tea and sugar to supplement a diet undermined by the diversion of their labour to cotton and rice for the urban market. (Colonial policy prohibited consumption of the forced crop by the peasant family, and quota selling was imposed, which implies that the peasant family often had to buy part of its own food requirements.) As for settler opposition to mine labour in Gaza and Lourenqo Marques Provinces during the 1920s and 1930s, settler farmers were strong enough to mount a campaign for the restriction of exported migrant labour - though it was singularly unsuccessful. Inhambane accounted for only one-fifth of the total settler alienated land of the southern provinces: in 1939 it accounted for 7 per cent of total settler agricultural investment, which was the highest it was to achieve. Consequently, settler influence was limited. In the follow-

Agriculture in Inhambane Province ing period, when Portugal began to invest in settler agriculture, Inhambane received none of this. Peasant agriculture thus offered the colonial state no significant alternative to mine labour as a source of revenue. The records show that peasant marketing of non-forced crops began during the 1940s, but it was only during the early 1960s, after the end of forced cultivation, and with the large-scale introduction of the plough, that peasant groundnut and cashew nut production began to expand, and agricultural proceeds offered some households an alternative to mine labour. Between 1960 and 1974 cashew nut production in Mozambique more than doubled. Almost US$25 million was invested in twelve mechanised factories one of which in Inhambane employed 500 workers - to take over the processing of the nuts, which had previously been done in India. In Inhambane production began late (in 1967 peasants only sold about 5000 tons) but by 1974 sales had increased to over 25,000 tons a year. Now, for the first time, peasant producers in Inhambane had begun to break significantly into the agricultural market. But the cashew nut trees had been planted on the same soils as were used for food production. So the latter was limited, and cash income from the sale of cashew had to be used to buy food. In this post-forced labour period, to counteract the fall in production resulting from the loss of directly coercive measures to enforce cash-crop production, the colonial system had to adopt a policy of higher buying prices for crops, as well as improved wage levels. Furthermore, in the latter half of the 1960s there was a significant development of credit facilities to traders through the banking system (see table 15). So, commercialisation of crops increased over the period, together with a change in the pattern of crop production. On the one hand, coconut production spread fast and cashew production increased, while on the other hand cotton production dropped. One reason was that the former crops did not require much labour time, while cotton is a very labour-intensive crop. Cashew and coconut also had the further advantage that in a period of rain shortage, they could be used for family consumption as well as for sale. By independence, then, certain patterns of agricultural production had been imposed. In all there were 176 latifundia" occupying 121,114 hectares, which is equivalent to one-third of the total land area of the Province, and the most fertile soils. But of the area occupied by the latifundia, only 1.5 per cent cultivated annual crops and horticul-

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Agriculture in Inhambane Province ture; 8 per cent grew trees; 24 per cent was pasture, and 63 per cent remained unused. On the land outside the machongas there were no settler landlords. Land distribution was ostensibly controlled by the traditional system of inheritance and land allocation, but this had been distorted by the colonial imposition of regulos (chiefs) and cabos (sub-chiefs) with functions allocated to them by the colonial state: they could use their powers of land distribution for their own political and social purposes. Along the coastal fringe where coconut trees provided the principal source of income, the land was not privately owned but the trees were. Families without trees could pay rent in kind to cultivate the land, but they had no access to the produce of the trees. Under these conditions chiefs and sub-chiefs used their control of inheritance and of politics to arbitrate access to the land. In parts of the Province with a relatively open land frontier, peasant families could extend their land area by clearing the bush. Here the size of the family workforce and the ownership of instruments of production were the central determinants of land acquisition. Inhambane's peasant sector produced almost all of the Province's maize, groundnuts, cassava, beans, millet, rice, sorghum and cotton. The distribution of peasant land was roughly as follows: Land holding % of cultivators % of land occupied Less than 1 hectare 35 12 1-2 hectares 36 30 2-4 hectares 22 35 4-5 hectares 3 7 more than 5 hectares 4 16 The bottom 40 per cent of cultivators occupy 15 per cent of the land, the top 10 per cent occupy 30 per cent. The mean land holding is 2 hectares. Only Gaza and Niassa have higher averages (2.2 hectares/holding); and there are some very small holdings with less than 0.1 hectares. We verified, using fourteen samples of the agricultural census, 1965, that there exists a positive correlation between the size of holding and ownership or hire of ploughs. By 1965, for instance, of peasant families with more than 5 hectares of land, 60 per cent owned ploughs. There were four types of social relationship between owners of ploughs and cattle, and the rest of the peasantry. a) A form of mutual aid (tsima) between owners: those who have no plough share their cattle with plough owners, and vice versa.

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province b) A system of lending and borrowing, where plough owners do not have cattle and cattle owners do not have ploughs. c) Members of the family can often borrow cattle* and ploughs without payment (Cambine) or for a reduced payment (Quissico). d) Hire of ploughs and/or oxen for a payment of about 200$-300$ per hectare (Homoine and Quissico). On the whole, however, the peasant sector is characterised by lack of modern technology, such as selected seeds, fertilisers or pesticides. There is also a high wastage rate: in Homoine it was found that only 60 per cent of the families who had cattle in 1965 still had them nine years later. Thus 40 per cent of families were not able to reproduce from their cattle stock over time. In Pembe, in 1975 and 1976, there was a large number of cattle deaths because of drought. In Quissico there are often cattle losses for lack of chemicals for the anti-tick cattle dips. Many ploughs cannot be used, or are used with donkeys, because of the shortage of cattle. Cattle buying, of course, depends heavily on mine wages. The relative decline in the incidence of migration, measured in the fall of the percentage of migrants to the male population of working age, occurred at the beginning of the 1960s. Some observers in the Province suggested that this fall in mine enlistment might be a consequence of the abolition of chibalo, which lessened the efflux of men to the mines to avoid forced labour. It is possible that the lower recruiting levels for Inhambane were due to this and other causes, even to changes in WENELA provincial labour targetsetting. What is clear is that the drop in the number of workers recruited, though not in total mine wage income, coincided with more productive peasant cash cropping, especially in groundnuts and cashew. In fact at least three important processes occurred in the same period: higher mine wages for those who were contracted, and overall higher cash flows to peasant households; higher levels of plough acquisition largely as a direct result of higher wage levels; and, simultaneously, higher production levels in peasant cash cropping. The wage increases on the mines and higher levels of peasant production made it possible for peasant households to improve their living standards. Cement floors began to appear in the houses, and some brick houses were built. Access to consumer items such as tea, paraffin, simple furniture and crockery, as well as to relatively expensive goods such as radios and bicycles, began to increase through income from mine labour. This is the period, too, when artisan production began to expand. Builders, carpenters, tailors as well as traditional craftsmen such as mat weavers began to commer- 126

Agriculture in Inhambane Province cialise their products, and for significant numbers of them, this work came to constitute their principal source of income. In many cases, such craft skills (especially carpentry and tailoring) derived from experience gathered during the contracts on the mines, and the necessary tools were bought out of mine wages. Some of these craftsmen managed to earn sufficient income not to need to continue \orking on the mines. But it was principally income from mine labour that indirectly made possible the establishment of such petty commodity producers, since it supplied the cash flow on which the trades flourished. Peasant production was rising, but it was still very much second to mine labour proceeds. In 1967 the cash flow from marketed peasant produce was 24 million escudos. In the same year, however, the Inhambane miners received three times as much (78 million escudos) in deferred payments alone. By 1974 the estimated cash payment for cashew nut peasant production had doubled to 50 million escudos, and, including the possible income from other crop sales (copra, groundnuts, maize and mafurra), the estimated total cash income from crop sales was between 75 million and 100 million escudos. The estimated deferred mine wage payments for that year amounted to 182 million escudos. Peasant proceeds from agriculture were catching up on mine labour proceeds. The provincial data are supported by studies of some of the provincial sub- districts, like Pembe, where data collected from traders indicated that in 1974 sales of agricultural produce matched peasant family income from mine wages. But 1974 was an exceptional year: it was a particularly good agricultural season, and bank credits that year were twice as high as in any other year between 1970 and 1975. This thus appeared to be a period of exceptional possibilities for peasant crop marketing, not only of cashew nuts but also of groundnuts and coconuts, along the coastal littoral. But this cash-cropping economy was being superimposed on a labour reserve economy, and one which had been consolidated for practically a century, so that far from peasant production displacing labour export, the two co-existed.

SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION IN THE COUNTRYSIDE This coincidence between expanded peasant production and higher wage incomes from mine labour for those who were contracted was, in the 1970s, resulting in a certain limited differentiation within the peasantry. There was, however, no class of rich peasantry hiring labour, and no sign of one developing. The growth of this group had been constrained by a number of factors. Settler agriculture had monopolised the best land and water resources and left a richer class of peasantry little room to grow. Like the settler estates, the better-off peasants could not pay for wage labour, but, unlike the latifundarios, they also could not resort to tied labour. Machongo and nhaca previously occupied by settlers became free: conditions for surplus accumulation by a few do not seem to have arisen. In some places (e.g. Homoine) the land was occupied spontaneously. In others (e.g. Cambine) its redistribution was carried out under the guidance of the base level political organisation (the Grupo Dinamizador). Distribution of nhaca was made basically dependent on ownership or ability to hire ploughs, since the heaviness of the soil makes it impossible to cultivate without ploughs. But where, as in the case of Muchava cell in Homoine, the redistribution of the machongo in the transitional period was unequal, it was the intention of the Grupo Dinamizador to redistribute this land again. The field research of the project located only two rich peasant families within its total sample, and both these families were part of the family of former latifundarios. On the other hand, though there was a shortage of the best land, there was no absolute land shortage in the province, and hence no class of landless peasants. What was clearly discernible was a differentiation between middle and poor peasantry, and in this process of differentiation the differing impact of mine wages was not a sole but often the most important determining factor. It became clear early io the investigation that although almost all peasant households have sent workers

Social Differentiation in the Countryside to the mines, not all peasant households rely on and are affected by mine wages in the same way. The field research was conducted within areas that encompassed all the different types of current land use. They were as follows: a) Areas of former colonised agriculture and labour tenancy: the former latifundia. (Maimela and Buvane in Cambine.) b) Areas of relatively open land frontier but relatively severe water shortage. (Pembe, Sitila and other areas in Morrumbene.) c) Coastal strips where tree proprietorship places limitations on the use of land. (Quissico-Canda;* areas along the Massinga coastal strip.) d) Areas that do not fall sharply into any one of these three types, but include various types (e.g. Homoine). Some of the specific reports that follow (for Pembe, Homoine and for Maimela, Cambine) contain more detailed findings on the impact of mine wages on peasant differentiation, but certain trends were common throughout. Two groups of peasants with different characteristics emerged: A middle peasantry The stratum of peasants with relatively better and larger land holdings tended also to own, or at least to have access to, ploughs and oxen and, often, grinding mills. The same group tended to own relatively large numbers of trees (that is, permanent crops like cashew and citrus); to have sources of income from off-farm activity, that is crafts and skills (see petty commodity craftsmen, below); and often to draw on a relatively large family household, that is, family labour force. These peasants have a relatively sound agricultural base and produce for the market, to varying degrees, as well as for home consumption. *In Canda there was a relative shortage of land due to the extensive cultivation of coconuts. These used almost all the available land, with the result that newcomers could not plant new trees. Those without trees had to request the tree-owners for the use of their land for subsistence production. This did not give them any right to the produce from the trees on that land. In that region latifundia did not exist because the area had been considered a 'native reserve' since 1911. in the 1950s an increase in agricultural co-operatives was initiated by the colonial authorities, but entrance to these co-operatives was restricted to those peasants who already possessed relatively large tracts of land (more than 3 hectares), and members were almost exclusively composed of the traditional colonial authorities - regulos (chiefs), cabos (their assistants) and their families. The majority of the peasants had small plots of land, with little or no access to coconut production and often with insufficient production.

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province Poor Peasants These peasants, occasionally, but not generally, owned ploughs, but essentially had an unreliable and unstable agricultural production base. Accordingly they produced little for the market and often too little to feed themselves. They, too, had sources of income from crafts, but they appeared to practise the simpler and less profitable crafts, and to earn relatively little from them. They worked less land, and often inferior land; they owned fewer trees, and had smaller household labour forces. Agricultural labourers Drawn from the poor peasants is a group of part-time agricultural labourers. These are extremely few, but could be expected to grow in number as the sources of wage labour from minework are reduced. In most instances the agricultural workers were part-time workers, that is, they could not produce enough on their own land and tried to work on the land of others for part of the year. Two other groups must be included: Petty commodity producers Since many peasants households rely on crafts for sources of extra income, we classed as craftsmen or artisans only those whose major source of income came from such petty commodity production. Shopkeepers, traders and transporters These may be seen as an incipient commercial petit-bourgeosie, though in general this is an unstable class. For instance, some of the transporters are providing indispensable transport services in their areas, but are operating without licences and thus have an insecure future. Unlike the migrant labour force of areas where peasant production has been virtually destroyed, often as a result of extensive land alienation, there is a middle peasantry in Inhambane which still has an agricultural base. The reason is clear: this is a region over which mining capital had an extensive reach, and the colonial state honoured its agreement with mining capital, but where at the same time the state tried to foster a cash-cropping peasantry for its own purposes of accumulation. The middle peasantry, it will be seen, relied on mine wages, first to invest in agricultural production, and then to supply means of production and a market for artisan production. (They sold a significant volume of crops.) The poor peasantry likewise depended on mine wages, but not to reinforce agricultural production but for lack of it. The field research showed clear relationships between this divi- Social Differentiation in the Countryside sion between middle and poor peasantry, and their differential reliance on mine labour. Table 16 shows for the areas investigated (apart from Sitila for which the data did not allow us to make the correlation) the average number of contracts, the average age of the worker-peasant and the sample size for middle and poor peasants. The average age is listed because the average number of contracts would obviously depend on the age of the worker-peasant. As can be seen from table 17, on the whole middle peasants have fewer family members away at the mines than poorer peasants in the same area. The middle peasants appear to be less reliant on migrant labour in financing the recurring consumer expenditure of their family, and tend rather to use income from mine labour for the acquisition of tools to render their base in agriculture and crafts more independent. By contrast, the poor peasants are compelled to return to the mines simply to supplement their subsistence. There is no absolute division between the middle and the poor peasantry. Some middle peasants, as they grow old and are less able to work in agriculture or mining, are forced into the poor group. Thus in this group are to be found the old- but young families are also included who are at the beginning of their working life. (See the Maimela report.) Widows, women living alone, the disabled and the physically sick are also in this group. We would argue, tentatively, that at one end of the scale the reasonably well established middle peasant is a farmer who has had better access to land (at times, but not invariably, resulting from his better relation to colonial-traditional families), or who has been in a better paid Table 16 The average age and number of mine contracts worked by middle and poor peasants in the areas investigated Area Middle peasant Poor peasant A verage Average Sample A verage Average Sample no. of age size no. of age size contracts contracts Zacanhe 48 49 14 20.6 59 3 Muchava 6.5 49 9 13.2 52 19 Meu 5.7 53 12 5.2 42 13 Sefane 6.7 55 9 10.3 63 6 Vavate 4.8 56 5 8.6 60 8 Como 6.2 57 8 8.2 43 6 Buvane 7.6 46 8 11.2 47 10 Maimela 10.0 55 9 10.0 45 10 Mindu 2.7 29 4 7.7 46 49 Canda 2.4 62 5 8.0 46 19

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Social Differentiation in the Countryside 133 position on the mines, and so has managed to establish himself with sufficient tools of production either for craft or agricultural activities (or more commonly both). At the other end of the scale is the poor peasant who either cannot go to the mines or whose income from mine labour is consistently needed for maintaining his family, so that there are no resources for investment in agriculture, and the need to return to the mines is reproduced over and over again.

PETTY COMMODITY PRODUCTION AND COMMERCE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE Of the 372 rural families interviewed in depth, at least 110 had some form of petty commodity production or commercial activity based in their house. We say 'at least' 110 families because it is clear that some families were not willing to tell us of all their activities. For example, those making alcoholic drinks for sale, small shopkeepers involved in buying donkeys in Rhodesia for resale in the Province, and traditional healers almost always refrained from describing their activities directly; that information came from others in the district. But it is clear that one in three of the families interviewed is dependent to some extent on a source of income in addition to agriculture and minework, or other salaried work. One large group consisted of older peasants (the family head being over fifty) who engaged in small artisan activity in order to survive. Forty-nine such families were interviewed (the first two groups). Only five of these families had heads with fewer than six mine contracts. Artisan activity thus appears to be an alternative though a much less remunerative one - to minework in old age. The vast majority of these families were engaged in mat-making, woodcarving (spoons, bowls, etc.) and basket-making. This group had cheap tools of production. One other group (fifteen families) was headed by younger men who engaged in petty commodity production when they were home from the mines. The large majority of these were tailors, who depended on a sewing-machine, always bought with mine wages. The proceeds were rather small. A relatively small group (six families) was engaged mainly in agricultural production (with surplus for sale), but had artisan activities in addition: tailoring with sewing-machines from South Africa, or, in two cases, fishing with nets bought from mine wages. Only six families appeared to have women engaged in petty commodity activities (dressmaking, mat-making and baking), but it is clear that many women were engaged in making drinks (alcoholic or not) and in selling cakes and food. At every meeting in the cells a

Petty Commodity Production group of women appeared to be selling their own goods. Our interviews did not record this activity. All these families were engaged in small activities which brought in small sums of money. Very few earned more than 1 or 2 contos a year from these activities, and some earned much less. The other families (thirty-four in all) had more lucrative activities. Twenty were considered to have their occupation principally in petty commodity production (most were carpenters, bricklayers or builders of concrete houses, and traditional healers), and most of these had worked fewer than three mine contracts. Many of these also had a considerable agricultural base and produce for the market, usually using ploughs and mills, and having a large extended family. The final fourteen families were engaged in commercial activity. Four were small traders taking advantage of the fact that the registered shop is often up to 30 km from the peasant family's home. Eight owned jeeps or tractors and were engaged in transport of people and goods. Most had bought their tractors since independence with money earned in South Africa and from agriculture. Two other families were engaged in both these activities. The great majority of these families also had good agricultural production. In summary, one large group of poor families had spent many years in the mines and had to make small goods for sale to buy the basic necessities of life - the most extreme case was the one old man who had to pay people to bring him water. Others combined minework with tailoring, though on a small scale. Another group earned relatively large sums of money (relative to the earnings in the Inhambane countryside), but also had important agricultural activities. The original investment in cars and instruments of production was made possibly by mine wages and money earned from agriculture. Those with really important investments had made them recently, and could not be said to have established themselves as cornerciantes after only two or three years.

CASE STUDIES The Extent of Labour Export: Pembe, Homoine The area of Pembe is considered to be an area of high labour migration. Its soil is poor, it is situated on the margin of the littoral (coastal district), and rainfall is not regular. The brigade that worked in Pembe made an attempt to confirm the extent of migration. No accurate and complete data of migration are available, and information had to be pieced together from various sources. The results give only an approximate view of the extent and importance of labour migration in the area.* The history of migration The brigade completed twenty-two miners' questionnaires. Of the miners interviewed all had fathers who had worked on the mines. Ten were over fifty- five years old, and three were over seventy-five, including one who was working his third contract at the beginning of the First World War, and whose father had worked in the South African diamond mines. Percentage migration from Pembe We estimated that 800 men - about 30 per cent of the male population - were recruited in 1958 and 1959, and 600 (about 22 per cent) were recruited in 1960. Since some men would certainly have gone to Homoine to be recruited and would not be registered on the Pembe statistics, these should be seen as minimum estimates. *The brigade obtained incomplete recruitment data for the period 1954-60 from WENELA, and incomplete population data for the period 1960-75 from the Homoine administration. We accordingly estimated the percentage migration for 1958-6(0 by using 1960 or other population data interpolated to 1960. The figures for mine recruitment include men enlisted at the central recruitment station, but also at five of the twelve sub-stations. An estimated 25 per cent of labour recruitment comes from the other seven sub-stations.

Case Studies Comparison with the migration figure for Homoine as a whole, which was 14 per cent in 1960, shows that Pembe was one of the regions of Homoine with the largest labour export. Migration differences in agriculturally rich and poor cells of Pembe The census data for 1975 are unreliable, but include not only population figures but also a figure for the heads of families absent in South Africa at the time of the count. Since only heads of families were registered as absent, the migration figures are the lowest possible, but they do help us to obtain an idea of the extent of migrant labour over the cells of the circle. The cells were divided into poor, medium and rich according to the quality of the soil and conditions for agriculture. It appears that the richest cells furnish on average more migrant labour (16 per cent) than the medium and poor cells (13 and 12 per cent respectivelv). But there are variations within these groups of cells: the highest figure (19 per cent) is from a medium cell; and Sefane, a poor one, had 16 per cent. From surveys conducted at political meetings we obtained further information. In the three cells of Como, Zacanhe (both rich) and Sefane, the mean number of contracts worked by miners was six, and the median length of stay on each contract was seventeen months, giving a total length of work time in the mines as 102 months, or 81/2 years. In the cell of Zacanhe the average number of contracts was less, but the average stay was longer, giving a total work time in the mines almost equal to the other cells, one of which was considered very poor and two of which were considered richer. Such data were not corrected for age, and in Sefane (the poorest cell) respondants had spent less of their working life in the mines than in the others. Social differentiation among migrant workers It thus appears that the poorest cells in Pembe have a comparatively low migration incidence to the mines. In order to check whether or not this signifies that poorer families work fewer mine contracts, a calculation was made of the number of contracts worked by poor and middle peasants. The results are shown in table 18. This calculation shows a clear tendency in all cells for poorer peasants to work not only more mine contracts, but also longer contracts.

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province Tahle 18 The number of contracts worked by middle and poor peasants according to rich and poor districts a) Middle Peasants A verage no. Total years contracts on mines Age Heads of families in South Africa (1975 census) Como (rich) 6.3 9.1 57 16 Zacanhe (rich) 7.6 8.9 46 17 Sefane (poor) 6.7 9.5 55 16 Vavate (poor) 4.8 5.5 56 12 Average 6.5 8.2 53 15 b) Poor Peasants Cell A verage no. Total years Age Heads of families contracts on mines in South Africa (1975 census) Como (rich) 8.2 11-2 43 16 Zacanhe (rich) 11.2 14.2 47 17 Sefane (poor) 10.3 12.7 63 16 Vavate (poor) 8.6 10.6 60 12 Average 9.7 12.2 53 15 Working life and spread of contracts It was said in the circle and in the Province that there are two sorts of mineworker. The first is the peasant miner who works a few contracts, buys his domestic goods and agricultural tools, and then does not return to mine work contracts except in a crisis. The second is the man who goes to the mines repeatedly throughout his working life. We have already shown for the cells in Pembe that the poor peasants have, on average, more contracts and spend more time on the mines than the middle peasants. In Sefane only one-third of the men who returned from their last contracts before 1973 were under thirty-five, as opposed to about one half in the richer cells of Como and Zacanhe. Most men work up to half their life in the mines, and only a small proportion work for periods longer than that. The vast majority of those who work seven or more contracts spend more than half their working lives in South Africa: those who work fewer contracts spend more time at home. Cell

Case Studies Extent of migration at the present time (July-August 1977) An estimate was made of the number of men absent at the time of the brigade investigation. This was done by asking women who attended the mass meetings if their husbands were away in the mines. In all forty-two out of 320 women said that their husbands were then in South Africa. Thus about 13 per cent of family heads with wives were absent at the time. This total does not, of course, include all absent miners since some miners are not married. According to our enquiries at WENELA depots however, the percentage of unmarried miners was only 9 per cent. Taking this into account would mean that forty-six men of eighteen years of age and older were away from their homes in Pembe. This is a considerable number, which shows the dependence of Pembe peasant households on mine labour, especially at a time of reduced opportunity for minework. Men who never went to the mines The brigade made contact in a period of a month with about 500 men, and could find fewer than thirty who had never contracted for minework. There were three groups of such men: the first comprises school teachers, the only group in the area with a steady and relatively substantial salary - only one out of eight of these had ever done minework. Second, is a small group of self-employed workers - owners of small shops, carpenters and builders - who have never been to the mines. (This does not include all such workers, but only those with secure work in the area.) Among the wage workers, two men had never contracted to do minework because they had found wage employment in Beira and Maputo. All the men in these two groups had clear and secure economic alternatives to migrant labour in South Africa. The third group had no such alternative: these were the men with physical handicaps. The brigade found eight men in Pembe so severely handicapped that they were medically ineligible for minework: these included the blind and amputees; they were among the poorest people. Other wage employment Out of sixty-one households, twenty-seven family heads had experience of wage work in Mozambique or outside. The variety of such work was wide, including agricultural work (often chibalo), work on the railways, in the construction industry, in factories, hospitals, on

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province a South African sugar plantation, and in the Portuguese army during the colonial period. Although the scale of this migrant work - for once again the men have to migrate from their homes in order to find and hold down these jobs - does not approach that of minework, it did allow some men who could not go to the mines for reasons of health or other reasons, to earn money. The influence of migrant labour on the peasant economy It became clear in all the interviews conducted in Pembe that the miners' wages before the 1970s were not sufficient for the purchase of expensive consumer goods (such as sewing-machines), or to pay for cement-brick houses, to finance the beginning of a process of accumulation through the acquisition of small shops, or through transport. Only with good agricultural production, with regular surpluses for sale, through other commercial or artisan activities, or through rights and privileges acquired through the traditional political system, could these goods be bought. The peasant household questionnaire demonstrates the importance of mine earnings for the purchase of goods. The majority of families depended on mine money to buy the goods necessary for the family (beds, other furniture, pots) and to buy agricultural means of production (ploughs, cattle, mills). The middle peasants were not dependent only on mine earnings, they had other sources like agricultural receipts, carpentry, transport, and services (e.g. herbalism). Although at the beginning of the family's life mine money is often important, only in five cases (out of twenty-nine) did we find mine earnings to be of great importance in the economy of the middle peasant household in the recent past. The poor peasants on the other hand were much more dependent on mine work. Of twenty- nine families whose family head could work in the mines, mine earnings were the only source of the family income in ten cases, and very dominant in thirteen others. The poor families who can work in South Africa work more mine contracts and spend more time on them. But with their money they can buy fewer goods, particularly agricultural and artisan means of production. In our interviews we met men with 30, 26, 20, 18, 16 and 15 contracts worked - that is, their lives basically dominated by minework, whose families at the same time remained poor. The very poorest of the group are the old men and those with physical defects. One old man had worked nine contracts and did chibalo eight times. Mine labour was 'simply because of hunger in the

Case Studies family'. Now, at the end of his life, he was making baskets to give to the neighbours to fetch him water, since he could not carry it any more. A very few of these old people had once owned ploughs, but had to sell them because of lack of money. A majority said that the mine money helped to raise the level of life a little, but certainly not sufficiently to sustain them in old age. Most old widows said the same, that their husbands had worked considerable numbers of contracts, but there had been only enough to live on at the time. Others could never work because they were blind, had amputated legs or other physical disabilities. In short, the very poorest were poor because they could not go to the mines. Mine Labour and the Agricultural System: Maimela Has mine labour helped or obstructed the development of peasant agriculture? Is the peasant economy so structured that mine labour is necessary for a large part of the male population? In order to find answers to these questions we did a detailed analysis of the peasant household questionnaires for Maimela, a cell in the circle of Mucambi, district of Morrumbene, Inhambane Province. Before independence the circle was dominated by Portuguese landlords (colonos). Two latifundarios owned most of the fertile land, and the peasants from Maimela and other cells in the circle were expected to do chibalo at nominal wages on their plantations. They were also expected to pay tribute to the sub-chief for the land they cultivated, from every harvest; while livestock owners had to plough plantation land to pay for grazing. In addition to this, a campaign was initiated to force peasants to cultivate cotton. In the neighbouring cell of Buvane the pressure became so unbearable that some of the population regularly fled to the mines rather than be conscripted for badly paid agricultural work. In Maimela quarrels among the landlords' heirs before 1950, and the fact that the land the latifundario owned in the cell was less, eased the pressure at least to the extent that the peasants stayed. But mine labour was nevertheless the main occupation of the men in this cell. In group discussions in the area, one opinion voiced was that mine labour had been involuntary, mainly a way of avoiding chibalo and had not much benefited those who had gone away, particularly since they had been encouraged to waste much of what they had earned on drink. On the other hand, most men in the area have continued to go to the mines even after chibalo was officially abolished in 1962, and even after independence. Many of those who had not been able The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province to go over the previous year considered themselves to be unemployed, rather than free to settle down. We have described mine labour as a response to pressure. But it is clear that many of the men consider it a necessity. Only a detailed analysis of the local peasant economy can show why this is so. The case of Maimela Maimela was chosen by the Cambine brigade because it was said to be agriculturally the poorest area in the circle. About half of the land in the area is sandy and not very fertile, and there is only one small river valley of really good soil. To make matters worse an insect (mafekefeke) has infested the sandier part of the area since 1963 which destroys maize, groundnuts and beans. The last two years (1975-7) have been years of drought and thus of particular hardship. All the land in Maimela is 'owned' by someone, though parts of it are sometimes uncultivated. Accordingly a peasant farmer wishing to establish himself will first have to acquire sufficient land. The problem of the mafekefeke has prompted many farmers to look for land outside the cell, in areas that are not infected, and more than half the local farmers appear to have succeeded in this. The farmers' main source of income in Maimela consists of permanent crops - coconut trees and cashew nut trees in particular. Neither of these is attacked by the mafekefeke and they are somewhat more immune to drought. But a farmer will need usually more than 100 coconut trees and at least the same number of cashew nut trees to be confident of a reliable income. Livestock do not seem to play a prominent role in Maimela agriculture, perhaps because there is insufficient land for grazing many animals. The minority of people who keep cattle mainly use them for ploughing. (Seven of the twenty-four people interviewed in Maimela owned ploughs.) Since the sample is not representative, it is difficult to say how many of the peasants have their own ploughs, and it may still be a minority; almost all peasants do, however, use ploughs for preparing the land. Building up a farm in Maimela Acquiring a wife A man who wants to marry has to pay a bride-price (lobolo). Most young men are expected to find the money themselves and the usual way is to go to the mines. In response to Frelimo's post-

Case Studies independence campaign against lobolo, the transaction is now called 'gratification'; and payments still continue. Acquiring land Young men may stay with their parents for some time after their marriage, but since no household in the questionnaire had sons over twenty-four years of age living with the parents, it seems that at this age most young men have started an independent economic existence. There were two ways in which the older farmers had acquired their first plots: either their fathers had given them a small plot of their own farm, or they had been allocated a plot by the sub-chief. The majority of young farmers today who need more land than their father could give them, ask friends or relatives to be allowed to cultivate some of their land, either temporarily or permanently. A few have also received land from the Grupo Dinamizador when the land of some of the colonos was redistributed. Buying land is rare officially, in any case, it is the permanent crops on the land rather than the land itself that is sold. Five people were reported to have acquired land (with permanent crops) by purchase. Farmers who have particularly fertile or large pieces of land have usually inherited it, and this is more likely to occur when they are older: most of the farmers over fifty reported that they had inherited the best part of their land, whereas the younger farmers had been given most of theirs. Such gifts may not consist of particularly fertile plots, even if they are sufficient in size. The eight farmers in Maimela (out of twenty-four) who did not mention drought and insects as major production problems were all over forty years of age. On the other hand the five farmers below this age all had difficulties with land that was dry and insect-infested. Although there is no direct relationship between mine labour and land allocation, since few people buy land, there were shown to be indirect connections. First, the 'generosity' of those who lend or give their land may be related to the fact that the men of the family have migrated, and therefore the land that belongs to them is left uncultivated; if all the men were to return to the village for good, the pressure on the land would increase considerably. Second, young people expect to get their best land by inheritance, and may thus find it advantageous to remain in paid employment until the time comes to inherit suitable land. Since independence, the Grupo Dinanizador in Maimela has distributed land that belonged to the Portuguese latifundario. The two descendants of this man were left with very good land - 23 hectares and more than ten hectares respectively. But the land

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province seems to have been allocated in a somewhat arbitrary fashion, at a single meeting. Of the six poorest people interviewed, only one had received land from the local GD, while of the six richest people in the village, one had also received a plot from the GD - reportedly because the plots were allocated according to the number of wives. Of the other six who said they had received land from the local GD, one held the ninth place in terms of wealth in the sample, one the eleventh, and the other four were ranked fourteenth to seventeenth. Young farmers had been taken into consideration more often than older farmers, provided they were in the area at the time of distribution, and two people complained that they had been left out because they were working outside when the meeting took place. (One of them later managed to get a bigger piece outside the cell from another GD.) Peasants who had rented land from the latifundario before independence were allowed to keep the land - a policy that tended to favour the already established farmers. On the whole the GD was not seen as an effective instrument for land re- allocation. Asked how they could get more land most people in Maimela replied that they had to ask someone who had more than he needed. A few added that it would be necessary to get the approval of the GD after such a private agreement had been reached, but very few thought that they might get land by approaching the GD only. Acquiring permanent crops A farmer can acquire permanent crops by buying a plot with trees, through inheritance, or through planting trees on his plot. Since buying is still rare, and since the plots that are bought seem to be quite small, inheritance and cultivation are the two main methods of acquiring tree plantations. Older people, as we have already seen, are more likely to have inherited than younger people; and establishing tree crops also takes time - coconut palms take seven years to mature, and in the first three years the seedlings are very susceptible to adverse weather: trees may have to be replanted several times. It may therefore take about ten years before a farmer can have a lucrative plot. Cashew nut trees take about five years to mature and they too are delicate in the first few years. Because of this, there is a clear relationship between the age of a farmer and the size of his plantation of permanent crops. Of the five farmers in the sample who were under forty none had more than seventy coconut trees and none had more than eighty cashew nut trees, and of these many may not yet have been mature. A sixth man, who claimed to be only thirty-three, and who had more than 160 trees of each kind, turned

Case Studies out to be much older since he had started to work about twenty-two years ago, and his real age must, therefore, be about forty. Of the nineteen farmers over forty, only four said they had fewer than 100 coconut trees and only one said he had fewer than 100 cashew nut trees. (Four people did not give any figures.) The relationship between ownership of permanent crops and mine labour is thus again an indirect one: a peasant does not have to go to the mines to acquire a plot of permanent crops, but it does take time to acquire such a plot so younger people may find it too difficult to live without a regular income while their crops are maturing, and might therefore try to earn money on the mines in the meanwhile. Acquiring a plough Seven farmers in the sample had their own ploughs. Two seem to have bought the ploughs from mine wages, and one from farm proceeds. For the others there is no information on how they got their plough. Almost all of those who have no plough however do have access to a plough, and there are a number of ways in which ploughs are shared. Some can borrow a plough from family members free of charge- others practise mutual aid with plough owners the plough owner and one or several families who have no plough work together on all the fields belonging to the participants in the group. In some cases such sharing may be of equal benefit to all the participants; one would expect that this is particularly true where one person contributes the oxen and the other the plough. There might also be sharing where wives of absent miners get together to assist each other in the heavy work. In other cases the mutual aid may be a hidden form of exploitation, when the plough owner's farm is bigger than the other people's in the group, or when his farm is ploughed at the most appropriate time in preference to others'. Of those in the sample who used a plough free of charge, one was classified as the second richest man among the people questioned but the plough belonged to a member of his family; four were among the seven poorest farmers. The majority of those who had no plough had hired a plough for cash - these included in almost equal proportions rich, middle and poor farmers. The practice of hiring a plough may be related to mine labour in two ways. First, payments from the mines may put the poor farmers in a position to hire ploughs. Second, the absence of the husband may make it necessary even for people who have quite small plots to hire a plough in order to get the preparation of the land done in time. At least one man said that his wife had hired a plough when he had been away, but that since his return he was not using a plough.

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province The need for wage labour These considerations might suggest that younger people have in general a more urgent need to earn money outside Maimela than the older people. Short of a comprehensive population census for the area, this assumption cannot be tested. Most of those included in the sample are people who only stopped going to the mines in 1976 when they were no longer eligible. Of the five heads of households included in the sample who were under forty, two had worked up to 1976, two up to 1977 and one was still outside working. Of the five heads of household between forty and fifty, two had had their last contract in 1976, and one in 1977, one was still working, and one had stopped working in 1962. Of the eleven heads of household aged fifty to sixty, two were widows, three had finished their last contract in 1976, one in 1977 and five had retired before 1976 (in 1947, 1966, 1969, 1973 and 1974). The three heads of household who were over sixty had all retired (in 1950, 1959 and 1961). If this pattern does give an indication of general tendencies, one may conclude that men do not start retiring from wage labour before the age of fifty if wage employment is available. Of the nine who have not been engaged in wage labour since 1974, two have been classified as rich farmers. Both of them retired from wage work a long time ago (1947, 1950). One was the heir of the colono; who had never been to the mines, but worked as a carpenter, and had inherited 43 hectares of land. The other had also inherited a fair piece of land early on, and went only for a short time to the mines - presumably to avoid chibalo. Neither of these two farmers has a particular need for wages. Four of the retired farmers were classified as fairly prosperous and occupied the seventh to tenth places in the economic ranking of the sample. Of these, one had worked for wages only for a very short time because he was able to earn more in the village as a curandeiro (healer). Why the three others had retired is less clear: only one is a classic case of a man who used his wages from the mines to build up a well-functioning enterprise by acquiring first land, then a plough and cattle, and then more land; the others appear to have acquired their wealth through a mixture of inheritance and achievements. Three of the retired farmers are poor or very poor, and have retired involuntarily. One has a crippled leg, the other 'chest troubles'; the third left South Africa in a hurry with bad memories which he did not care to explain. The conclusions one can draw from this is that only some older farmers retire from wage work because they have realised their

/ Case Studies 147 objective through wage work; others retire either because wage work has never been very necessary to them, or, more often, because they are physically no longer capable of continuing to work for wages. Those who are anxious to continue with wage work also fall into different groups. There are, first, some rich farmers who have particularly well paid work, such as the two rich farmers in our sample who worked as a boss-boy and bus driver. These farmers do not 'need' wage employment, but pursue it because it pays really well. Second, is the group of middle peasants who continue with wage work in order to build up their farm until they feel ready to retire. In our sample there was only one middle peasant who was still working (or had been working in the last two years) and he was quite young. Third, is the group of poor farmers, some of them young and some old, who continue with wage work because they cannot think of an alternative. Any policy directed towards easing the problems of mine workers who can no longer go to South Africa would have to be focused on the poor farmers first, and particularly on the poor farmers who are also young. Measures would have to include the allocation of sufficient good land, either within the area they come from or elsewhere (individually or collectively), and sufficient assistance to enable them to gain a livelihood from the beginning, by integrating them into already established communal enterprises, by providing credits for new communal enterprises, or at least by encouraging the older generation to contribute more to the establishment of their children on the land. In the long run the expansion of rural and urban industries may help to ease the problems which are quite severe now. Migrant Labour and the Peasant Economy: Homoine This extract of the Homoine brigade report attempts to arrive at an explanation of the fact that, although there are significant differences in the number of contracts worked on the mines for different strata within the peasantry, practically every able-bodied man goes at least four times to the mines. To explain this one has to start by investigating why almost every young man is compelled by economic necessity to go to the mines. It appears that the explanation has to be sought in the way in which traditional society has been in part disintegrated through the penetration of the money economy as a result of colonisation. Within the traditional community young men grew up and estab-

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province lished themselves within the family hamlets, where father and uncles lived as neighbours. The bride-price paid to a father for his daughter provided the means for his sons to arrange their marriages. The penetration of the colonial economy appears to have created, over time, a gradual evolution towards the formation of more nuclear families - that is, the sons began to live separately from their fathers, and responsibility for the survival of the family became more individualised. By the 1940s this process appears already to have become well established. A number of factors may account for this evolution in Homoine district. First, the introduction of taxation for each adult man (over the age of eighteen), then at a later stage of chibalo (again for each adult man) and forced cultivation of cash crops for every husband and wife (the latter from 1942-62) greatly increased the individual responsibility of each nuclear family to cope with its own survival. Furthermore, the need for cash income increased in order to buy commodities on which the people became increasingly dependent. Finally, the appropriation of the better quality land by the settlers created a relative shortage of land which broke up the system of extended families living together. The settler estates created peasant-tenants, whose responsibility for paying tribute was also individualised. The lobolo over this period became a cash payment, and because of the chronic need of most peasant families for money for subsistence fathers who received it for their daughters were increasingly reluctant to pass it on to their sons to pay lobolo for their wife- the tradition in the past. The responsibility to set up a family and to establish himself as a peasant-producer was thus put squarely on the shoulders of the young man himself. This may have been a further reason for the break-up of the system of the extended family living and cultivating together. The son who paid his own lobolo felt less moral obligation towards the father: the necessity to earn his own income gave him a new feeling of independence from the family hierarchy. As one man put it: *The conflicts between father and son, elder brother and younger brother, began when people went to Jo'burg.' To establish himself as a peasant-producer the young man first needs a wife. No single man cultivates his own land, but works on his father's land until he marries, and acquires his own plot after marriage. As has already been explained, the division of labour within the family leaves the main burden of agricultural work on the wife, the man being engaged in activities to bring in cash - hunting in an earlier period, and mine labour in the period we are discussing.

Case Studies This non-domestic role of the young man may in part account for the fact that single men are looked upon with great suspicion - 'He is a robber of wives, a thief,' etc. The young man who wants to set up a family is thus compelled to go and earn the money for the lobolo outside agriculture - in the majority of cases, that means going to the mines. Once he has assured himself of a wife through earning the lobolo, the young man has a further need for cash if he is to establish himself as a peasant-producer. His family will need a minimum of household utensils and furniture, a house and agricultural implements. The newly-wed couple will find it very difficult to acquire the means to create a basic domestic establishment by agricultural work alone. The three years before this study took place saw the innovation of cement-block houses in the area and 20-30 per cent of the families are constructing or have completed this type of dwelling. Many more families aspire to these houses, and since 1975 a number of farmers have returned to South Africa, some after a considerable number of years' absence, to earn the money to build them. There are only two known cases of families who were able to build a cement-block house with money earned from their agricultural production alone. One obtained the money at the beginning of the 1960s by growing groundnuts, and the other has been building his house for twenty years. Cases in which ploughs and oxen have been bought with money not earned in South Africa are also very rare: and to become a farmer subsisting on agriculture alone, an essential condition is the possession of oxen and plough. Mills, tools and sewing-machines are also acquired with money from the mines. All of these means of production began to make their appearance from the 1940s and 1950s, and became important from the 1960s. The current generation will be the first to inherit already existing means of production. Twenty-five peasants from Mefi and Muchava classified as 'middle' peasants, had acquired their means of production in the following ways: Goods Bought with money from South Africa All In part Little, or not at all Ploughs and/or oxen; cement-block house and/or house constructed in part from cement 5 8 Only cement-block house or durable goods 3 -

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province Goods Bought with money from South Africa All In part Little, or not at all Only plough and/or oxen - 4 1 (working in Beira) Other durable goods (furniture, crockery, clothes) 2 1 2 (local artisans) 10 13 3 Of the thirty-one peasants classified as poor, all worked in South Africa except four, and the little that they had acquired had been paid for predominantly with money provided from South Africa. A Study in Water Shortage: Sitila Although the position of migrant labour is extremely important in the reproduction of the peasantry in all the areas studied, we concluded that Sitila is especially dependent on mine earnings. Agricultural production in Sitila is extremely low: only six of the twenty-five peasants interviewed showed that food production was sufficient to provide the barest essentials of life. In two cases agricultural production was never sufficient to sustain the family, and in all the rest was sufficient only in good agricultural years, of which there had been relatively few. One aspect of the inability of agricultural production to sustain the area is the high cost of living for a local rural family as shown in a survey for several districts and localities of the Province conducted in 1973. For Massinga, Inharrime and Homoine, the cost of living was determined at 800-1000 escudos per month. By comparison that for Sitila was 2700 escudos, of which 1500 escudos was for food alone. The problem is not one of shortage of land. There is enough. For example, of fifteen families investigated, eight had more than five hectares. The fundamental problem is lack of water. Every interviewee - not only officials but in all sections of the population emphasised this problem. The water shortage affects not only agricultural crops, but also domestic needs. When there are no rains, the population of Ngomani must travel 30 km to fetch water (a journey of two days), the population of Manhaussela 20 km, and the population of Mangorro 12 km. In the dry season water is very expensive: one oil drum (20 litres) of drinking water, between October and December 1976, cost 100 escudos, allowing car owners to make large profits since they alone could carry water easily over large distances.

Case Studies Considering these climatic difficulties, it is not by chance that practically all the men seek work in South Africa or elsewhere (e.g. on the railway, or Cabora Bassa hydro-electric scheme). Of the twenty-five men interviewed, twenty-one had been to the mines, and three had employment within Mozambique (as a railway worker, a tailor and a house builder). In nine of the families, someone was away working in the mines at the time of our study. Three men were working in Mozambique outside the district, and six more had cash incomes close to home (driver, house builder, carpenters, bicycle repairer). To sum up, we found that the male population of Sitila is highly dependent on wage work. One trader said: 'There is quite a lot of money in the area, but agricultural production is very low. The money comes from the mines.' There is a clear connection between shortage of water, low agricultural production and the necessity to obtain cash wages. There is also a clear order of priority for use of this money. The first priority is lobolo (at the time of the study 10-20 contos). After this, money is spent on water tanks and wells - eighteen of the families had a tank or a well, or both. Only after water is secured are other goods bought, such as cattle (1975 prices 5 contos per head; 1977 10 contos per head), ploughs (2600$), grinding mills (6 contos). Some of these are hired out - for example ploughs and oxen can be rented out. To plough one hectare of land in 1977 cost 500 escudos. It becomes apparent that in Sitila, compared with the other areas, there is a closer relationship between social differentiation and the earning of salaries in South Africa. Thus the heads of the richest families were boss-boys, on the mines. A part of miners' earnings is put to productive use - for the construction of wells, water tanks and houses, and for the purchase of durable consumer goods (furniture, cars, trunks, etc.). Some of these purchases provide local employment for masons, carpenters and drivers. One mason told us that he charged 1200 escudos for the construction of a small well. The income of petty commodity producers like his is more or less totally dependent on money earned outside the locality, usually in the mines. Any noticeable curtailment of these external earnings will decrease the possibility of earning a little money inside the locality. Since the area is more dependent on mine labour than any of the other areas we studied, if the opportunities to go to South Africa are restricted still further it will cause graver problems here than elsewhere. Dependence on mine work will be lessened only if the

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province water problem can be solved, after which cotton production may be possible. Sixteen Peasant Households Middle Peasant Households Ex-miner/middle peasant: The household comprises a fifty-five year old head, two wives, a grown-up son, two sons at school and three children under ten. Timoteo worked as a labourer-tenant until 1974 for a landowner. He was allowed to live on the land in return for free labour, recorded through a ticket system. In return, he was given protection against chibalo. He was required to pay tribute in cash and in kind after every harvest. For instance, he had to pay 40 escudos after he had harvested his cotton, regardless of the size of the crop, and for the use of a piece of machongo land 80 sq m, for rice growing, he had to give the landowner two tins of rice. In 1954 Timoteo was taken away for chibalo for failing to fulfil the conditions of his tenure. He returned home after two months when the cabo intervened on his behalf. He also worked as a miner, and did five contracts between 1944 and 1969. Timoteo thought that going to the mines was contrary to the terms of his tenure, but that the landowner had taken no action because he had paid for the use of the land in cash. He commented that the labour-tenant system had been very corrupt. From wages earned on the mines, Timoteo bought oxen, a plough and a sewing-machine. He hopes that proceeds from the sale of crops in the future will enable him to build a brick house. His landholding is 9.5 hectares of nhaca soil on which he grows cotton, potatoes and garlic for sale, and maize, beans, cassava and groundnuts for home consumption. There is also 2.5 hectares of inachongo on which rice, sweet potatoes and vegetables are produced. There does not seem to be a shortage of nhaca land. Miner/middle peasant: The household comprises the head, Antonio, forty-two, his wife and three young children (one from a second wife who had deserted him). Antonio worked four contracts on the mines between 1953 and 1976. In between he worked in Maxixe for five years on road construction, and as a tailor in a Homoine shop for four years. He first went to the mines in 1953 when he was eighteen. He claims that he was never taken for chibalo because he is a footballer. During his mine contracts his football came to his rescue again: he played goalkeeper for a mine team, and worked only a four-day week, the rest of the week was set aside for football against teams as far away as Johannesburg. He worked on the Sheba goldniine in the Eastern Transvaal for which he was

Case Studies recruited by ATAS, as this was a mine not affiliated to the Chamber of Mines. Antonio claimed to be equally interested in minework and farming, though he thought minework had not really brought him any real material benefit: *I have nothing to show for the years I have spent on the mines.' He works a rather large area of land: 4 hectares of red soil and four of nhaca. He also has had access to 1 hectare of machongo, but he claimed that he had been dispossessed of this land during an absence on the mines. Antonio, who is a member of the G.D., is taking this land complaint to the people's court for deliberation and judgment: he was sure he could get the machongo land back 'because everybody knows that this land has always been mine'. He owns 500 cashew trees and thirty coconut trees, but claims that he does not know how much cashew his wife sold during his absence on his last contract in 1976. From that contract he brought back 31/2 contos in cash and 50 contos in deferred pay. His bonus certificate had expired because of family problems - the desertion of his second wife - which had prevented his return to the mines within the required period. If there was a chance of working another contract he would definitely take it, he said. Middle peasant household: The household is a man and wife in their sixties, two teenage sons attending school, three children under ten, one of whom looks after the animals. Additionally, there are two sons working in Maputo, one for the veterinary department, and one on a citrus estate; the old mother of the head of the family is also away. Alfeu worked six mine contracts, the last in 1959. During this period of his life he also worked one period of chibalo on the railways. He paid lobolo from his mine wages and then settled down to farm three machambas, for which he had paid 10 escudos to the cabo and the usual annual tribute, he cultivated maize, groundnuts, sweet potatoes and pumpkin. In 1976 he acquired two additional machambas, both machongo, one allocated by the G.D. in a neighbouring cell and which is two hours' walking distance. He owns 100 cashew trees and less than a dozen coconut trees, and some citrus. His principal sales are of cashew nuts. From the last harvest he sold only three sacks in three different cells (total proceeds were 870 escudos), but in the past, from better harvests, he bought his first oxen in 1962, and a plough in 1965. He now owns two oxen, five cows, two donkeys and ten chickens. He has bred most of his cattle. Agricultural production has been declining in recent times, due both to poor rains and the mafekefeke beetle. He

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province still has cashew nuts to market, but no surplus from the machongo. He hires out his oxen and plough. He paid taxes regularly and has never been short of food. The two grown sons are working in Maputo Province. The eldest lost his eye in an accident and from the compensation his father arranged his marriage. This son has worked away from home for three years. The younger son worked a mine contract during 1974, and then found work on a citrus farm in Maputo Province. Absent miner/middle peasant: The household is the absent husband, his wife and a nephew aged ten. Ernesto is fifty-eight years old, and is working his eighteenth contract. He first contracted for minework in 1930 when he was twenty-one. He is presently working as a boss-bov. His wife is fourteen years younger than him, and works their land during his absences. They have no children but are caring for a nephew who goes to school. The family began to work this land in 1964, previously they had lived on mission land. They have good machongo land, and enough to leave some to lie fallow for periods of several years at a time. They grow maize, groundnuts, cassava, and citrus, and have a surplus of cassava and citrus fruit to sell. They have 150 coconut trees and 160 cashew trees and sold cashew nuts from their last harvest to the amount of 1300$. They own no means of production, but hire a plough and oxen for several weeks a year, for which they paid 600 escudos on the last occasion. Neighbours help with the working of the land when Ernesto is absent. Though he does not tell his wife how much he earns, Ernesto makes a point of sending money home to his wife. The round cement house in which the family lives was built with money from previous contracts. It has a sleeping and eating area and is plainly furnished. During his present contract Ernesto has sent his wife two amounts of 3000$. From this sum she has bought cement and hired a man to make the blocks for the new house now under construction. They plan to buy cattle next. Her husband sent 24,000$ with a friend returning home, but his wife has not yet received this sum. Her husband plans to end his minework, but has continued in the hope of being granted a long service award. Long-term miner/middle peasant: The household is a wife of fortyone, one child of ten, and a 'future wife'. Alexandre has worked fourteen contracts in the mines - the majority for sixteen months or more - hence he has been absent almost continually since his first contract in 1964. He also did three terms of chibalo, earning 100$ a month, in Maputo. He has two cement houses and a very large grain store. With money from the mines he has bought a radio, a 154

Case Studies sewing-machine and a watch. During his last contract he sent home 14,000$ and received 18,000$ in deferred pay. He learned to be a tailor in South Africa, but as yet he has not set himself up in this business. This family has four inachambas on which they use a rotative crop system, but this year has been so bad that they have not produced sufficient food to eat, and some money has been spent on basic foodstuffs. Normally they would hope to sell two sacks of maize and twenty sacks of groundnuts. They have 500 cashew trees and 150 coconut trees. The family also owns a donkey, five goats, one pig and eight chickens. They paid 800$ last year to have their land ploughed. Shopkeeper/medium peasant: The household is the wife and seven dependent children and cousins. Alemdo is a shopkeeper. His shop was originally opened by the latifundario on his estate. Alemdo took it over in 1975. It has since been nationalised, and he pays a rent of 2000$ a month. For ten years he worked for the latifundario in his Maxixe business, and before that spent three years each in the army and the police. He was the first African to be left solely in charge of a business in Maxixe. He married in 1966 and acquired his land for a nominal sum (10$) - land at this time was easy to get because many people had fled from the 'labour obligation' area. He considers that his land is insufficient for his family's needs, although he has 200 cashew trees, 150 coconut trees, some citrus, papaya, banana and mango trees. This year he also produced ten sacks of maize, seven of mandioc, seventeen of groundnuts and a few other vegetables. Drought and disease have reduced the crop, and the majority of the produce has been reserved for home consumption. He earned 2700$ from the sale of maize and mandioc. He owns chickens, three goats, ducks and a pig. He has a car in which he had a serious accident and is now liable to pay 2000$ in compensation each month, or else his car will be confiscated to pay the sum. His wife and two salaried workers help in the shop. At present, profits from sales just cover wages, rent and the cost of new stock. However, he has just received his licence which means he can sell a wider range of products, e.g. sugar and rice, and profits from these alone should bring in an extra 3500$ a month. He built his five-room alvenaria house by having monthly deductions made from his wages for the cost of cement, wood and other materials. His house has a separate dining-room and bathroom, and a barraca (a simple roofed construction) for cooking and storage. Alemdo was secretary to the G. D. of the cell. According to members of the G.D. circle, he did a good job and mobilisation has been weaker since he left. He is clearly one of the

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province better-off peasants in the area. His future depends on his shop which the administration may convert into a consumers' cooperative. Artisan/middle peasant: The household is two wives and a six year old child. Hilario has worked eight mine contracts, and has been absent from home for the greater part of the last twenty-five years. His first mine contract was in 1951, and the last in 1963. After returning from South Africa with a sewing-machine, bought with his mine wages, he set up as a tailor in a shop in Morrumbene district, and worked at this for eleven years; he returned home permanently only this year. He is in the process of constructing an alvenaria house. At present he has a cement house, two huts and two grain storers. He has also bought materials to build a water tank. Money from South Africa has also been used to buy a radio, a record player, two watches, a mill and a plough. The latter is rented out for 100$ a time. Whilst in South Africa he sent back 7000$, as well as clothes and food for the family. He charges approximately 100$ for each item of clothing he makes. The family has a donkey, ducks, chickens and seven pigs which are looked after by the women. Hilario inherited his machamba from his father twenty years ago, and it is worked by his two wives. Last harvest they were able to sell two sacks of mandioc flour for 600$, and exchanged three latas of mafurra for 9 kg of salt. In good years they would expect to earn 4500$ from the sale of groundnuts, but this year production was low, only enough for home consumption. He has also 150 cashew trees which gave nine tins of nuts, all for home consumption. Forty coconut trees were also used to feed the family. Eight young citrus trees have not started producing yet. Ex-carpenter/middle peasant: The household is a seventy- two year old head, his sixty-seven year old wife, a married daughter, and her three small children. Ernesto worked six mine contracts in South Africa between 1928 and 1936. From his mine wages he bought three head of cattle and carpentry tools, and after his final contract he concentrated on working his land and on carpentry. He bought a plough and built his first brick house from the proceeds of this combination work. He works 3 hectares of land, 1 hectare each of red soil, sandy soil and machongo. He owns 400 cashew trees, 500 coconut trees and forty tangerine trees. In 1974 he sold twelve sacks of cashew nuts and eight sacks of rice; the 1976 harvest yielded eleven sacks of cotton and twelve sacks of coconuts. Earlier harvests were even better: in 1964 he grew and sold sixty sacks of groundnuts. He owns a plough which he uses to plough the fields of others, 156

Case Studies three oxen, three cows, two donkeys, rabbits, turkeys and ducks. The donkeys are used to draw water from the river and to carry the harvest. He gave up carpentry some years ago when his hands became shaky. He prides himself on his success as an agriculturist, and continues to take a great interest in the agriculture of the district. He does not favour the way in which labour is being reorganised in Homoine. He considers it a mistake to prevent or discourage people from using the practice of matsima (in which peasants work together on each others' land in turn) because he finds it a better form of labour organisation than the one presently being introduced. He is of the opinion that without the use of matsima, food production will drop because those who 'really know about agriculture' depended on inatsima in the past. He claimed that these agricudtores were being singled out for attack as people who had been favoured by the colonial administrators: 'We are described as people with a colonial mentality who have accepted capitalistic methods of production,' he said. 'People are being told to reject our methods and ideas. It is said that people did not produce enough food in the past because they were exploited and because they worked on an individual basis and that only group work concentrated on collective machambas will ensure sufficient food production for the future. We work in groups now, but many people do not turn up. Today we are forbidden to hire tractors as some of us did in the past. Only communal villages and co-operatives are allowed to hire tractors.' Ernesto clearly expresses ideas shared by some of the peasants in the same socio- economic position as himself. He would like not only to be able to hire a tractor, but even to buy one, though he subsequently claimed he did not have sufficient money to make such a purchase. He probably underestimated the extent of his landholdings. He was nervous during the interview, and asked what decisions could be expected to issue from Maputo. Builder's family: The household is Edmundo, aged twenty-six, two wives, an aunt of sixty, and three children under ten. The family works three pieces of land - two handed down by an uncle who had previously paid regular annual tribute to the latiflindio owner, and the third previously worked by the old aunt. His father had been a capataz of cotton but died when Edmundo was a child. They had begun to work the land when Edmundo returned from Beira where he had worked for four years as a builder. He returned home to continue this trade, which is his principal source of income. During the first seven months of 1977 he made about 25 contos from this,

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province though the cost of materials has to be deducted from this amount. His tools trade include a metal trowel, a plumb-line and a ball of string, which he bought when he worked in Beira. The family's agricultural production is slight: a few bags of mandioc and groundnuts, some coconuts, and four producing orange trees. During the year four pigs were sold for 1400$. Using the cash income from his building work, Edmundo bought five sacks of maize meal, three cans of rice, and two sacks of groundnuts, journeying to Vilanculos especially to make these purchases because prices there are lower, though transport for himself and his sacks on the bus ate up a large part of the saving. The family lives in several grass huts, but two brick houses are under construction. Inside the living quarters there are a table and stools only. Edmundo has never worked a mine contract but would sign one now if the route were open. His land has not produced enough food to eat, and house building is tailing off now that the mine route is open to so few. Artisan: The household is Eugenio, his wife and five children. Eugenio is a stone- mason; he has never worked in the mines. To learn his trade he went to Inhambane and paid 3000$ for his apprenticeship. He trained for seven years, receiving no money at all during this period, and having to pay rent and food from the small amounts of money sent to him by his father. After three years in Vilanculos, he returned to his birthplace, Chokwe, to marry. After working for one year at 40$ a day, he decided to become self-employed. He moved to Buvane nine years ago. At present he is working with four others as a house builder, charging 25,000$ for each house. Work is hard to find at the moment and he has been ill and unable to work during the last four months. He has three inachambas, which he and his wife both work, along with the children after school hours. One machamba is 3 km from the house - Eugenio and his wife both get up before dawn to walk to it. Eugenio works there for several hours and then continues walking to Morrumbene where he usually works. They have no tnachongo land, and because of this they argue that the land they have is insufficient for their needs. This is brought about by the lack of rain and the insect attacks which have reduced crop production this year. He has 140 cashew trees and 124 coconut trees, as well as a small number of fruit trees - papaya, citrus, peach, etc. He also grows peanuts, sweet potatoes, maize and mandioc, but this year there was no surplus from any of these crops. He also has four oxen and one cow, a pig and some ducks, none of which he has sold this year. He has a plough and a mill, neither of which he rents out for 158

Case Studies payment. Eugenio's employment as a stone-mason brings in about 18 contos a year, and this money is used to supplement basic foodstuffs and to buy soap, petrol, sugar, etc. Because of his illness he has already borrowed 4 contos to buy food on which to survive. He has to pay back at least 2 contos by December, and he is worried he will not have the money. He has an unfurnished cement house, two thatched huts and a kitchen. At present Eugenio and his family are having a very hard time. Poor Peasant Households Poor young family: The household is Armando, his wife and one child of two years. Armando lived with his parents until 1975 when his father gave him a piece of land, and he received a second piece, the machongo, during the 1977 distribution of this land by the G. D. He owns no means of production, only a hoe and a catana (large knife), but can borrow his father's plough. His land and trees (fifteen coconut and thirty cashew) have barely started producing. They have grown small quantities of maize, groundnuts and a little cassava, but have to be careful in the case of the groundnuts to leave seed for the next year's crop. Of seven papaya plants, six are producing fruit. The family owns two chickens and a pig which was bought when it was young for 300$, and which has been fed on papaya for lack of anything better. At the time of the interview the wife was husking rice by hand. The diet of this family consists of cassava, maize porridge and pumpkin leaves which they collect from neighbours now that they have eaten their own. When there is no cassava they eat the leaf of the plant. They eat one meal a day at night. They never have meat or fish. The wife's mother gave them two tins of milho some months ago, but their parents do not have enough themselves to support them. The family live in a hut and have a smaller cooking hut, but no food store; in any case there is rarely any food to store. This is a poor and hungry family. There is no money for fuel for the lamp so they go to sleep in the dark. Armando has worked four mine contracts (between 1965 and 1976) and is desperate to return to the mines, or to find any work to alleviate his poverty. For his first contract he worked as a labourer on Rand Leases Mine, earning 17$50 per day. The next two contracts were on Durban Deep as a pipe-boy then store- boy, earning 22$ per day. His final contract was at Venterspost in 1975-6. As 'piccanin boss-boy' he received R1.03, rising to R1.52 a day. After this last contract the mine management refused to give any of his group a bonus card because it was said that the Mozambique government would refuse permission for more miners to return to

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province South Africa. During the past year he has tried to find work on the land but succeeded only in earning 50 escudos for two days' work. He borrowed 500$ to buy soap, kerosene and salt. Poor family of sick ex-miner: The household is Agosto, aged thirty, his wife and three young children. Agosto is disabled through illness. His first mine contract was in 1968. Then he worked on the railways in Maputo under forced labour, and saved 2500$. He was unable to complete his second mine contract because of illness and received only 150$ compensation from the administration in Morrumbene. He believes the rest of the money was stolen 'in transit'. In 1976 he was hired as an assistant to the driver of the local shop. He saved some money from this work, which he used to buy cement. He is in the process of building a brick-block house, but since he has become unemployed he is again short of money. This family has three machambas, including 1 hectare of machongo. Normally he grows maize, cassava and groundnuts. In this bad year only the latter two have produced at all; there is no surplus to sell. Agosto also has forty-seven cashew and seventeen coconut trees, as well as a few citrus, banana and mango trees. These are too small to produce and the family have been unable to sell any produce at all this year. The livestock they had, have all died. They paid 350$ to hire oxen for one week. This family are dependent on help from relatives to buy kerosene, sugar, soap, salt, etc. In bad months they go hungry. Poor old couple - retired miner: Finiosse inherited the land he now works from his father. Five years ago he acquired a small piece of machongo land. As a young boy he worked as a cattle herder for his father, and later he was employed on the local latiflindio, being paid 25$ a month for full-time work. In 1948, he had his first contract on the mines, and after his second contract was forced to work in Vila Pery in the forestry section of the administration. Forced labour meant that all men between the ages of fifteen and sixty-five were rounded up at night and taken away to work in different areas. Of the conto they earned in the 11-month period, one third had to be used to pay tax. Returning home, he was then forced to work three days a week on the latifundio, this time earning 50$ for thirty days work. Over the equivalent period, women received 50 cm of cloth. After three months of this work, Finiosse had still not been paid, so he fled to South Africa to earn money for overdue taxes. He completed seven more contracts. In 1964, when he was fifty-two, he stopped working in the mines. New laws around this time enforced stricter control over the production of certain crops. This meant that 160

Case Studies the latifundario employed fewer people to produce fewer but higher quality crops. Finiosse was therefore free to remain in the area without being obliged to work for him. The land he owns is sufficient for his and his wife's needs in good years. He has between 200-300 cashew trees; the surplus produce from these (three sacks in the last harvest) are sold to buy other foods. He also sells bananas, earning a total of 600$ in the last harvest. He has some coconut and citrus trees, and grows maize, groundnuts and rice. He has no livestock, except one pig, and no tools or machines except a knife and an axe. Last year he paid 100$ to have his land ploughed. Fourteen years of mine labour have not provided this couple with security in their old age in trees or land to ensure sufficient income. An old ex- miner living alone: Notico is eighty years old and has a long history of both mine labour and forced labour. He worked nine contracts on the mines for a total of sixteen years. He has also served nine terms of forced labour around Maxixe for between three and six months each time. Payment was minimal (60$). Notico lives in a single hut. The money he earned in South Africa was used to pay tax and to lobolo three wives, and also to buy basic foodstuffs. He acquired no material goods except a hoe, and used to make a small amount of money as a carpenter making window frames. He has no livestock at all and has three small machambas near his house. This year's harvest produced two sacks of cassava and two of groundnuts, which is sufficient for subsistence. He sold one sack of peanuts for 360$ and one of cassava for 240$, and this is his sole income. In good years he will also hope to sell cashew nuts and greater quantities of groundnuts and cassava. This year his cashew trees were diseased and he collected only one sack of nuts. He also has two coconut trees. Money from the harvest is used to buy supplementary food. Notico is living on the edge of survival and has no reserves on which to fall back. He has at least two sons who never help him in any way - but are prepared to help consume his crops in good years. The G. D. was contacted to see if the sons could be made to help their father in some way. Miner's widow: The household is Saulina and her three children. Saulina was married to a miner who died in South Africa in 1974. She received 10,000$ in compensation, which has already all been spent. The family has two machaibas which they acquired four years ago. They have thirteen cashew, thirteen coconut, eleven papaya and three tangerines trees. Other trees have not produced yet. This harvest has provided only enough for home consumption and re-seeding. They have only three chickens and a hoe. The

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province family live in two huts in extremely bad conditions. When the husband was alive they managed on a combined income from minework and the machamba. Now they must rely on relatives, especially her brother-in-law, to help. Since the husband died ,nachamba production has decreased. Two women living alone: Salemina is forty-three and lives with her aged mother in a single hut. The husbands of both these women worked in South Africa, and they are both divorced. The father died two years ago. The older woman has been ill recently and this has prevented her daughter from going to work on a large farm in Maxixe. Last year Salemina earned 300$ and her board for a month's work; she worked a total of five months. She did not want to do this badly paid work but it was her only means of obtaining sufficient money to survive. The large machamba is owned by a Mozambican who divides it into sections for cultivation by individual workers. From this year's harvest the two women sold only one tin of cashew for 45$. In an average year they would hope for five times this quantity from their twenty trees. They could also hope, in a good year, to produce two sacks each of maize and groundnuts. This year there was barely enough for subsistence. Their two small machambas were both given to them four years ago by neighbours, and the bulk of land is given over to cassava production for their food. They have no livestock, and only a hoe to work the ground. Last year in December they received 1500$ from Salemina's work, but this was all used to pay off debts. Any cash they have is used to buy food, clothing and blankets. They used to make baskets, but now they have no material. They are extremely poor, with very little possibility of changing their situation. Salemina cannot work whilst her mother is sick which means there is less food than ever, and no money for medicine.

SONGS On the Flat Bare Place (Sung by Filomena Mathayi) Leader: Oh! on the flat bare place. Chorus.- Stay there, remain there! Leader: Even if they leave me there. Chorus: Remain there! Leader: With the rains falling on me. Chorus: Remain there! Leader: Even when they insult me (swear at me). Chorus: Remain there! Leader. Even if they hit me (beat me up). Chorus: Remain there! Leader. Even if they kick me. Chorus: Remain there! Leader: Even if they bewitch me. Chorus: Remain there! Leader: Even if they throw you out. Chorus: Remain there! Leader: Oh! on the flat bare place! Chorus: Remain there! (Interviewer: What is the meaning of this song?) This song means that after I got married my husband left and went to Joni after building a small hut for me on an open space with no trees. The hut is badly constructed and it leaks when it rains. My in-laws are not nice to me: they insult me, they swear at me and they even kick or beat me up. But in spite of all these problems, I do not pack up my things and return to my own family - no! I stay here, I remain here, on this bare place, and wait until my husband returns from the mines. He must find me here when he comes home!

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province I Waste My Energy (Sung by Luisa Agosto Mbatini) Leader. Hei! you [fellow women], my energy is wasted. Chorus: My energy is wasted; it is wasted. Leader: When I build a home. Chorus: My energy is wasted; it is wasted. Leader: When I plaster the hut. Chorus: My energy is wasted; it is wasted. Leader: Won't you weep for me? Chorus: My energy is wasted; it is wasted. Leader: When I cultivate the fields. Chorus: My energy is wasted; it is wasted. Leader: When I cultivate peanuts. Chorus: My energy is wasted; it is wasted. Leader: When I plant cassava. Chorus: My energy is wasted: it is wasted. Leader: They have thrown me out. Chorus: My energy is wasted; it is wasted. Leader: He has deserted me. Chorus: My energy is wasted; it is wasted. (At the close of the song, one of the women appeals to the leader: 'Your husband has not deserted you [on purpose], it is the white men who are responsible for this! Stay where you are even when you have to suffer. Remain there and till your fields and take care of your small children! This is the advice which we fellow women give you and this is based on experience - we too have been suffering. It does not mean that your husband has deserted or left you- he is the victim of the white men's ways [of life]. He will return and find you here!') I remain alone here and waste my energy tilling the fields and taking care of the family, and when he comes back he tells me that he does not love me any more. (Interviewer: Because he brings another woman from Joni?) Today he comes back with another woman from 'there', and all my energy has been wasted! The same thing applies to men. They work and send money to build houses, but when they come home they find that the woman has gone off with another man.

Songs Keep Quiet! (Sung by Emereciana Alfredo Mazivi) Leader: Keep quiet, keep quiet, keep quiet! Chorus: Come on, keep quiet! Leader: Keep quiet about things they are going to tell you! Chorus: Come on, keep quiet! Leader. Keep quiet you who are returning from Joni! Chorus. Come on, keep quiet! Leader: Some will tell you she is a prostitute. Chorus: Come on, keep quiet! Leader: Some will say I don't work. Chorus: Come on, keep quiet! Leader: Some will tell you I am a loafer. Chorus: Come on, keep quiet! Leader: Some will tell you I am a fool. Chorus: Come on, keep quiet! Leader: Some will tell you I am ignorant. Chorus: Come on, keep quiet! Leader: You who are returning from Joni. Chorus: Come on, keep quiet! Leader: You father, you. Chorus: Come on, keep quiet! Leader: Some will tell you I don't stay at home. Chorus: Come on, keep quiet! Leader: Keep quiet, keep quiet my daughter [says her father]. Chorus: Come on, keep quiet, you who are returning from Joni! They will say to my husband, look here, this wife of yours - she is lazy, stupid, ignorant and she is always on the footpaths - she is a loose woman [she is a prostitute]. Some people will appeal to him to ignore all this malicious gossip, and my father will say to me: 'Keep quiet my daughter, I know you are not like that!'

166 The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province I Am Happy Today! (Sung by Angelina Fulawa) Leader: Oh! what joy! I am happy to see my husband today! Chorus: Oh! what joy! Leader: I am so happy to see this father today! Chorus: Oh! what joy! Leader: Oh! I am happy today [because] my man has returned. Chorus: Oh! what joy! Leader: Oh! what joy! what joy! Chorus: Oh! what joy! I am happy because my husband has returned from Joni and I welcome him with joy because we are going to do many nice things together ... He is back and we shall go visiting together. We shall visit his people and we shall visit my people. My man has returned home from Joni!

INTERVIEWS Filomena Mathayi Filomena Mathayi sang On the Flat Bare Place (see p. 163). She did not compose the song but heard it, and 'it went into my heart and I kept it there'. She has been married for twenty years (when she married her husband had already done two contracts on the mines) and has had seven children, of whom four survive. When my husband goes to the mines, I remain here. I have been in this place for twenty years. The house was built by my husband, I think in 1974. I don't remember. Perhaps you can help me (appealing to those present at the interview). Ngoveni: I think it was in 1974. (Interviewer: The work on it goes very slowly - the windows have not yet been fixed.) The floor has not yet been finished either. (Interviewer: How big is the house?) It has two bedrooms and a sitting-room. (Interviewer: Do you know the name of the mine where your husband works?) No! (Interviewer: Doesn't he tell you?) I don't know [where he works]. (Interviewer: Has he always worked on the same compound, or has he changed?) He has changed. They [i.e. with others from the area] used to work in one mine but they have moved them to another place now; I don't know [where]. (Interviewer: This is what I told [the public meeting] yesterday, that the men did not even tell their wives where they worked in the past!) They only say 'we work in Joni!' (Interviewer: So you got married and came here - and you also said that your father-in-law has died.) My mother-in-law is still alive. The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province (Interviewer: Does she live here with you?) She left and lived with another man - she left while my father-in-law was alive. But when I have problems I go and consult her or ask for her help, and her new husband doesn't interfere or try to stop her giving me support. (Interviewer: You've had good relationship with your in-laws, then?) Even now we still get on well. I also have a sister-in-law - this one [pointing to a woman present at the interview] and we get on well. They all help when there is illness in the house. (Interviewer: But suppose you did not have these relatives, to whom would you turn with your problems [while your husband is away]?) Only the hospital - yes, and the government. (Interviewer: Do you miners' wives sometime come together and chat about your husbands, to give each other mutual support and so on?) Yes, we do have informal conversations when one woman will say 'My husband is in Joni but I haven't received any letters - I don't know if he is ill'. Yes, we do have conversations when we meet in the valley [machongo gardens], but we do not specifically seek each other out to discuss [our husbands], we just chat when we meet in the valley. (Interviewer: You only chat when you meet by chance?) Yes! We might talk about letters we have just received: 'The letter I was waiting anxiously for has arrived and I am very happy and relieved now! I have now received news about his health-he is well. You can never tell what kind of news a [long awaited] letter will bring. So when this letter eventually comes, I feel very happy because this day I have [actually] talked to my man indeed!' (Interviewer: Yes, indeed! And now, does your husband write regularly?) He writes. (Interviewer: When your husband is at home, does he help you with some of the work - are there certain duties you do together'? Which are these?) We go to the fields together. He ploughs with the oxen - he did when we had oxen. We do the weeding in the fields together. He builds or repairs the huts [one hut had just collapsed] and the granaries. (Interviewer: Do you have any oxen?) We used to - they've all died. (Interviewer: You don't have even one left?) No, they're all dead.

Interviews (Interviewer: When you still had oxen, if your husband was away in Joni...) I handled the oxen. (Interviewer: You were able to handle and use those oxen?) Yes! (Interviewer: You learned how to handle them?) Yes. (Interviewer: Who helped you?) My children. (Interviewer: Are your children old enough to handle oxen?) My son and daughter are still at school. My son can manage the oxen all by himself now, and I don't have to do anything [before they died]. (Interviewer: How old is your son?) May be eleven years. (Interviewer: And this is the son who drove the oxen and ploughed the fields?) Yes. (Interviewer: Is he your firstborn?) My firstborn is the one who died. This one [at school] comes after the firstborn. (Interviewer: And after the one at school?) Then comes the girl. (Interviewer: The one at school?) Yes, the one at school. Then follows another girl, and then this one [a son] in my arms. (Interviewer: How did you learn how to handle oxen - who taught you?) My husband taught me. (Interviewer: Did he say why he wanted to teach you how to handle oxen?) He trained me so that if he became ill I could take his place, and when he had recovered, he would take over again [and deal with the oxen]. (hzterviewer: Is he thinking of buying more cattle to replace the dead ones?) He would like to. (Interviewer: Now that all the oxen have died, it means a great deal of work for you - you have to work the fields by hoe, don't you?) That's true. (Interviewer: Do you work all the fields by hand [alone] or do you...)

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province I work some of the fields myself, and I ask friends to help with the others. (Interviewer: Using [ma]tsima?) Yes. Or I hire oxen and pay with cash. (Interviewer: How much do you pay for hiring oxen to plough your fields?) It depends on the size of the field. If it is a huge field, they may charge as much as 1000 escudos; or 1100 escudos. (Interviewer: How many fields have you got - the ones for which you need to use oxen?) From that cashew tree over there, to the grave here! And from here all the way down to the valley there! These are all my fields. [With the help of V. Gwambe, an ex-land surveyor who was present at the interview, we came to the conclusion that Filomena had about 3-4 hectares of land, not including the chongo garden.] (Interviewer: Yes, it seems clear that you really do need oxen for your fields. What type of crops do you plant?) Peanuts - except that we don't get any peanuts these days! We never do! We plant cassava, maize, beans and pumpkins. But today we get nothing out of all these. (Interviewer: Nothing at all?) Nothing. We get nothing! (Interviewer: What do you think is the cause of all this? The whole of Homoine was already complaining when we were here the year before last that they no longer got anything from the fields - why is that?) I don't know myself. (Interviewer: How do you survive when you don't produce anything from your fields?) We subsist on coconuts - it is the coconut which sustains us. (Interviewer: This means that for those of you who have husbands or relatives working on the mines, the cash from there is most valuable?) Yes, it is they who are sending the money home. But the cash isn't very much use because even if you have lots of money sent to you well, things are extremely expensive and you can still starve with lots of cash in your house. (Interviewer: Even with cash in your house?) With cash on you! - because you can't find things to buy. If we don't get anything from the fields, but could find something in the shopsthings wouldn't be so bad! But there is nothing in the shops - the shopkeepers can't get supplies themselves. 170

Interviews (Interviewer: So that means that cash alone isn't very useful, if you don't produce anything from the fields?) If you were able to produce peanuts, your cash would be more valuable - you would be producing something from your fields, and you would only go to the shops to buy soap and paraffin, but there would be food in your house [from the fields]. But we don't get anything from the fields! (Interviewer: And do you have to eat your cashew nuts?) Yes. (Interviewer: How many cashew trees do you have in your fields? Do you know?) Oh! I don't know, I don't! (Interviewer: And coconut trees - do you know how many you have?) I don't know- but Ihavesome [i.e. I have quite a lot], coconut trees and mafurra trees, I do have, but I have never counted them. (Interviewer. In a good year, are you able to produce enough coconut and cashew to sell?) Most of the coconut trees have not yet started bearing fruit - only six of them are bearing fruit. I have never sold any coconut - I eat it with my children. We don't get enough cashew to be able to sell. What we produce we eat ourselves. But we're used to eating peanuts and cashew is not as good as peanuts: a lata of peanuts is sufficient [for my family] for a period of one to two weeks, but the same lata of cashew is only sufficient for four days. Cashew is not as valuable as peanuts! (Interviewer: Indeed!) What has value is peanuts. (Interviewer: Your husband bought cattle with his wages, but they have all died. Did he buy any other animals? I see some pigs over there!) We only have those pigs. (Interviewer: How many?) They are two. (Interviewer: And those ducks?) They are not ours; we are keeping them for someone else. (Interviewer: Do you plant mandioc in all your fields'?) I have. I also have mandioc in the other field over there! (Interviewer: Have you got a chongo garden?) Yes. (Interviewer: How big?) 100 metres [i.e. 100 x 100m]. (Interviewer: Is the chongo far away?)

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province It's not far, it's over there! (Interviewer: What do you grow in the chongo garden?) Rice and beans, but I didn't manage to plant any beans this year. (Interviewer: Any maize?) Yes, the chongo garden is good for maize. (Interviewer: Do you produce a lot of rice?) Yes, but there is a big problem with water. The best part of the garden has become waterlogged and now we can only use the edges of the garden. We've been forced to give up the most productive part of the garden. (Interviewer: When did the chongo garden become waterlogged?) This is the fifth year now. [The 1977 floods must have made the situation worse!] (Interviewer: We are now going to wind up our conversation. In talking to you I get the impression that although your husband is away for long periods, you are able to manage the home and family with the support of your relations. But if we [the government] were able to create as soon as possible industries here at home, what would you prefer - that your husband continues to work in South Africa, or take up employment here in Mozambique?) Well, that would be for him to decide. I am not the worker- he is the worker who must choose where he prefers to work. (Interviewer: But deep in your heart, if he were to ask you: 'My dear, would you prefer that I continue working in Joni, or would you rather I come and work here at home?') It's all the same. It's the same money here at home or in Joni. (Interviewer: But if he worked at home, you would see him all the more often than you do now when you only see him once in every two years.) [She burst out laughing, one prolonged laughter!] (Interviewer: I wish to thank you very much for this conversation, and now it is your turn to ask me any question if you have any.) What I want to ask is only this: Where do I get peanuts? [We all burst out laughing, Filomena included.] This is what I want to ask you because we don't get any peanuts these days although we keep planting, and follow all the rules. (Interviewer: It is the same in Maputo, everyone is looking for peanuts and there is none. Yesterday a man was seen carrying a bag of peanuts at the administration in Homoine, and he was quickly surrounded by lots of people asking where he had found those peanuts. He told them that he bought the peanuts from Masinga district, but that he was not prepared to sell even a handful of them to anyone! When we do get some peanuts, as we occasionally do in

Interviews Maputo, these would have been brought from the North - Cabo Delgado. I have the impression that the soil here in Inhambane is very exhausted. And here in Homoine the situation is made worse by the coconut and cashew trees which have been planted so close together that they now create a permanent shade, making it impossible to produce even mandioc, let alone peanuts, in the open spaces between them. Look over there where your field begins, you have a real forest of cashew trees there, haven't you?) Yes! (Interviewer: You cannot produce anything else between those trees, can you?) You are right, it's true. (Interviewer: The land has to be rejuvenated, and that is a huge problem for the government!) By which time we would have all died of hunger [i.e., by the time the land has been rejuvenated]. When we go to hospital, they tell us to stop eating coconut, they say that eating too much coconut causes anaemia. Well, we are all finished, we shall die of hunger! It wouldn't be so bad if, failing to produce peanuts in our fields, we could still find some to buy. (Interviewer: Indeed! Now to conclude, the song you sang the other day - 'On a flat bare place' - who composed it? Did you just pick it up when you heard someone sing it?) It was not me who composed the song, I heard someone sing it and I picked it up- it went into my heart and I have kept it there! (Interviewer: Good! Do you know another song apart from that one?) No. (Interviewer: Maybe you are just uneasy about singing alone.) No, no. I am not afraid [to sing alone]. (Interviewer: Don't you sing while you are stamping maize or working in the fields, or when you are comforting a crying baby?) No, no. (Interviewer: O.K. many thanks, Khanimambo! Oh! I have forgotten to ask you the names of your children.) Sebastiao, Laura and Carlinha. (Interviewer: And this one?) He is called Pascoal. (Interviewer: Khanimarnbo!) Emereciana Aifredo Mazivi and Luisa Agosto Mbatini Emereciana Alfredo Mazivi sang 'Keep Quiet' (p. 165). She said she had not composed it, but she sang it when doing tsima (communal

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province work with other women). She was interviewed in the presence of her friend Luisa, whose husband also works on the mines. Emereciana was interviewed at the home of her friend, Luisa. After both young women had been interviewed separately, but in the presence of each other (including Venancio Gwambe from the structures), it was decided to conclude with a group interview. The original plan had been to interview each woman at her own home, but Emereciana was not home when we arrived. She subsequently appeared at Luisa's house and sat in at the interview with Luisa which was already underway. I am twenty-four. My father worked on the mines. He came and went. I went to school for two years. I left school to get married, but I am now attending alfabetiza9io [literacy classes]. (Interviewer: But do you know enough to be able to write to your husband?) I can't write to my husband myself. I can read a little, but I need help in this also. It is Luisa who help me with my letters. I receive two or three letters each month. (Interviewer: Your husband is a very regular writer, do you also write to him two or three times a month? What do you write about? [Laughter] We do not want to know about very private things to which only very close friends like Luisa are privileged!) He writes and says that he must find me here waiting for him when he returns. And I answer that he will certainly find me here at home waiting for him. I tell him that I am doing those things which will please him: I tend the fields, the pigs, and I take good care of his relatives [when they come for a visit]. He asks if his parents are in good health, and I write and tell him that they are very well. (Interviewer: Do you worry over him sometimes? Do you fear that something might happen to him, so that he might not return home?) Yes, I get worried and I become afraid for him because I don't even know that country where he is! (Interviewer: What are you afraid of? What do you think might happen to him?) I don't know the situation there, where he works. I don't even know the country. We sometimes hear that there has been a rock-fall, and this is worrying because we do not know what things are like there! (Interviewer: Are you worried about other women he might meet there, and who might make him 'forget' to return home?) [She laughed and mumbled something incoherently.] When some women talk - I know that this happens because I have seen some men return home with women from over there.

Interviews (Interviewer: And when the men talk about these things... They say that there are no women in Joni. (Interviewer: Does your husband say that'?) Yes! But I don't believe that because I can see other men returning home with women from over there. (Gwambe: (present at the interview) Hei, Emereciana!, will you give us a brief explanation, because something did happen at celu/a Khambane. You remember when young Alfredo returned with the woman, the small children and the car? He had told this woman [from South Africa] that the woman who was at his home looking after the house and the children was his aunt or sister. When he arrived here he actually introduced his first wife as his aunt. When this case was brought to the Xitshungu [people at the cehula], how did the women react -what did you [women] say?) We confronted the man and told him that this was not his aunt but his wife, and he couldn't argue against that because he knew that we knew! (Gwanbe: And what [more] did you women say?) We didn't say anything more [but] we told the woman he had brought from South Africa that the woman she found in the house was not the man's aunt, but his wife. We said she was not his sister either but his wife with whom he had begotten the children who were before her. (Gwambe: And what did she say?) I don't know because I wasn't there on the day when the case was [further] discussed. (Gwambe: What about the other [similar] case at celula Muhlava, where the woman, N'wa-Azariya, subsequently deserted her husband after he returned with another woman from South Africa and introduced her to this new woman as his aunt? What did the women say in that case?) Well, I don't know about that. (Gwambe: We think that may be when you write to your husband and tell him that he should not worry because when he returns he will find you waiting for him, you also tell him - or would like to tell him - that in turn he must not come back with another woman and make you his aunt!) It hasn't entered my mind that when he is there he might be planning to marry another woman from that side. I'm assuming that he has gone there only to work and not to marry another woman - I expect only to see him return here alone! (Interviewer: You left school after two years in order to get married The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province - had you known your husband before, had you met and talked to him before he married you?) Yes, I had met him and exchanged greetings with him - but only 'good morning and how are you?' We never met in private to talk; he came to my home! (Interviewer. But all the same, before he came to your home you had met and talked to him whenever you met in the footpaths.) I saw him because his own home is here in the same community. (Interviewer: That is what I mean. And when he eventually came to your home and asked for your hand in marriage from your parents, did you hesitate before making up your mind?) I didn't hesitate. (Interviewer: You immediately gave your consent?) Yes! (Interviewer: You then got married. How many years have you been married now?) I have been married for seven years now. I lived at my husband's parents. I only moved out of their home last year. Whenever my husband returned conflicts started, for example, when I cooked food my father-in-law would leave and go away just when I was about to dish it up! When I gave him food he would leave and go away, but he would never say what or who had offended him. As a result, we decided to move out and set up our own home. (Interviewer: Do you think that your father-in-law was trying to tell your husband, in this way, to get out and start his own household?) That is what he wanted. (Interviewer: When you eventually decided to move out, how was the parting between father and son, was it peaceful or were they angry with each other?) The parting was peaceful. (Interviewer: But your husband moved out because of conflict with his father?) Yes. (Interviewer: Now that you are living by yourself in that hut, does your father-in- law visit you?) They come and visit me. (Interviewer: Are there any conflicts?) There is none. (Interviewer: Are they satisfied with the way you keep the home, etc.?) All his relatives come and visit me [otherwise they wouldn't]. (Interviewer: Now, what are the problems you face when your husband is away in Joni?)

Interviews I get worried when I don't receive his letters [for too long]. I want him to write and tell me how he is getting on, and in turn I write and tell him how I am getting on. (Interviewer: Does he send you money regularly'?) Yes, he does. (Interviewer: What do you do with the money your husband sends you?) We're having a house built. We haven't yet built a brick house for lack of cement. We've had the bricks made. We built a big house over there! (Interviewer: At his parents' place where you moved out?) Yes. (Interviewer: And you abandoned the house?) We left it behind! (Interviewer: Does it look like this one, Luisa's house?) It is bigger [Luisa's house has two bedrooms and a sitting-room]. (Interviewer: Is it bigger?) We had to leave the house and came to settle here. We are now going to build a new house, which is why we have bought the blocks. (Interviewer: I saw the blocks at your home, but you haven't started with the construction because there is no cement - is that right?) Mm! (Interviewer: Did you make the blocks yourself?) We asked someone to make them for us. (Interviewer: Are there people here who specialise in making blocks? How much do they charge?) We paid 500$50 to the brickmaker. (Interviewer. Are you going to employ another person to build the house when cement becomes available?) Yes, we shall look for a person to do that. (Interviewer: Do you have builders around here? And how much do they charge to build a house like Luisa's?) Luisa: We paid 4000$ [for our house]. (Interviewer: What other problems do you face when your husband is away? What about cultivating the fields?) I cultivate [i.e. I have no problems there]. (Interviewer: Have you got big fields?) I don't have big fields because even if I were to cultivate big fields, there would be nothing to plant - we have no seeds. We do have the cash, but there is no seed even in the shops. (Interviewer: Since the fields don't produce anything, or hardly anything, it must mean that those of you who have husbands or sons working on the mines are the lucky ones because with the money

The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province they send home you can buy rice - is that right?) We grow rice and mandioc. (Interviewer: Do you have a chongo garden?) I have, the one which belongs to the co-operative. I used to have. (Interviewer: Do you mean you don't have your own chongo garden now?) I don't have one yet. (Interviewer: Where do you produce your rice then?) We used to produce rice in the chongo gardens now controlled by the co-operative, and this is something which happened only recently. (Interviewer: I am not very clear. I want you to explain whether you have a chongo garden of your own where you produce your own rice, a garden which has nothing to do with the co-operative.) As of now I don't have a chongo garden, and when I get one I shall work on it. (Interviewer: Do you think you will get one?) I don't know if I will get one. (Interviewer: Do you have children?) We do not have any children. (Interviewer: Aren't you afraid living alone in that hut?) Even if I am afraid, what can I do? (Interviewer: Doesn't your husband worry over you living all by yourself?) I just stay there! (Interviewer: It is a good thing that you have very close friends who live not so far away [like Luisa] to keep company. Khanimambo! Emereciana and Luisa, I would like you to tell me something about the relationship between women who have husbands on the mines on the one hand, and those whose husbands don't work on the mines. What is their attitude towards each other? Who will start? Emereciana, what do you think? You mean what they say against us with capulanas like this one? (Interviewer: Yes!) Those women who don't have husbands working on the mines, but have husbands who are working somewhere in Mozambique are able to buy capulanas like this one from some of the women whose husbands work on the mines. But those who cannot get capulanas from Joni will curse those of us who have husbands there. They are not justified in attacking and cursing us, however, because we are not to blame for the fact that their own husbands are unable to buy them the muzati (beautiful or special capulanas). (Interviewer: What do they actually say when they curse you?)

Interviews Oh! They say whatever comes to their heads! Terrible things! (Interviewer: Does it hurt when you hear these curses and the gossip about you on account of the rnuzati you possess?) Luisa: Yes, conflicts occur because failure to pay back one's debt is always followed by demands to pay up when the creditor comes and says 'I want my money!' (Interviewer: Those of you who have husbands in Joni - what do you do if, for one reason or another, your husband does not send money for a long time?) Luisa: I write and tell him that I am short of money. (Interviewer: But if he does not send the money even after you have written?) Luisa: I just keep quiet [and stop bothering]. (Interviewer: Wouldn't you borrow?) Luisa: I would have to think carefully about my chances of receiving money from my husband [in reasonable time] to enable me to pay back the loan. If I'm not certain that I will get the money soon, then I don't borrow. (Interviewer: One of these accusations which I heard is that those who have husbands on the mines don't have to cultivate large fields because they can live on the cash sent home by their husbands. Does this happen here?) Luisa: Even those women who have no husbands in Joni may sit around and neglect their fields. But some - those of us who have husbands in Joni - do work, because whether you work or not, work is determined by your own will.

PART IV WORKERS OR PEASANTS?

WORKERS OR PEASANTS? This study has shown how the labour of the peasant societies of southern Mozambique was used over prolonged periods to fuel the accumulation of South African mining capital. In these three provinces, the mine recruitment system was all-pervasive. Field research teams found hardly a man of working age who had never worked a mine contract. The only men they did find were sick or disabled; or teachers; or self-employed craftsmen, such as carpenters. Furthermore, men did not work occasional contracts, say at the beginning of their working lives when they needed money to marry and to set up an independent household. On the contrary, men worked successive contracts; they worked long contracts; and they spent a large proportion of their working lives in the mines. Part II, The Mine Labour Force, sets out the evidence. We have tried to show how these peasant societies, far from constituting some 'traditional' sector distinct from the so-called 'modern' sector, as dualist theory would have it, were deeply penetrated: accumulation by mining capital in the highly industrialised South African economy was based on labour extracted from these and other peasant societies in the region. In the course of this penetration, the cycles of production, distribution and consumption of the peasant economies were largely destroyed. Peasant families became dependent on wages from mine labour for their very reproduction; that is, for the purchase of the basic necessities of everyday family life. Peasant households became principally dependent on wage labour, not on the proceeds of agricultural production, for their purchase of essential instruments of production like ploughs, working oxen, grain mills, even hoes for agriculture. Likewise artisan skills and crafts were made dependent on the proceeds of mine work, for this petty commodity production became reliant on the monies earned from outside the peasant economy. Mine wages were used to purchase sewing machines, and carpentry and building tools; and the proceeds from mine work purchased the finished products from this sector. Young families in

Workers or Peasants? these labour-exporting areas could not establish their own households - build their homes and establish agricultural production without access to wage work. The case studies of Maimela and Homoine explain this in detail. Thus, as mining capital accumulation took place on the basis of labour extracted from these peasant economies, the reproduction of the peasant economies in turn became dependent on the wage income channeled back by the migrant miners. Mine wages were needed to ensure the reproduction of the peasant economy; and that peasant economy in turn reproduced successive generations of miners. The role of mine labour in the reproduction of peasant households of southern Mozambique can be qualified for particular years. Thus calculations of the value of agricultural produce sold by peasant households, and of the sum of mine wages, show that in 1967 the total of mine wages paid out to miners in the three southern provinces was over eight times greater than the value of marketed agricultural production in the same year.I Value of agric. Total mine wages produce sold by peasant households (000 escudos) 3 Southern provinces together 85,000 717,000 Inhambane province 24,000 209,000 The process of accumulation of capital from mining depended on the extraction of labour-power of migrant workers from rural areas. This transformed the rural economy, and created the workerpeasant. These worker-peasants are not totally divorced from the means of production in the rural areas, their land and instruments; nor are they independent producers who can reproduce their households and their agricultural plots without spells of wage work. Consequently, class formation cannot be analysed either within or outside the capitalist form of relations. Not only do workerpeasants exchange their labour- power for wages, but peasant production is subordinated to and shaped by the dominant capitalist mode of production. As a miner the migrant worker has been part of a concentrated labour force, subject to industrial work discipline, exercising work skills, acquiring experience of labour unity and organisation. His

Workers or Peasants? dismissal back to the rural economy at the end of his contract imposes limitations on forms of labour organisation and action at the point of industrial production. Thus there is a continuous process of both concentration and dispersion of the labour force. Within the rural economy, this system of labour use likewise produces distinctive social forms. We have already shown the coincidence between expanded peasant production and higher wage incomes from mine labour. The differentiation into a middle and poor peasantry arises from these groups' differential reliance on wage labour, and on different wage and skill levels within the mining industry. The stratum of middle peasants is able, after a period of wage work on the mines, to sustain a certain level of agricultural production. By contrast, the poor peasants cannot withdraw from the contract cycle; their agricultural base is too poor to sustain their families without contract renewals, and they regard themselves as unemployed when not on contract. In these southern Mozambican provinces the presence of a considerable stratum of middle peasants, often producing significant market surpluses, disposes of any notion that the invariable action of mining capital in these labour peasant societies is to reduce the social formation to a mere reserve army of labour. At the same time these peasants cannot be described as independent petty commodity producers, since acquisition of means of production and, at times, even of sources of reproduction, derives from mine wage labour. These specific forms of incomplete and impermanent proletarianisation, and of peasant differentiation between a middle and a poor peasantry, are not necessarily merely temporary. In the labour-exporting regions of Southern Africa, the action of mining capital in both dissolving and sustaining forms of peasant production can be expected to continue to the extent on the one hand that it serves the requirements of capital, and on the other, that the peasant economy can sustain the continuous labour drain without the total disintegration of agricultural production. In Mozambique's southern provinces continuous labour export throughout the twentieth century resulted in serious distortions in patterns of agricultural production. But this was not the only form of surplus extraction imposed on the peasantry by the Portuguese colonial system, for, especially after the 1940s and 1950s, as colonial economic policy impelled the production of cheap raw materials, the same producers were subjected to forced cropping of rice and cotton. Colonial policy thus demanded both forced labour and forced cropping, and never succeeded in resolving the tension between those two contradictory compulsions on the same peasan- Workers or Peasants? try. In almost all the areas studied, the effect of this double and combined policy of surplus extraction led to a drop in land productivity, and in the living standards of the peasants. Forced cultivation of cash crops conflicted with food-growing needs, and labour export conflicted with the disposition of labour during the agricultural season. Land which had formerly been used for groundnuts had to be given over to production of cashew nuts for export: there was a consequent fall in the output and production of groundnuts from which the area has never recovered. The land was overtaxed by the pressures of growing food, forced cash crops, and the production of marketable crops which offered a source of cash incomes and a certain alternative to labour migration. Any reconstruction of agriculture in independent Mozambique requires careful rethinking, and an alteration of colonial crop patterns to ensure the security and health of peasant families as well as provide them with a source of cash earnings. By the end of the colonial period, it had become abundantly clear that decades of labour export had created a male labour force which could not readily be reabsorbed into the peasant economy. This 'labour surplus' was not generated by increases in agricultural productivity, but by the very weaknesses of agricultural production, which had been undermined over a prolonged period. The reabsorption of labour previously exported to the South African mines and the reconstruction of agriculture became two of the most important tasks of Mozambican society after independence. This study of the worker-peasants of the south of Mozambique, who have been locked into both mine work and peasant household production, captures the end of an era whose demise is being ushered in by a two-fold series of events. The first has been the accession to power of Frelimo, and its commitment to restructuring the Mozambican economy and the eventual ending of migrant labour. Second, there have been two forms of labour displacement by the mining industry. These have been influenced partly by Frelimo's victory and its implications for the balance of political power in Southern Africa, but they have principally derived from changes in the pattern of capital accumulation and employment in the South African mining industry. There have been two forms of labour displacement in mining. The first has been the substitution of capital for labour in an extended programme of mechanisation, especially in recently developed mines. The scope for substituting machinery for labour in the South African gold mines is limited, given the cost conditions 186

Workers or Peasants? and technical requirements of deep-level South African gold mining; and technical changes will not end the industry's dependence on large numbers of African workers, but they will bring about changes in the size and structure of the African labour force. According to projections for employment levels in mining for the rest of this century, employment in gold mining in South Africa will fall by about 65 per cent, from 424,992 to some 148,000 in the year 2000. The expansion of coal and base metal mining, which is increasingly exploited by open-cast and highly capital-intensive techniques, will keep total employment in mining up to its 1977 total.2 The second form of labour displacement is the substitution of South African for other mine labour. The alarming projections for African unemployment in South Africa, as both industry and agriculture' reduce their labour requirements, suggest that the present trend towards the internalisation of mine labour supply will be at the continuing expense of labour recruited from outside. After 1974, as has already been pointed out, the ratio between 'foreign' and South African labour was dramatically reversed. By 1976 the proportion of 'foreign' workers on the mines had dropped to 57 per cent; by 1977 it was 48 per cent; by 1979 it had fallen lower still, to 46 per cent.' As the trend continues, the African labour force of the mines will be drawn increasingly from the South African 'Bantustans', especially the Transkei and the Ciskei. This does not mean that the Chamber of Mines will cease all importation of labour from the outside supply areas, but that it will perfect its strategy spreading its supply of controlled labour inputs. These attempts to achieve a more permanent work force within a migrant labour system have been accompanied by changes in the industry's African wage policy. Sharp rises in the gold price following the breakdown of the Bretton-Woods fixed gold price system in 1971, together with the eruption of African mine strikes in 1972, 1973 and 1974, which have continued sporadically since then, made it necessary and possible to increase the general levels for black miners-which had been virtually unaltered in real terms since 1897. The increase in mine wages to levels approaching those paid in industry made it possible for the mines to compete with industry for supplies of South African labour. It was the Anglo-American Corporation which broke from the wage-fixing machinery of the Chamber of Mines and led the trend towards higher wages; and it has maintained that lead. Thus in May 1980 Anglo-American approached the heads of other mining houses to suggest that surface workers get a 58 per cent rise, and underground wages be raised by as much as 120) per cent. In the

Workers or Peasants? event, by July 1980 the wages of African novice underground workers were increased by 15 per cent from R86.89 to R100 a month and the minimum starting wage for novice surface workers was increased by 28 per cent from R58.50 to R75 a month. For AngloAmerican, which operates the newest, most capital intensive and most profitable mines, the increases were 'a disappointment and a compromise'.' The increases, though a startling contrast with the wages paid African miners in the period before the higher wage policy of the 1970s, still did not reduce the differential in real terms between the lowest paid white and black miners. They also made little dent in mining profits. Thus the new wage increases would increase total mining costs by only 5.5 per cent. The mines repeated at the time of the announcement of the new wage scales that there was no shortage of African mine labour. So the present trend seems set to continue: calculated cutbacks of labour from external supply sources, and the balancing and weighing of competing areas of labour supply. In recent labour supply negotiations with supply states, the Chamber of Mines has made its strategy explicit. Thus, while particular states are allocated quotas of the minimum number of labourers to be recruited in a given period, the undertaking is made conditional, that is 'subject to prevailing economic conditions'. In the formal agreement concluded in 1973 with the Lesotho Government, the clause left no room for doubt: 'The engagement of Lesotho citizens for employment in South Africa shall be subject to the availability of South African labour, and may be regulated by the South African authorities accordingly'. (Article V (b).) The changed labour policies of the mining industry relate, of course, not only to changed supply policies, but also to the reconstitution of the African labour force itself. Here the policy is directed at what the Chamber has called 'the principle of permanence': that is, the maintenance, within a migrant labour force, of a relatively stable body of workers that will be encouraged to recontract within its re-employment guarantee system. We have already explained the wbrking of the Re-employment Guarantee and Early Return Bonus Certificate operated by mines affiliated to the Chamber, which gives miners repatriated after the statutory contract period an incentive to return to the same mine within a stipulated period of time. This system is being refined and extended. Miners are eligible for the certificate after one year's service; the certificate is valid for six months; and the mine worker may return to his previous mine of employment at any time within that six-month period. In other words, he is no longer required to observe an interval of eight months between contracts. On the worker's return

Workers or Peasants? to the mine, he receives the rate of pay applicable to the job category in which he was placed before, and where possible in the same work. Further refinements still are contemplated, namely, that the worker should return on a particular date after an agreed leave period, as part of a call-in card system which until recently applied to labour from within South Africa only, but which is now being extended. TEBA has now computerised its records for recruiting labour. This makes it easier to administer the 'permanent' employment of migrant workers. It also makes it easier to control the workforce and to discriminate selectively against workers who may incur their employers' or compound manager's displeasure, even by blacklisting them from mine labour.b For independent Mozambique, these changes in South African labour policy had a profound impact at a number of levels. After 1975 the recruitment figures dropped heavily to as little as a quarter of previous levels. The Chamber of Mines fixed a quota of 30,000 Mozambican recruits a year; the total of workers recruited in 1979 was slightly higher, just under 40,000. The recruitment of new miners virtually ceased. This was a drastic cutback, and the abrupt reduction in recruitment was combined with the crisis in agricultural production that accompanied the collapse of the former colonial state's marketing system. The result was a marked drop in the standard of living of the southern peasantry. Additionally, at the national level, the payment of premiums under the special gold clause was abolished in March 1978, as a result of the agreement by the International Monetary Fund that South Africa revalue her gold holdings and the selling price of her gold. Within three years, from 1976 to 1978, a system of labour sale which had sustained Portuguese colonialism in Mozambique for almost a century was in a state of crisis. It was symptomatic of the general crisis of the colonial economy, not least within the rural economies, with which the new Mozambican government was confronted as it took power. Mozambique has always been heavily dependent on its agriculture: this sector accounted for perhaps 40 per cent of the gross national product by 1973, and about 75 per cent of the country's commodity exports. When Frelimo came to power, the agricultural sector was disrupted by a massive exodus of Portuguese settlers. Settler agriculture had expanded rapidly after World War II and had received strong backing from the state, especially in settlement schemes such as the Limpopo colonato. It was settler agriculture which used irrigation, tractors, fertilisers and improved seed, and it was this 189

Workers or Peasants? sector which practically monopolised food exports and the supply of higher quality food stuffs to the urban market. By 1970 agriculture employed some 70,000 permanent labourers and 230,000 seasonal workers, perhaps about 12 per cent of the total active population. With the accession to power of the independence government, these settler farms were virtually wholly abandoned. There was large-scale destruction of assets: machinery and equipment were sabotaged; livestock was slaughtered or neglected; irrigation canals were abandoned to be clogged by silt. The breakdown of the settler agriculture sector had drastic consequences both for production and for the marketing system, since the trading network which had purchased not only settler but also peasant crops, and which had sold basic consumer goods to the surplus-producing peasantry, had been dominated by settler interests, and was now likewise abandoned. The colonial system thus left Mozambique with a double agricultural crisis. On the one hand the collapse of colonial agriculture meant a severe shortage of food for the towns; and on the other hand and simultaneously the peasant economy was stricken by the running down of wage labour openings and thus of sources of cash investment in agriculture, and also by the breakdown of the marketing system and thus of commercial openings for peasant produce.7 The scale of the problem of the absorption of mine labour phased out by the South African mining industry can only fully be grasped by looking at the domestic employment structure inherited from the colonial period. Colonial statistics for Mozambique are notoriously unreliable, and there are wide disparities between estimates of wage employment in various sectors; however they serve to emphasise the gravity of the post-independence unemployment problem. For manufacturing industry the wage labour force was estimated to be between 85,000 (Industrial Statistics for 1973) and 156,000 (1970 Census). The transport sector employed 60,000 wage workers; construction about 23,000; mining 6,800. Wage employment in the economy's productive sectors outside agriculture therefore amounted to little more than about 200,000, which means that by the 1970s there were almost as many, if not more, wage-earners employed outside Mozambique - in South Africa and Rhodesia - as in the domestic economy.s After 1974 domestic employment fell. There were heavy cutbacks in the services sector, especially transport and tourism, and by 1976 industrial output alone dropped by 40 per cent. Though government policy was to prevent the dismissal of 190

Workers or Peasants? workers and to maintain employment levels, there was no question of expansion until the economic crisis had been weathered. This crisis of the immediate post-colonial period actually occurred in two distinct phases. After 1974 and until the end of 1977, there were drastic falls in production and in export earnings, but not a foreign exchange and balance of payments crisis. This was because the economy benefited from the exceptionally high mine labour recruitment of 1975, and especially from the special arrangement between Portugal and South Africa (from which independent Mozambique benefited briefly), according to which deferred pay was made available to the government of Mozambique in gold which could be resold at a higher price on international markets. In this period, then, foreign exchange income compensated for falling export earnings. After 1977 production in some sectors began to recover, but by 1979 Mozambique was experiencing a foreign exchange crisis: South Africa ended the special arrangement for the remittance of Mozambican mine wages in gold sold at a price below international market levels. Economic recovery was getting under way, but it met a growing foreign exchange bottleneck. Exports were slowly climbing upwards, but the shortage of foreign exchange limited the purchase of machinery and spares and thus the expansion of both industry and agriculture. It was clear that in the immediate and medium term, the industrial sector had an extremely limited capacity to absorb any additional workforce. This meant that for the most part the absorption of the unemployed, miners included, would have to take place in the agricultural sector. But what kind of agricultural sector, and what kind of strategy for its transformation and development? In the first months of independence, emergency action was needed to counter the collapse in production and export earnings; to secure the supply of raw materials and food to the towns; to salvage the assets of the former settler agricultural sector; and to maintain rural wage employment. The government took over the management of most of the abandoned settler farms. In many instances individual farms were amalgamated into large production units under the direct control of the Ministry of Agriculture; in others land farmed by settlers was taken over by or handed over to local population groups to be used collectively as producer co-operatives. The creation of the state farm sector was an emergency response, but at its Third Congress in 1977 and at subsequent proceedings Frelimo adopted an explicit strategy for agriculture which called for the organisation of collective production on state farms, co-operatives, and communal villages." These Workers or Peasants? production forms were to be part of what was envisaged for the socialisation of the countryside. There was to be planned integration of state sector and co- operatives; support for peasant agriculture to give a basis of stability to household production, and to encourage the production of marketed surplus and the renewal of basic agricultural services to prompt co-operativisation. The policy emphasised the transformation of peasant household production into co-operative forms aggregated in communal villages (aldeias coilunais), ". The problems of transition are, of course, far from easy. The task, as Frelimo defines it, is not only to raise production but to construct different social relations of production. That involves the dismantling of colonial forms of management and labour use. Central to the latter, of course, was the migrant labour system. Colonial profitability depended on cheap migrant labour - it was cheap because it was labour furnished by peasantry not definitively separated from the land and which did not therefore have to rely completely on migrant wages - and on colonial cropping patterns, chiefly monocropping of tea, sugar, rice and cotton, which used seasonal labour guaranteed by the labour-recruiting mechanisms of the state. Displacing a settler agrarian class by turning a settler farm into a state farm is a major transformation, but it does not of itself alter the profitability structure of a farm organised for monocropping, and which depended on poorly paid seasonal labour. Mechanisation on the state farms may be said to replace and thus abolish colonial forms of labour exploitation; but mechanisation tends to be labour-saving rather than labour-absorbing, and between them mechanisation and monocropping do not adequately confront rural unemployment, especially in the southern provinces, caused by the phasing out of mine labour." The state agricultural sector has therefore not only to guarantee to raise production and productivity, but also to break with colonial production patterns of low permanent labour demand with seasonal harvest peaks which can absorb only occasional labour. Correspondingly and coincidentally, a peasant sector for which seasonal wage work was indispensable to its very reproduction needs to break from its colonial past. Dispersed household plots with elementary technology face severe, probably insuperable, limits to higher production and productivity. The solution described as the socialisation of the countryside sees co-operatives as units of collective production, and aldeais cornunais or communal villages as centres of social accumulation, social services and cultural and 192

Workers or Peasants? political mobilisation. But in their turn agricultural producer cooperatives must be able to assure at least subsistence and also a certain surplus: even in the initial formative stage, peasant families cannot risk the diversion of their labour from their own family production to the collective plot without guarantees of co- operative production results. Ultimately in Mozambique, but also in all the labour supply states of Southern Africa, ending the migrant labour system, and above all the export of labour to South Africa, will depend on the transformation of the conditions of production in the rural areas from which the migrant labour has been drawn. The governments of most of the supplier states - Malawi is the exception - have declared themselves to be against their continued subordination to South Africa as suppliers of migrant labour.'2 All, too, have in some way identified rural development as a way of breaking out of this role. However, the critical issue is not one of rural development as such, but rather of the type of transformation which rural development policies tend to favour.'" There are perhaps only two possible paths of rural development. The first would encourage the emergence of cash crop production geared towards world market conditions. The production of cash crops for export would become the major focus of the development effort, and state policies would favour those forms of production and those producers most capable of becoming successful cash-crop producers for the world market. Thus, a major proportion of state funds would be assigned to credits, agricultural extension services, marketing and the like for those capable of responding successfully to market demands. But an export-oriented cash crop economy in an impoverished labour reserve area would initiate or accelerate peasant differentiation. Resources reserved and channeled to the most successful market producers would invariably put even heavier pressure on the rest of rural producers to seek wage employment. Basically, the private appropriation of production resources by a minority of rural producers implies the separation from those productive resources of others who previously had access to them. Moreover, while agricultural production for export will provide some wage- labour employment, the evidence suggests that the restructuring of production in accordance with the norms determined by competition on world markets will be a process in which labour is shed.4 The alternative to this strategy is a cooperative one, through which poor and middle peasants organise collective forms of production. This has been explicit policy in Mozambique since Frelimo's conquest of power. Experience elsewhere shows the

194 Workers or Peasants? difficulties facing such a strategy. Peasants must gain the confidence that cooperatives can provide for their material needs, and increase their production and improve their standard of living. In many countries cooperatives have become instruments of central state control over production and marketing without concomitant benefits to producers, or instruments for richer peasants to direct and control public resources for their own private ends. An appropriate strategy for cooperation must overcome these difficulties, in a situation where the reduction of employment in mining has cut the major flow of money into the rural areas of southern Mozambique. A successful cooperative strategy is the only alternative to a peasant economy which has had to sell its male labour systematically over its southern frontiers. Mozambique's policies for the reconstruction of her rural economy will be critical for the future of that society. They could be as important for the future of all Southern Africa.

MIGRANT LABOUR IN SOUTHERN AFRICA: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE Since the greater part of the material used in this book has been derived from research in the field, references to archives and published sources have been kept to a minimum in the text. There is, however, a daunting amount of material on the subject of migrant labour in the southern African sub-system and on the peasant base, although much of it is recent and of variable quality. This bibliographic note lists some of the principal and secondary sources, with brief critical comments. It must be emphasised, however, that these references constitute only a selection of the material which the Centre of African Studies in Maputo found useful during the writing of this text. On the peasant base of the migrant labour system in Inhambane Province, the principal sources used were Carvalho (1969) and the unpublished returns of the Recenseamento Agricola de Moqambique (agricultural censuses) for 1965 and 1970. This latter material was re-analysed from the original questionnaires completed at the time by the field interviewers who had been instructed by the census to collect a large amount of detailed information about their subjects. These data were often not even analysed in the published reports, much less evaluated; as an example, the census forms record which peasant families sent members away to wage labour (virtually all of them), but the reports do not reproduce these statistics in any form. It must furthermore be noted that the colonial censuses have other inbuilt weaknesses at the level of the raw data. Not least of these is the rigid separation of'modern' (i.e. settler) and 'traditional' (i.e. peasant) agricultural sectors, with no attempt to describe their inter-relationship. In addition, colonial data collection was almost always inaccurate, and although they may be used, with care, to indicate trends, the absolute totals are unreliable. Until quite recently the flow of migrant labour from Inhambane southwards was not explained in terms of the dynamics of a southern African sub-system dominated by South African capital. Writers looked instead to ecological or social factors within Inham-

Workers or Peasants? bane itself, arguing that the poor soil could not support an autonomous agriculture, or that the 'internal dynamics' of Chopi or Thonga society provided an impetus for migration. Velez Grilo and Sim6es Alberto (1960), for example, carried this type of reasoning to its most extreme by attempting to relate migration rates to the presence of leached or non-leached soils in the various parts of the Province. Serious attempts to theorise the role of migrant labour in the Mozambican economy date from the debate between Marvin Harris and Ant6nio Rita-Ferreira in the pages of Africa (Harris, 1959, 1960; Rita-Ferreira, 1960, 1961). Harris had argued in his original article that the 'traditional' Tsonga homestead contained within itself tensions arising from the system of different houses for each wife- the sons of these houses were allocated unequal shares of cattle on the death of their father, and this was said to create a class of the dispossessed. In a much later paper D. J. Webster of the University of the Witwatersrand has argued similarly that the system of adelphic succession left younger brothers and sons in a dispossessed state, and that the complex interaction of Portuguese colonial policy, the requirements of South African capitalism, and this pre-existing indigenous social structure resulted in the present system (Webster, 1977, 1978). Rita- Ferreira (1963) later presented a full-length statement of his position and of his disagreement with Harris, but in fact remained within an essentially identical functionalist problematic by arguing, after a detailed examination of labour laws and forms of administrative recruiting, that, if anything, colonial action regulated an already existing situation. Recent research has started to look again at the question of the disruption of pre- colonial societies in southern Mozambique and other areas by the migrant labour system. The Mozambican situation was complicated virtually up to independence in 1975 by the peasantry's keenness to avoid chibalo, the particularly brutal Portuguese colonial form of forced labour on cotton and sugar plantations. The use of disruption as a single explanatory 'cause' of the development of the area south of the Save as a labour reserve for the mining industry can be seen to be reductive, particularly when Mozambican peasant society, and the extent of its degeneration, is compared with the state of affairs in other countries. In Swaziland, for example, migration levels do not directly affect agricultural production because most migrants return for the cropping season, and only a minority of households cultivate labour-intensive crops like cotton or tobacco. Recent work on southern Mozambique by Sherilynn J. Young (1977, 1979) of the University of California, and

Migrant Labour in Southern Africa by Patrick Harries (1976, and unpublished papers) of the University of Cape Town has begun to show the complexity of the relationship between the loss of autonomy by African societies on one hand, and the need of mining capital for cheap labour on the other. Delius (1980ab) shows how migrancy among the Pedi of the eastern Transvaal originated as a strategy to acquire guns, and resist subordination to the Boers, until the British ended their independence in 1879. Similarly, Beinart (1979, 1980) examines the origins of migrancy among the Pondo of the eastern Cape as a means of restocking cattle and maintaining Pondo households. Similar work on the making and destruction of the South African peasantry by Bundy (1979) indicates that as early as 1913 African agriculture was showing signs of serious degeneration. Leeuwenberg (1977) has examined a comparable situation in the Transkei labour reserve over sixty years later. See Palmer and Parsons (1977) for a range of studies of the impoverishment of rural producers in Southern Africa by the impact of colonial capitalism. In some areas, then, the provision of migrant labour has effectively destroyed the ability of the peasant base to reproduce itself; in others, of which Inhambane is an example, the system has actually strengthened the middle peasantry by allowing it to meet its minimal accumulation needs (lobolo, oxen, ploughs) in a way impossible under chibalo. To attribute such a complex and regionally varied set of processes largely to ahistorical ethnographic factors, as did Rita-Ferreira and others, is no longer defensible. By contrast, work in the 1970s has essentially tried to situate the question of migrant labour within the larger problem of the form of accumulation of South African capitalism. First (1961) analysed the patterns of migrant recruitment to the mining industry. Trapido (1971), comparing South African with German industrialisation, showed the importance of 'extra-economic' coercion of labour for capitalist industrialisation. Of great importance and influence in the study of the concrete situation in South Africa was the 1972 Oxford doctoral dissertation of F. A. Johnstone (published in 1976). His book develops a Marxist-structuralist account of the system of racial discrimination in the goldmining industry before and after the First World War. While not specifically concerned with migrant labour, Johnstone offers an analysis of the system of racial domination in class terms which shows that apartheid is by no means a dysfunction of South African capitalism, but is rather an integral part of it. Contemporary with Johnstone's thesis, an article by Claude Meillassoux on the migrant labour system as a function of capitalism in specific cir-

Workers or Peasants? cumstances appeared (1972), and in the same year Wolpe's article on the importance of cheap labour power to South African capitalism was published in Economy and Society (1972). Wolpe's argument hinged on the idea that, in effect, pre-capitalist modes of production have subsidised capital accumulation in South Africa, an idea which many scholars would no longer uncritically accept in quite the linear and perhaps overly economistic form that Wolpe originally presented it. Nevertheless, these works, together with Legassick's paper on the intimate connection between accumulation and violent oppression in South Africa (1974), and a number of unpublished working papers by the Southern Africa Research Project at Warwick University (e.g. Legassick and Innes, 1977), marked a new starting point for South African studies, which until then had been characterised by an astonishing lack of works of analytical power. Indeed, the continued ideological dominance of 'Cape liberalism' into the 1970s (see Trapido, 1980 on its nineteenth-century origins) is all the more remarkable, as Colin Bundy (1979) has pointed out, when contrasted with the advances that were being made in other parts of Africa and the Third World in the social sciences. Curiously, the new analytical rigour which had been introduced by Johnstone, Wolpe, and Legassick made little impression on the host of papers which emanated from the International Labour Office as part of a general revival in the 1970s of migrant labour as an object of investigation. The ILO's World Employment Programme working papers series includes an important sub-series, the 'Migration for Employment Project', which has published a number of items on southern Africa. These preliminary research studies are circulated initially in limited numbers in order to stimulate criticism and discussion; later they are issued collectively on microfiche. The series has included such eccentric contributions as Gordon (1978), who counterposes the conventional view that migration is destructive of family life with the idea that the Sotho extended family has in fact adjusted to long separations as a new norm. The weaknesses of his theory were effectively pointed out by Murray (1980) in a useful survey article on migration and the family. The article criticises the anthropological literature from Isaac Schapera (1947) and Godfrey Wilson onwards, as well as Wolpe's (1972) analysis, concluding with the warning that in the study of the social impact of the migrant system, 'the apparent continuity of custom must be analysed as an integral and vital aspect of underlying structural transformation' (our emphases). Other papers in the WEP 'Migration for Employment' project

Migrant Labour in Southern Africa have varied widely - one might almost say wildly - in their usefulness. At one end of the spectrum lie the micro-studies of this or that 'social aspect' of the system, or the 'simulation models' of the economic effects of migration. In the middle are papers like those of Bromberger (1979), a useful set of projections of labour needs up to the year 2000, indicating likely trends from the viewpoint of a researcher with the ear of the Chamber of Mines and access to its policy-makers. Despite its many unacceptable assumptions, such a paper presents an important aspect of reality as seen by the consumers of migrant labour power. An earlier survey paper by Francis Wilson, written right at the beginning of the boom in migration studies in southern Africa, was a pioneering study in the field, but remains a useful if limited introduction to the topic and its problems (1975, rev. 1976). Wilson argues in passing that, of all supplier economies, only Mozambique was able to demand 'something from South Africa in return for a guaranteed supply of labour' - namely the development of Maputo's port and railways system; but he does not analyse this point any further. At the useful end of the range of WEP papers, the prolific D. G. Clarke has written extensively on supply trends in southern Africa (1978, see also his papers for SALDRU and for the DSRG at the University of Natal, 1976-7). For a complete list of the working papers of the ILO-WEP, including the 'Migration for Employment' project, readers should consult ILO (1979), which also includes citations of books, reports and articles from various journals produced under the auspices of the programme. The series has also included a number of contributions from W. P. B6hning, whose early foci of investigation had been labour migration to western Europe and general problems of the theory of international migration. Bc6hning's later work has included an attempt to handle the question of migrant labour in southern Africa (1977), in which he argues that supplier states must simultaneously attempt to reduce their involvement in the migratory system ('because [it] involves human beings directly in the evils of apartheid') and to improve their working and living conditions. The strategy which B6hning advocates in pursuit of these ends is that of the labour cartel, to exert 'moral persuasion' and to enable supplier states 'to stick together' - objectives as pointless as they are ill-indefined. This strategy of a labour supply cartel was explicitly rejected by the ECA/MULPOC Conference in Lusaka, 1978. A considerable amount of the later work done on the migrant labour system in southern Africa thus has appeared in the form of mimeographed 'semi-published' reports and conference papers

Workers or Peasants? under the auspices of various universities and international organisations. One of the most important of these collections consists of the working documents of the conference on migratory labour in southern Africa, organised by the UN Economic Commission for Africa in Lusaka during April 1978. Unfortunately this collection of working documents, commissioned and edited by Ruth First and Duncan Clarke, has not been made available in published form, and is thus still relatively inaccessible; however, the papers have been individually indexed in Africa Index to Continental Periodical Literature (forthcoming). Among the papers submitted to the conference were country case studies (of uneven quality) of the migrant labour operation in all the supply states - namely, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa itself, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. The Mozambique country study was based on the first research report on this topic by the Centre of African Studies (CEA 1977a,b). The paper itself as presented to the conference was later published by the Centre in both English and Portuguese (CEA, 1979, 1980). This book is an elaboration of the original research report. Some of the papers dealt with the historical origins of the system, others with the policy of South Africa towards the supplier economies- demand trends for foreign workers and employer strategy in South Africa; international contract agreements with South Africa; patterns of accumulation, investment and development in southern Africa; labour supply trends within the supplier economies; and the proposal that a supplier-state 'labour cartel' might be set up to effect a strategy for the withdrawal of labour from South Africa. This proposal was rejected by the conference on the grounds that a seller's market in labour does not exist at the moment, and such a strategy could not, therefore, be effective (ECA/MULPOC, 1978). Among the conference resolutions adopted was a draft Bill of Rights for migrant workers in South Africa (Conference on Migratory Labour in Southern Africa 1978, see also an unofficial Portuguese text in Estudos Africanos (1) 1980, pp. 73-6). Historical material on the geographical sources of labour for the mines is available in the Transvaal Labour Commission (1903), and in the annual reports of the Chamber of Mines (the official name of which has changed several timts: 1889-96, Witwatersrand Chamber of Mines; 1897-9 Chamber of Mines of the South African Republic; 1900-53 Transvaal Chamber of Mines; 1954-66 Transvaal and Orange Free State Chamber of Mines, 1967-to date, Chamber of Mines of South Africa). WENELA's (now TEBA's) annual reports also provide material of this kind (1904-to date). 200

Migrant Labour in Southern Africa The Chamber of Mines' house journal, Mining Survey, has from time to time included articles which present the mining industry's own view of itself, and thus provide some crucial insights. Lipton (1980) published an analysis of mine labour and the policies of the mining companies in Optima, a journal published by Anglo-American Corporation. Marks and Trapido (1979) analyse the way in which the colonial state carried out reconstruction after the South African War to meet the needs, including the labour requirements, of the mining industry. See also Jeeves (1975) on the period immediately before and after the war. Lacey (1981) examines the competition for labour between mining and farming capital and the compromises they reached on the control and sharing out of labour-power by 1932. On historical aspects of the export of labour, the recently revised (1979) edition of Breytenbach's 1972 paper presents a more or less conventional South African view. See also the article by geographer R. Mansell Prothero (1974). Among the most intensively studied of the supplier-nations is Lesotho: the National University of Lesotho, in a joint research project with the ILO, produced a series of papers which were of a similar quality to the ILO-WEP studies discussed above. However, an honourable exception was the contribution by Bardill, Southall and Perrings (n.d.), which looks at migrancy in terms which hold actual physical mobility to be incidental. The authors argue that the crucial factor in southern Africa was that capital secured labour power through migrancy at a price less than the cost of its reproduction, but that mining capital, no longer dominant in the South African economy, is now basing its long-term strategy on productivity rising at a rate equal to, or above, the rate of increase in the organic composition of capital. Without suggesting any strategies for the supplier states, they point out that such a change in economic relations will present these countries with new problems that may turn out to be even more intractable than the old ones. Colin Murray has produced a number of useful studies on Lesotho apart from the survey article mentioned above. Writing from an anthropologist's perspective, Murray rejects the traditional paradigm of his discipline and argues that rural societies in southern Africa can only be understood in terms of their articulation within the political and economic sub-system as a whole. Looking at such themes as income distribution (Murray, 1978) and the persistence of high rates of lobolo (Murray, 1977), he attempts to locate these problems in the context of Lesotho's transition over the last century from grain-exporter to labour reserve. (Murray, in SALB 1980b;

Workers or Peasants? for Botswana, see SALB 1980a.) See African Perspectives 1978-1 for a general overview of the literature on migrant labour in Africa. The juridical aspect of the migrant labour agreements is analysed in Appendix I, p.212-22 of this volume. A broadly based comparative study of labour agreements between South Africa and the southern African supplier-states in general was prepared by Sam Rugege (1978) for the Lusaka Conference of that year- although the paper is thinly referenced, the analysis itself is incisive. The actual texts of the series of labour convention between Mozambique and South Africa from 1901 to 1970 and the ILO conventions were made available to the research teams of the Centre of African Studies from the files of the Mozambican Ministry of Labour (Ministtrio do Trabalho). More accessible sources for these texts would be the modus vivendi (1901), printed as an appendix in a three-volume history of Mozambique's railways. Subsequent agreements, effected in the forms of conventions as well as exchanges of notes between Portugal and South Africa, were published in the Didrio do Governo of the time, as follows: Convenydo entre o Governo Portugu~s e o da Unido da Africa do Sul para regular a emigraqo de indigenas de Moqambique para o Transval bem como assuntos de caminho de ferro e de intercfmbio comercial. (Didrio do Governo I serie (277) 30 November 1928). Revisho das clausulas da Convenqdo entre o Governo da Reptiblica Portuguesa e o Governo da Unido da Africa do Sul (assinada em Lourenqo Marques, em 17 de Novembro de 1934). (Diario do Governo I srie (180) 6 August 1935.) Acordo, por troca de notas, entre o Governo da Reptiblica Portuguesa e o Governo da Unido da Africa do Sul para prorrogaqdo, por um periodo de cinco anos, da Convenqdo assinada pelos dois paises, em Pret6ria, em 11 de Setembro de 192S. e revista em 17 de Novembro de 1935 (feito em Lisboa, em 21 de Abril de 1939). (Diario do Governo I s~rie (109) 12 May 1939) These three texts were re-published in Mozambique by the then Centro de Documentaqao e Informaqdo do Banco Nacional Ultramarino (now CEDIMO, 1972) in a mimeographed collection on Portuguese-South African economic relations. A detailed analysis of the period from 1897 to 1928 in terms of the general effects of these agreements was published in the mid-1930s by a Portuguese colonial engineer with a sound grasp of the internal dynamics of South African politics. He was able to show that the period when no agreement was in force was invariably the period when Mozambique was better off (Granger 1933). The memorandum by Marcelo Caetano (1948) and the later Acordo (1964) were regarded as

Migrant Labour in Southern Africa restricted documents until 1974; copies exist in the Arquivo Hist6rico. The internal 'Relat6rio' on the 1970 agreement exists in the files of the Mozambican Ministry of Labour. After 1960, when Portugal became a member of the ILO, the various conventions and recommendations of the International Labour Conference (1949a,b; 1955) on migrant labour became relevant to the study of the relations between Mozambique and South Africa. In order to understand the economics of goldmining in South Africa it is necessary to know a little about the cost structure, and its relationship to the types of mining conducted. The earlier so-called .outcrop' mines, for example, worked the reef near the surface, where relatively small capital investment was sufficient to get at the gold. The 'deep-levels', emerging in the mid-1890s, were riskier, required enormous capitalisation, and a high level of production in order to remain profitable. Truscott's book, written soon after the mines' financial crisis at the end of 1895, details the technical and economic reasons for this situation (1898). Johnstone (1976) and Wilson (1972) also devote some space to explaining important mining technicalities - in Wilson's case with useful graphs and diagrams. Wilson's book attempts to analyse the primary data on the patterns of supply and use of goldmining labour; he prints thirty mainly statistical appendices and a useful bibliography. His liberal problematic, however, leads him to formulate the question in terms of whether the earnings of unskilled mine labour could have been significantly higher without unduly reducing the profitability of the so-called marginal mines. This is to limit one of the central questions of southern African political economy to the terms of a supply-anddemand problem of bourgeois micro-economics. Some papers produced in the late 1970s have managed to combine the empirical richness of Wilson's approach with a theoretical insistence on looking at structural trends within the mining industry in general (and goldmining in particular), as well as at the movement of the southern African economy as a whole. Two recent unpublished papers have continued this type of analysis within a scientific framework which is much more helpful to understanding (Legassick and Innes, 1977; African National Congress, 1978). The output of Duncan G. Clarke is also characterised by its firm basis in hard data as much as by its impressive quantity; the papers listed below deal with various aspects of the labour supply question as it affected Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) (1976, 1978), from the viewpoint of the Chamber of Mines (1977c), and from a general long-term perspective (1977b). A fifth paper deals with so-called ,unemployment' in southern Africa as a whole, showing how its

Workers or Peasants? structural relationship to the migrant labour system actually operates (1977a). (It was Clarke's paper at the Lusaka Conference discussed above, which demolished the case for the 'labour cartel' strategy for supplier states.) On the actual conditions in which the black miners work, idealised in such publications as the Chamber of Mines' house journal, Mining Survey, a vivid and immediate picture is given in the work songs and interviews collected by Alpheus Manghezi, some of which are printed in this volume. A popular, illustrated edition of this material is planned for publication in Mozambique. Work in Progress 15 (1980) includes an interview with a Transkeian worker about his experiences in the goldmines. The Agency for Industrial Mission, an inter-church organisation based in Lesotho and South Africa, also produced a report on the social costs of the migrant system which includes blunt but brief sections on such topics as homosexuality, prostitution, racism and alcoholism, as well as direct descriptions of working conditions and translations of a number of Sotho songs, from one of which the report takes its title (1976). An illustrated book by David Goldblatt and Nadine Gordimer (1973) includes some revealing portraits of white mine-captains, draughtsmen, boilermen and black miners, as well as an extraordinary sequence of action photographs of a Basotho team sinking a shaft at Welkom in 1969-70. The Lusaka Conference papers included contributions on working conditions from David Hemson and Jo Morris (1978), dealing with the growth of black workingclass organisation and resistance since 1972, and a technical discussion of health, accident and compensation regulations by SACTU, showing in clear statistical detail the contempt in which workers' safety is held by the South African mining industry. Hemson and Morris also quoted extensively from a bizarre secret report by the South African Inter-Departmental Committee of Inquiry into Riots on Mines (South Africa 1975, excerpted in SALB 19) which attributes the growth of direct action among black workers to interethnic friction, arguing that 'tribal man' is prone to sudden outburts of passion and violence'. However, this particular report's real significance lies not so much in its racism and tribalism, as in its admission that the system of migrancy itself was the cause of the mine uprisings. There is, however, 'no practical alternative' to the migrant system, concluded the Committee which went on to recommend a mixture of 'hard' and 'soft' measures (smaller compounds and visits from workers' wives on one hand; harsher political vetting and surveillance, tighter liquor controls, for instance, on the other). 204

Migrant Labour in Southern Africa A much earlier official report was that of the Lansdowne Commission (South Africa, 1944); the subsequently outlawed African Mineworkers' Union presented exhaustive and rivetting evidence on day-to-day working conditions to this commission. See Warwick (1976) on labour militancy in the mines after the South African War, and Bonner (1979) and O'Meara (1975) on the mine strikes of 1920 and 1946. Kirkwood (1974, 1975) examines the conflicts on the South African mines after 1972. For the Mozambican material, archive collections outside Mozambique, primarily in Portugal and in South Africa itself, were not consulted, but large quantities of material are known to exist in various deposits. In Portugal itself there are, for example, many volumes of documents on the railway negotiations; in South Africa the Cape Archives (on the early phase of migrant labour), the Transvaal Archives in Pretoria (including material on migrant labour in the period of the South African Republic) and various other private and public collections, contain much of interest. The work of Patrick Harries of the University of Cape Town (see above) is based to a large extent on these South African unpublished sources. Within Mozambique the Arquivo Hist6rico, now under the administration of the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, contains a wealth of material on migrant labour and the peasant base, including reports and documents of the Serviqo dos Neg6cios Indigenas (to 1961), of the Conselho Legislativo, of the Governador of the District of Inhambane, and of the Direcao do Porto e Caminhos de Ferro de Lourengo Marques. (The archive also includes an important library of books and periodicals published in Mozambique, based on its earlier role as a legal deposit library for the colony.) The consolidation and centralisation of the multitude of Mozambican archives has resulted in the incorporation of many of the smaller collections used during the early stages of the field-work for this study. These included the archives of the Ministry of Labour, the Inspecqdo de Cr6dito e Seguros, the Banco de Moqambique, the Ministry of the Interior, the Servi o de Estatistica, and the C~mara Municipal do Maputo, among others. The most important single source of information on the flow of migrant labour turned out, naturally, to be WENELA itself. This organisation maintains extensive and detailed records of its recruiting activities in each of the countries in which it operates. These include circulars and memoranda dealing with policy matters, reports, detailed statistics, and, as part of its computerised record at head office, detailed individual miner's records. The bulk of these 205

Workers or Peasants? documents has never been made available for study, and indeed it is unclear whether the Mozambique records, which must go back over nearly a century of recruitment for the mines, are still intact, or even in the country at all. However, thanks to the co-operation of the Mozambique offices of WENELA, the field- workers on the project were able to consult detailed monthly 'Progressive comparative statements of output' which record recruitment totals by district, with details of rejects, detained, deserted, novices, and whether selected for gold- or coalmining; in addition, figures are given for an equivalent period six months and one year earlier, so that increase/ decrease trends can be spotted. WENELA files copies of these figures with the Ministry of Labour in each country. Without access to the computerised records of the workforce maintained centrally by the Chamber, and the detailed records of the particular mines, the individual miner's bonus card is the easiest and most reliable reference to this work history, work category and pay grade. The latest proposals by the Chamber for the even further stabilisation of the African workforce consist in the maintenance and extension of this system of certificates which guarantee the worker's re- employment if he returns to work within a stipulated period. Thus the miner is now to be handled as a member of a 'permanent' and stabilised labour force, even while he continues to be a migrant worker. 206

BIBLIOGRAPHY Acordo (1964) entre o Governo da Reptiblica da Africa do Sul e o Governo da Reptiblica Portuguesa regulamentando o emprego de trabalhadores mineiros portuguesos da Provincia de Mo'ambique na Reptiblica da Africa do Sul, Pretoria, Govt. Printer. (Copy in Arquivo Hist6rico. Maputo.) African National Congress (1978), 'Case study: foreign African labour in South Africa', Lusaka. Paper presented to the Conference on Migratory Labour in Southern Africa. Doc. no. ECA/MULPOC/LUSAKA/87. African Perspectives (1978-81), Migration and the Transformation of Modern African Societ,, W. M. J. van Binsbergen and H. Meilink (eds), Leiden, Afrikastudiecentrum. Agency for Industrial Mission (1976), Another Blanket: Report on an Investigation into the Migrant Situation, Horison, AIM. Bardill, John et al. (n.d.), 'Gold, migrancy and the state in the South African political economy', S. 1.: ILO-NUL Research Project, unpublished. Beinart, William (1979), 'Joyini inkomo: cattle advances and the origins of migrancy from Pondoland', Journal of Southern African Studies, 5(2). Beinart, William (1980), 'Labour migrancy and rural production: Pondoland c. 1900-1950', pp. 81-98, in Philip Mayer (ed.), Black Villagers in an Industrial Society, Cape Town, Oxford University Press. Bohning, W. R. (1977), Black migration to South Africa - what are the issues?, ILO Migration for Employment Project, paper no. WP-10, Geneva. Bonner, Philip (1979), 'The 1920 black mineworkers strike', pp. 273-97, in Belinda Bozzoli (ed.), Labour, Township and Protest. Studies in the Social History of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Ravan Press. Breytenbach, W. J. (rev. 1979), Migratory Labour arrangements in Southern Africa, Pretoria, Africa Institute. Bromberger, N. (1979), 'Mining Employment in South Africa, 1946-2000', ILO Migration for Employment Project, paper no. WP-38, Geneva. Bundy, Colin (1972), 'The emergence and decline of a South African peasantry', African Affairs 71(285), pp. 369-88. Bundy, Colin (1979), The Rise and Fall of the South African Peasantry, London, Heinemann. Caetano, Marcelo (1948), Memorando, Ministro dos Neg6cios Estrangeiros, Lisbon. (Copy in Arquivo Hist6rico, Maputo.) Carvalho, MArio de (1969), A Agricultura Tradicional de Mofambique. 1: Distribuifdo Geogrdfica das Culturas e sua Relag-o com o meio, Lourenqo Marques, Missfo de Inqu6rito Agricola de Mozambique. CEDIMO (1972), 'Relaq6es econ6micas Portugal-Repfiblica da Africa do Sul', Documento informativo no. 13, Lourenqo Marques, CDI.NBU Moqamb. Centro de Estudos Africanos (1977a), 0 Mineiro Mofambicano: Um Estudo Sobre a

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210 Bibliography rural periphery of southern Africa', Journal of Southern African Studies 6 p.2. O'Meara, D. (1975), 'The 1946 African mine workers' strike and the political economy of South Africa', Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, 13,2. pp. 146-73. Palmer, Robin and Neil Parsons (1977), The Roots of Rural Poverty in Central and Southern Africa, London, Heinemann. Prothero, R. Mansell (1974), 'Foreign migrant labour for South Africa', International Migration Review 8(3), pp. 383-94. Rita-Ferreira, A. (1960), 'Labour emigration among the Mogambique Thonga: comments on a study by M. Harris', Africa 30, pp. 141-51. Rita-Ferreira, A. (1961), 'Labour emigration among the Moqambique Thonga: comments on Marvin Harris' reply', Africa 31, pp. 75-7. Rita-Ferreira, A. (1963), 0 movimento migrat6rio de trabalhadores entre Mozambique e a Africa do Sul. Lisbon, Junta de Investigag6es do Ultramar, Centro de Estudos Politicos e Sociais. Rugege, Sam (1978), 'International contract labour agreements in southern Africa', paper presented to the Conference on Migratory Labour in South Africa. Doc. no. ECA/MULPOC/LUSAKA/95, Lusaka. Schapera, I. (1947), Migrant Labour and Tribal Life, Oxford, Oxford University Press. South Africa (1944), Report of the Witwatersrand Mine Natives' Wages Commission on Remuneration and Conditions of Employment of Natives on Witwatersrand Gold Mines, 1943. Pretoria, Lansdowne Commission, U.G.22. South Africa (1975), Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee of Inquiry into Riots on Mines in the Republic of South Africa, unpublished. South African Labour Bulletin (1978), 'Extracts from the report of the interdepartmental committee of inquiry into riots on the mines', 4 (5), pp. 49-65. South African Labour Bulletin (1980a), Focus on Botswana, 5:5. South African Labour Bulletin (1980b), Focus on Lesotho, 6:4. Transvaal Labour Commission (1903), Report of the Transvaal Labour Commission. Johannesburg. Trapido, Stanley (1971), 'South Africa in a comparative study of industrialisation', Journal of Development Studies, 7 (3), pp. 309-20. Trapido, Stanley (1980), "'The friend of the natives": merchants, peasants and the political and ideological structure of liberalism in the Cape, 1854-1910', S. Marks and A. Atmore (eds), Economy and Society in Pre-industrial South Africa, London, Longmans, pp. 247-74. Truscott, S.J. (1898), The Witwatersrand Gold Mines: Banket and Mining Practice, London, Macmillan. Velez Grilo, M. and M. Sim6es Alberto (1960), 'Formas de migraq6es', S. I., mimeo. Warwick, P. (1976), 'Black industrial protest on the Witwatersrand, 1901- 2', South .African Labour Bulletin 2(8), pp. 22-35: and E. Webster (ed.), Studies in South African Labour History, pp. 20-31, Johannesburg, Ravan Press, 1979. Webster, D.J. (1977), 'The origins of migrant labour, colonialism and the underdevelopment of southern Mozambique', pp. 236-79. in P.L. Bonner (ed.), Working Papers in Southern Africa, Johannesburg, University of the Witwatersrand, African Studies Institute. Webster, D.J. (1978), 'Migrant labour, social formations and the proletarianisation of the Chopi of southern Africa', African Perspectives 1978-1, pp. 157-74. Wilson, Francis (1972). Labour in the South African Gold Mines. 1911-1969, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Bibliography 211 Wilson, Francis (1976), International Migration in Southern Africa, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit. Working paper no. 1. Cape Town. Wilson, Godfrey (1941-2), 'The Economics of Detribalization in Northern Rhodesia' (in two parts), Rhodes-Livingstone Institute Papers 5 & 6. Witwatersrand Native Labour Association (1904-to date), Annual Reports, Johannesburg. Wolpe, Harold (1972), 'Capitalism and cheap labour power in South Africa: from segregation to Apartheid', Economy and Society 1(4), pp. 425-56. Work in Progress (1980), 'Interview: a miner' 15, POB 93174, 2143 Ycoville, S.A. Young, Sherilynn J. (1977), 'Fertility and famine: women's agricultural history in southern Mozambique', pp. 66-81, in R. Palmer and N. Parsons (eds), The Roots of Rural Poverty in Central and Southern Africa, London, Heinemann. Young, Sherilynn J. (1979), 'Changes in diet and production in southern Mozambique', S. 1, unpublished paper.

APPENDIX 1 THE CONVENTIONS ON MINE LABOUR BETWEEN PORTUGAL AND SOUTH AFRICA Regulations before 1897 In 1857 authorisation was given for voluntary migration from Lourenqo Marques to Natal by sea. (Decree no. 152, 2 August 1857). In this connection a representative of the Natal Government operated in Lourenqo Marques, while an inspector for the control of migration was appointed in Durban. In 1875 the authorisation was extended to permit Mozambicans to work in the Cape Province (Decree no. 246, 18 July 1875). The Regulations of 1897 The first statute governing migration - Regulations for the Employment of Native Mozambicans in the South African Republic (Transvaal) - was enacted in 1897 (approved by Decree no. 100, 18 November 1897, issued by Colonial Governor of Mozambique, Mouzinho de Albuquerque). It was designed to create the first system of migration control, and to this end established in South Africa the post of trustee or curator for 'Natives' who was to regulate the position of registered migrant workers. The Anglo-Boer War brought about an almost complete shutdown of industrial, mining and agricultural activity, and led to the repatriation of large numbers of Mozambican workers. In 1901 a decree was promulgated imposing a total ban on the movement of workers to the Transvaal (Decree no. 177, 9 May 1901 - relevant later in the discussion on problems concerning the port of Lourengo Marques). The Modus Vivendi of 1901 After the takeover of the Transvaal by the British in 1901 an agreement was signed between the Portuguese government and the

Appendices new colonial administration which limited the contract period on the mines to one year. This was a concession to pressure from the settler community in Mozambique (the agreement was signed on 18 December 1901). This contract limit, coupled with the effects of the war and competition for labour from the Transvaal Railway, led to a noticeable drop in the flow of migrant labour to the mines. The modus vivendi re-established the post of trustee in terms of the 1897 Regulations, subject to 'new safeguards adopted by the parties'. The trustee was to 'control' the movement of 'Natives' in the Transvaal, and to use his position to ensure that taxes could be paid, that the miners would return to Mozambique at the end of their contract periods, that they could then pay their contribution to the public service tax (the so-called braal tax) and fulfil their compulsory labour obligations (chibalo). The modus vivendi was thus quite favourable to Portugal. For their part, the South African authorities retained the right of veto over South African recruiting agencies wishing to operate in Mozambique. The modus vivendi was accompanied by a secret agreement between Mozambique and WENELA which effectively gave the latter a monopoly over the recruitment of labour south of parallel 22. The agreement in practice meant that recruiting licences of companies not part of WENELA were cancelled or not issued. The Creation of the Department of Native Affairs In the meanwhile in Mozambique the various agencies concerned with the administration of the colonised people were merged in 1907 into the centralised Department of Native Affairs. The department was concerned with the functioning of the 'indigenous' political system, and the study of uses and customs; the appointment, dismissal and substitution of chiefs; the maintenance of order; the creation of a 'Native' police force; the development of the colonial economy which included the promotion of agriculture, recruitment for private and public purposes, the taking of censuses and the collection of taxes and the organisation of public work. The Convention of 1909 On 1 April 1909, the first Convention between the Government of the Province of Mozambique and of the Transvaal was signed. The Convention provided that: a) Permission to recruit labour for the Transvaal mining industry was restricted to the territory under the direct control of the

Appendices Portuguese government, in effect therefore to the area south of the 22nd parallel. b) The Mozambican government retained the right to prohibit any recruiting which failed to 'conform to the terms of the Convention'. Local officials (administradores de circunsori~do), had the right to interpret this vague provision; there was evidence of close links between officials of the colonial state apparatus and WENELA. c) The Transvaal government guaranteed there would be no forced renewal of contracts (which would have served the interests of neither the Portuguese nor the South Africans, both of whom wished to keep the workers tied to their rural communities). d) 'Control' of workers would continue to vest in the trustee, who would be responsible for: Liaison with the Transvaal authorities; Collection of pay and taxes owed in respect of workers in Mozambique; The granting or refusal of passes to illegal immigrants; Collection of taxes owed by the mines to the Portuguese state; The extension or withdrawal of passes (withdrawal in effect meant expulsion from South Africa); The development of as complete as possible a system of registration of Mozambican workers employed in the Transvaal; The organisation of the first Deposit Agency and the transfef to it of that proportion of wages deferred to the end of the contract. Characteristics of the 1909 Convention The 1909 Mozambique Convention centred on the question of the harbour and railways of Lourenqo Marques. With regard to these, the 1909 Convention broadly provided for: The maintenance of a 'sphere of competence' for the port of. LourenqoMarques in respect of the Rand area as defined by the Conference of Johannesburg in 1895; The guarantee of 50 per cent of the traffic from this zone to the port of Lourenqo Marques; The maintenance of the railway tariffs as set in 1875; The constitution of a mixed commission, presided over by a Portuguese, that would co-ordinate the two railway systems. The major provisions with respect to the regulation of migrant labour and the activities of the trustee were as follows: 'Native' tax was to be collected at the mines;

Appendices 215 WENELA was to receive a monopoly of recruitment in Mozambique; Payment of wages could be deferred, but only on a voluntary basis; The Portuguese government was to receive directly a tax of 15 centimes for each employee; Contracts would remain at twelve months, but be renewable. The Attempted Agreement of 1912 The Chamber of Mines and the Portuguese government negotiated in 1912 an agreement on the compulsory deferment of wages and the increase of the contract period from 12-18 months. The South African government did not ratify it, and it never came into force. Re-introduction of the 'Parallel 22' Clause in 1914 The prohibition of recruitment north of parallel 22 was re-imposed in 1913. This is usually explained on health grounds: persons from the tropics were said not to be able to adapt to the altitude and climate of the Reef. This explanation is not satisfactory since in reality many workers from the tropical regions worked on the mines clandestinely. The actual reason was that it was intended to avoid labour competition between the mines and the chartered companies and estates. This clause once again became inoperative between 1926 and 1928 (because of a labour shortage) but was revived thereafter, and maintained. The Convention of 1928 'There were no major problems concerning the railway. The South African delegates did not complain about the administration of the port or the railway. The same "zone of competence" was allotted to Lourenqo Marques which continued to receive the guaranteed share of imports by rail. There were also new provisions which sought to restrict the capacity to establish independent tariff levels for lines other than that to Lourenqo Marques. With regard to commerce, the existing principles were maintained, save that the principle of reciprocity was extended from the Transvaal to the whole of the Union of South Africa, a country with a high degree of industrialisation. All payments were to be made in gold [article 361. Any differences between the Governments were to be submitted to arbitration. After five years either party could claim revision of the provisions of the convention, which was to remain in force for ten years.' (Dr Jose de Almada in 'As negociagbes sobre a convenqfo de 1928'). The Convention did not alter the monopoly of recruitment enjoyed by WENELA. The Port Question after the 1928 Agreement The 1928 agreement kept in force the fourteen articles relating to the railways and harbours. The Union government guaranteed to Lourenqo Marques 50-5 per cent of imports by sea and rail to the ,zone of competence' on the Rand. The accords of 1934, 1940 and 1964 consistently lowered this figure (47.5 per cent 1940, 40 per cent 1964). In 1969 the requirement to route a fixed level of traffic through Lourenqo Marques was lifted altogether. The 1928 Agreement in Respect of Labour There is hardly any mention of labour contracts in the document, and no reference at all to the conditions of the workers. Questions of repatriation, health conditions, wages and other matters are dealt with only in the most general way under the heading of recruitment. The Convention permitted recruitment only in the territory south of parallel 22, and stipulated a reduction in the number of miners as follows: 1929 - to 100,000 1930-,, 95,000 1931-,, 90,000 1932-,, 85,000 1933-,, 80,000 The other major stipulations were: To maintain and develop the provisions of the earlier Convention concerning recruiting personnel; To regulate medical inspection of recruits as well as their rights in respect of accidents at work or as a result of tuberculosis contracted in the mines; To control migration by a system of identity cards and passports; To limit the contract period to twelve months, capable of extension for a further six months; and to prohibit the re-employment of workers before they have spent at least six months in Mozambique. A system of deferred pay was established in terms of which a portion of the miner's wages was to be held by the Portuguese Trustee and only paid over to the worker after he had returned to Mozambique. Thus, after nine months' work and for whatever Appendices 216 Appendices remained of the contract period (or the extended period), half of the miner's wages was to be retained pending his return to Mozambique. This handover of pay was done by recruiting officials in Ressano Garcia or other points of entry agreed upon by the governments of Portugal and South Africa. The mines paid to the Portuguese government through the trustee a series of taxes in respect of each contract. The Convention provided for (i) regulation of medical inspection and the rights of persons injured at work or contracting lung disease. Two medical inspections were made to guarantee a minimum level of physical fitness. It should be emphasised that the .rigour' of the inspection was determined primarily by the labour requirements of the Chamber of Mines - in times of shortage, instructions were given to 'liberalise' inspection, while in times of surplus extremely rigid criteria were used. (ii) Collection by heirs of the property and savings of deceased workers. No time was fixed, the question being left to internal legislation. In 1916 the period for claiming inheritance was fixed at one year. After that time the money reverted to the state, which was to use it for 'the native population' in a way left undefined. The time period for clauses in respect of other injuries was so short that flagrant injustices resulted. The accord of 1928 reaffirmed that all payments were to be made in gold. Alterations to the 1928 Convention The 1928 Convention was revised in 1934, 1936 and 1940. The 1934 amendments introduced some changes in the labour clauses. The Portuguese government reserved the right to limit or stop recruitment in areas where, for public or private purposes, it became necessary for the time being to furnish local labour. The number of workers was fixed at a maximum of 80,000 and a minimum of 65,000 subject to alteration. The mines were to pay their taxes through the trustee, at a rate of Is 6d for every registered contract or for each worker recruited, and 2s 6d per month per worker for the period of the contract. In sum, from 1935 onwards the state received on average an annual amount equal to 44s 6d per worker. If at the end of the year this total was not in fact met, the mine was responsible for the shortfall. For their part the miners were required to pay 10s for a passport, valid for twelve months, and 6s for a renewal. As a result of South Africa's abandonment of the gold standard in

Appendices 1932, it was agreed that payments to Portugal would in future be made in cash at the current rate of exchange, with the mines paying an indemnity of £135,000 in respect of non-payments since that date (Art. 36). In 1940 it was agreed in an exchange of Notes that the Portuguese government should have the option of receiving deferred payments in gold, and also that the maximum number of workers should be raised to 100,000 (with the minimum remaining at 65,000). The Agreement stipulated that should the mines wish to reduce the number of workers, they should do so at the rate of no more than 12,000 per year. Clandestine migration was to be repressed. The tax paid by the mines for every contract was raised to 5s. South Africa guaranteed a minimum volume of traffic of 340,000 boxes of citrus fruit for Lourenqo Marques port and pledged to reduce the tariff rates that favoured the port of Durban as against that of Lourengo Marques. 1961 Decrees In September 1961 a series of decrees were promulgated which formally repealed the so-called Native Statute, while ensuring its continuation by other means. The new measures purported to abolish the distinction between Portuguese and 'natives'. The Department of Native Affairs was closed, and in its place a National Institute of Labour created (Instituto de Trabalho). All matters connected with the recruitment of labour for South Africa were transferred to this institute. In 1963 a rural work code was adopted which created a series of contractual stipulations and imposed restrictions on recruitment. It was specifically stated that the codes would not affect the workers dealt with in the conventions. The contract conditions were in fact more advanced than those in the conventions. The Agreement of 1964 The 1964 Convention followed closely the general lines of the previous ones, making the procedures more specific and strengthening the clauses protecting the workers. The following innovations were introduced: The role of protection at work to be given to representatives of the Institute of Labour. The general welfare of the workers to be looked after by the Portuguese consulate, a logical consequence of the elimination of the formal distinction between coloniser and colonised. It was expressly stated that the Mozambican worker was not to be treated less favourably than the local

Appendices worker. There was a new system of deferred payment and of compensation. The compensation law for pneumoconiosis was extended to Mozambique mines. The Accord was to be valid for five years. Unlike the normal contract between a worker and his employer, which is regulated by internal law and depends on agreement between the parties, the clauses relating to the labour of the Mozambican miner in South Africa are regulated by international agreement and cannot as such be departed from unilaterally. The employer is thus not obliged to make any improvements to conditions of work other than those stipulated in the agreement. In particular there are no mechanisms for obtaining improvements in working conditions. The Mozambican worker in South Africa gives his labour on specific terms: a set place of work; for a determined wage; for a specific period: and in specified living conditions. The worker has no rights at all other than work, food and shelter as laid down. The more important clauses in the 1964 Accord relating to these conditions are the following: Workers could only be employed with the knowledge and approval of a representative of the National Institute of Labour; the contract was for twelve months (313 shifts), liable to extension up to a maximum of eighteen months; a worker could rescind his contract after six months by giving one month's notice. (Before 1964 there had been defacto rescision by desertion.) Each contract had to specify the name of the employer, name, address and domicile of the worker, place of recruitment, place of work, type of work, minimum wage, payment and type of transport to, and repatriation from, work. Deferred payment: after six months, 60 per cent of wages for the remaining period of the contract could be retained on behalf of the workers. The deferred payment could be made in the following ways: remitted periodically to a member of the worker's family named by him; deposited in a bank; delivered to the worker in a lump sum on his return. If the worker did not request a particular method the third method automatically applied - to the detriment of the worker since he received no interest on the accrued capital. Workers had to pay the normal passport taxes. The mine which employed the worker had to pay, in two instalments, a registration fee of R6 (one instalment immediately and one after six months) for each contract, and R2 for each renewal. In the case of compensation, if payment was less than R20 the worker was to receive it all immediately; if it was between R20-200 the worker was to receive R20 immediately; if it was more than R200 the worker was to receive 10 per cent of the total sum 219

Appendices immediately, the balance was to be paid on his return home. The mines, through WENELA, were to deposit in a bank designated by Mozambique through the Institute of Labour, the sum of deferred payments. This was to be done on the fifteenth day of each month in respect of wages for the previous month. At the end of each month the Institute of Labour was to arrange the appropriate deductions and payments. The money was to be deposited in one of four places: Xai-Xai, Paftiri, Ressano-Garcia or Maxixe. Workers could indicate at the time of entering the contract at which place their deferred wages should be deposited. Secret gold clause: the Portuguese government could receive deferred pay in gold, the amount being a fixed price in Rands despite later increases on the world market. (The gold would be sold by South Africa on the world market and the profit handed over to Portugal.) Amendments introduced in August 1970 Discussions were held in Lisbon in August 1970 which produced some alterations to the 1964 Agreement. These allowed recruitment for mines inside the Mine Labour Organisation (WENELA) other than gold or coal mines; modified the system of compensation payments; specified that three years' notice of any rescision of the contract be given. The 1965 Agreement: New Recruiting Bodies An agreement concerning the establishment of control posts on the border between South Africa and Mozambique, and the movement of Portuguese and South African nationals from one country to the other, was signed in May 1965. This Agreement, regarded as supplementing the one of the previous year, opened the possibility of employment of Mozambican labour by enterprises which did not belong to WENELA. As a result, three agencies were set up in 1967: ATAS, ALGOS and CAMON. In the main, the provisions of the 1964 Agreement were extended to cover workers recruited in terms of the new Agreement. As far as pay was concerned, the worker was to receive his wages for the first two and last two months of his employment, with the remainder deferred. All Mozambicans were to be repatriated after eighteen months. The only exceptions were those who had already spent many years there, and who had families in the country - they could ask for the repatriation to be suspended. 220

Appendices 221 Sundry Provisions concerning Recruitment: 1939-70 Between 1939 and 1956 all recruitment in Mozambique, except by mines affiliated to WENELA, had been prohibited by a South African Government Notice. After 1956, however, a South African could employ Mozambicans (except for domestic work), although they could not actually recruit them. An Agreement of 1966 provided for recruitment for South Africa of Mozambican workers in the following manner: The employer had first to establish through local officials that no local workers were available, and only then, with the use of a "No objection certificate' issued by the local labour officials, could he start recruiting Mozambicans. The 'No objection certificate' had to be sent to the local office of the Mozambican Department of Labour for approval, and for recording the name and address of the recruitment agency in Mozambique. This had quite an effect in South Africa, and the Mozambican authority there was able to say in March 1966 that several agencies interested in Portuguese labour had asked for information about how they could contact the employment agencies. Finally, in August of 1970 discussions were held, followed by an Agreement in respect of the sending of agricultural workers from Ressano Garcia to the border areas of Barberton/Nelsprint/White River in South Africa. Types of Worker in 1970: A Summary By this time, there were four types of Mozambican contract workers in South Africa: a) Workers contracted by WENELA for the gold, coal- and platinum mines. b) Workers contracted by one of the three other agencies for the mines, and in some cases for agricultural work. c) Workers contracted in Ressano Garcia for agricultural work over the border. d) Long-time residents in South Africa whose repatriation was held in abeyance. Some Further Aspects of a Comparative Study of the 1928 and 1964 Conventions Transport of Workers 1928: Recruitment, placement and repatriation up to the border were the responsibility of the recruiting agency. 1964: Recruitment and transport to the mines were the responsibil-

Appendices ity of the agency. The cost of repatriation was deducted from the workers' wages in the first six months of contract. Health 1928: The cost of the return of those rejected in Ressano Garcia or in South Africa was to be borne by the recruiting agency. 1964: Youths under the age of eighteen were to be returned at the expense of the agency. Labour Contracts 1964: The clause which insisted on a worker remaining in Mozambique for six months between contracts disappeared. Versions of the contract, without this clause, were printed in local languages. Illegal Immigrants 1928: In principle, immediate repatriation. They were treated as illegal if they did not return at the end of contract. The immediate repatriation clause did not operate if more labour was required within the 65,000-80,000 limits of the convention. 1964: Especially after the changes in 1970 there was provision for legalisation of illegal immigrants in Ressano Garcia (the border station). This helped cut down clandestine immigration. Advance Payment 1928: Advances allowed. The advances were deducted from wages in the first six months. 1964: No advances were allowed until the contract came into force. At the moment of signing, the worker could receive an advance for his family, and travelling expenses up to a maximum of one month's wages, to be deducted from the next six months' wages.

APPENDIX 2 THE MINERS' QUESTIONNAIRE Universidade Eduardo Mondlane Centro de Estudos Africanos Mine Labour Investigation Date: Place of interview: Section 1. Biographical Information 1 Name: 2 Place of birth: 3 Age or date of birth: 4 Place of residence (district, locality, circulo): 5 Marital status: (single, married, widowed, divorced) 6 Education (class attained): 7 Number of children: 8 Their ages: 9 Numbers of children you support: 10 Who else do you support with your wages? 11 Are there other people in the family earning wages? (yes, no) 12 Who are these? 13 Birth place of father: 14 Occupation of father: 15 Has your father been to the mines? (yes, no) c-jc~ ~- I~ 1~~ * C.j fNj ~ ~J .9 C ~-*J c~ ~ -~ ~N - ~ - Cl en- - r c 2

Appendices Section 3. Money and Spending The Last Contract I After your last contract how much money did you bring back to Mozambique'? 2 How much did you receive in deferred pay? 3 During this last contract, did you send regular money to your family? (yes, no) If yes: How? How much? The Next Contract 4 If you are returning to the mines, have you left money with your family? (yes, no) 5 How long do you expect that money to last? 4ll Contracts Instructions for interviewer Taking the contracts of the worker in order, ask him what he remembers of how he spent his money. Some examples, to be used in questions if necessary: Did he use mine wages to pay lobolo? Did he give money to his father? uncles? Did most of the money go to buy food and clothes for the family? Was regular money sent to the family? Did he buy goods like: plough, oxen, sewing-machine, mill for own use or for hire? Did he build a house? What kind of house? Did he buy land or a shop? Did you pay money to the chief? If so, why? 6 Permanent Cultivation Trees No Yield Do you consume all? latas bags kg Yes No Cashew Mafurra Coconut Pineapple Coffee Appendices 7 a How adequate is the harvest for feeding the family? Never adequate Adequate in good years Always adequate b If you cannot grow enough food, why not? Floods Poor land Drought Not enough seed Rats/other pests Not enough equipment Not enough land Not enough labour 8 a Cattle Type N'v Origin* No. sold Type No. Origin* No. sold B/RIG/A this year B/RIG/A this year Ox Sheep Cow Goat Donkey Pig Chicken *B = bought; R = reproduced; G = gifts; A = abandoned b If you have oxen, do you use them for ploughing? (Yes, No)

APPENDIX 3 THE PEASANT HOUSEHOLD QUESTIONNAIRE FOR SELECTED HOUSEHOLDS Identification District Locality Circulo Celula Name of family head Family Household Composition Members Present Name Sex Age Relationship No. years Occupation principally agricultural to household schooling Yes If no, what? head 1 3 4 5 6 Persons A way Name Sex Age Relationship No. years Away at Work/occupation to household schooling school head 2 3 4

Appendices Farming Information Number of Machambas Number Distance from home Who works Observations (note if near far the machamba? rotation of land is used) 2 3 4 How long have you worked this land? How long have you had this land - before independence? - after independence? How was it acquired? (e.g. traditional authority (regulo), clearing of unoccupied land, bought, inherited, rented, etc.) Do you have enough land? If not why not? How can you get more land? Farming Yield From the Last Harvest (approximately) Crop Estimated Did you consume all? Observations yield yes no latas/bags Maize Cassava Groundnuts Beans Sweet potatoes Rice Cotton Farming equipment For the last harvest did you use: Type No. Your own Hired from Payment Borrowed Payment yes no whom? yes no Tractor Plough Oxen Grade 228

Appendices 229 Money Economy Sources of income since last harvest Sale of prodtice Approx. amount Sold to Exchanged for what? With (escudos) whom?* whom? Maize Groundnuts Cashew Mafurra Cotton Sale of stock Chicken Sheep Pig *e.g. shop, state. family member, other Wages earned Which Occit- Outside Location In In Monthly family pation Mozam- Outside In province district cell salary member? bique province outside district 1 3 4 Wage earners outside Mozambique Yes No How much per month? Bring/send money home regularly Bring/send goods? Money earned from part-time work* Activity Quantity 1 2 3 4 *e.g. sale of crafts, beer-brewing, house construction, pottery, etc.

Appendices Observations Savings/debts Did the family save money from last year's harvest? (Much, quite a lot, little, nothing?) Did the family borrow money? From (shop, bank, neighbours, family, others?) Why'? How much? (much, little, quantity?) When must it be paid back? Did the family employ wage labour/other forms of assistance? Activities No. of days Kind of payment Preparing the land Planting Weeding Harvesting Other activities What do you spend your money on? Do you have enough for the necessities of life? (yes, no) If not, how much do you need? How much does a person need for a good life? Division of Labour Who works the machamba?* Crop Land Planting Weeding Harvesting Processing Marketing preparation Groundnuts Maize Cashew Cotton 'Indicate woman, man or children Who is responsible for Cattle Sheep Pigs Chickens 230

Appendices 231 Men absent on wage work in the last five years Relationship with Type of work Where? How long away? Household head 3 Work history of household head Year of first wage work: Year of last wage work: Number of absences in between: Observations: Returned miners Do returned miners work on the land? (yes, no, only partially, only occasionally) If not, what do they do? Living conditions 1 Housing a) Roof: zinc tiles b) Walls and floor: bricks cement wood Observations: 2 Goods: Transistor-radio Watch Gramophone Bicycle Sewing-machine Others Where did you get the money to buy these goods? Commentary of the Interviewer

APPENDIX 4 THE EMPLOYMENT BUREAU OF AFRICA LIMITED (TEBA DIVISION) AGREEMENT OF SERVICE The following terms and conditions shall comprise the Agreement of Service between the prospective mineworker (thereinafter called 'the Employee'), whose full identifying particulars are recorded on the reverse hereof and THE EMPLOYMENT BUREAU OF AFRICA LIMITED operating under the title of and referred to herein as 'TEBA' acting on behalf of its member Companies (a list of which appears hereunder): 1. The Employee, by affixing his left thumb or other finger impression to this Agreement and, if he so wishes, by signing it, thereby confirms that he wishes to engage for service on one or other of the mines set out in the list of members referred to above, and undertakes and agrees that: (a) as soon as he is called upon to do so, he will proceed by such facilities and means of transport as are provided by TEBA and at its cost to the Wenela Depot in Johannesburg or Welkom, where he will be placed in employment with a mining Company (hereinafter called 'the Employer') which is a member of TEBA; (b) provided he is found at the Wenela Depot to be medically fit for mining work underground, he will allow himself to be allotted and registered to the Employer shown on the reverse hereof and will proceed as and when required to the Employer's mine to undertake such mining work (underground or on the surface) as may be required of him: (c) unless prevented by illness or accident, he will work on every working day to the best of his ability and, if called upon, will do overtime work and work on Sundays, Good Friday, the Day of the Covenant, Christmas Day and Republic Day on such work

Appendices as is permitted under the laws of the Republic of South Africa; (d) he will, if so required, reside in the quarters provided by the Employer and abide by the rules laid down by the Employer controlling those quarters; (e) the period of employment contemplated by this Agreement shall be that set out on the reverse hereof commencing from the day after his arrival on the Employer's mine. The total period of service under this Agreement shall not exceed the maximum period set out on the reverse hereof; (f) deductions from wages for stop order savings (deferred pay purposes), whether of a compulsory or voluntary nature shall be effected in accordance with the basis set out on the reverse hereof; (g) all advances which may be made to him, with the approval of the Lesotho Government, whether in cash or kind, as detailed in the space provided on the reverse hereof, may be recovered from his wages; (h) if he wishes to terminate his service at any time within the period contemplated in this Agreement, he will be required to give four weeks notice of his intention to his Employer; (i) on the termination of his employment with the Employer for any reason whatsoever he will allow himself to be returned either by TEBA or his Employer by such means as may be provided by them to such point in Lesotho as may be mutually agreed upon from time to time: (j) the costs of effecting his return to the point of engagement or to such other point as may be mutually agreed upon with TEBA shall be borne as follows: i) where he, himself, terminates his employment prior to the completion of the initial service period set out on the reverse, he shall be responsible for the total cost of his return journey; ii) where he completes the full period of service or longer, the total cost of his return to the point referred to in (i) above be borne by TEBA; iii) where he becomes unable to commence or continue in employment on account of illness or accident, or is discharged by his Employer, the costs of his return will be borne either by TEBA or by the Employer as laid down in Clause 3 (g). (k) In view of the importance of maintaining a complete record of his service in the mining industry and of ensuring his positive identification, he agrees to a record of his finger impressions

234 Appendices being retained by TEBA at its Central Records of Service Department. 2. The employee authorizes the following deductions from his wages during his period of service: (a) the amounts referred to in terms of Clause 1(f) above; (b) the amount necessary to repay the advances made to him in terms of Clause 1(g) above and as set out on the reverse of this Agreement: (c) any costs for which he may be liable in terms of Clause 1(j) (i) above; (d) any other advances made by the Employer in the course of his employment. 3. In accepting the Employee for mining employment, TEBA on behalf of the Employer, undertakes that: (a) the minimum wages that will be payable to him by the Employer will be as follows: (i) For underground work: R15.00 per week (ii) For surface work: R9.30 per week (b) subject to his fitness for mining work, he will be employed on underground work for the period contemplated in this Agreement: (c) if, on his return to his previous Employer, he is in possession of a valid certificate, as referred to in Clause 3(e) hereunder, he may, if it is the Employer's normal practice to do so, be placed immediately on underground work and paid the rate of pay provided for in Clause 3(e) (ii) and as set out in his certificate, plus any service increment to which he may be entitled as referred to in Clause 3(e) (iii). Alternatively, he may be called upon to undertake such acclimatization procedures as may be required by the Employer for which he will also receive the rates of pay referred to in the certificate. On the other hand, if he has previously been employed on underground mining work but does not return within the period stipulated in his certificate, he may be required to undergo acclimatization in accordance with the Employer's normal practice and, whilst thus employed, shall be paid not less than underground rates of pay with a minimum of R15.00 per week. In such circumstances, any rate of pay and service increment that he may have earned previously will fall away entirely. Should he not be in possession of the certificate, the onus shall be on the Employee to satisfy the

Appendices Employer or TEBA that he has had previous underground experience before qualifying for the benefits of this clause. Upon the completion of the aforesaid acclimatization period, the Employee shall, if medically fit, be transferred to underground work and paid a minimum basic wage of R15.00 per week: (d) payment of his wages shall be made not later than 10 days after the completion of each pay cycle in accordance with the practice current at the Employer's mine from time to time; (e) provided the Employee's service has been considered satisfactory by the Employer, he may be handed a certificate on his discharge on the termination of this Agreement which will, if he reports to an office of TEBA for re-engagement for mining employment within a period of six months from the date of issue: (i) guarantee his re-employment by the Employer, provided he complies with the provisions of 1(b); (ii) guarantee a substantive rate of pay, which will be recorded on the certificate; (iii) guarantee the continued payment of any service increment earned prior to the 1st December, 1962, to which he may be still entitled. In addition, the certificate will also indicate a date on or before which he is required to report to TEBA's office for re-engagement with his previous Employer so as to qualify for the Early Return bonus payment indicated thereon; (f) if the employee returns to mining employment after the expiration of the validity of his certificate, he will automatically forfeit any benefits that may have accrued to him on the certificate; (g) if, on initial medical examination at the Wenela Depot, he is found to be unfit for underground work, he may, if he so wishes be placed on surface work on any mine willing to accept his services and he will be paid the rates of pay applicable to such work with a minimum of R9.30 per week. Alternatively, he will be repatriated at TEBA'S expense. Similarly, if at any time during his period of service he is found to be unfit for underground work he may either if he so wishes and the Employer is willing to continue to employ him, be given suitable surface employment for which he will be paid the rate of pay applicable to that occupation with a minimum of R9.30 per week; or he will be repatriated at the Employer's expenses; (h) subject to the rates of pay referred to above, the Employee shall 235

0 * 0 z N ZOu~ -å 4 - 9JE ci z -Z 6 e ~ 0 ~ 0 c ~J .~ 0. E ~ ru >~ EE - -9 4.-4 r~ U v En fl tji 'i u < - E .4i -i r - 9 -4 >/ u fl EL 0 c < 0 < 05 M c A~ UL be paid at the prevailing mine rates of pay for a full day's work of an able-bodied adult according to the accepted standard of the Employer; (i) for the purpose of this Agreement, underground work shall mean work performed below the cellar of any shaft. 4. During any period in which the Employer shall be prevented from furnishing work for him owing to an act of God, flooding, fire, strike of workmen, stoppage of work, accidents to mine or plant, or other cause beyond the control of the Employer, the Employee shall receive half pay calculated on his average earnings during the preceding 13 weeks (or three months) or during such shorter period as he may have worked prior to the cessation of work. During the period in which the Employer is prevented from furnishing work for him for any of the causes contemplated in the preceding paragraph hereof, the Employee may be put to any class of work underground or on the surface for which he is medically fit, irrespective of the class of work he was engaged for or was performing at the commencement of such period or during the time thereof and he shall be paid the mine rates of wages in respect of the work to which he is so put, provided such pay shall not be less than the half pay referred to in the preceding paragraph. Any work to which he shall be put shall count towards the completion of the period referred to in Clause 1(c). If the circumstances contemplated in this clause continue for more than four weeks, either party shall have the option of cancelling this Agreement. If cancellation is at the instance of the Employer, TEBA shall at its own expense be responsible for the repatriation of the Employee. 5. The Employee shall be provided with food as prescribed by Government Regulation, medical attendance and quarters free of cost to himself unless he absents himself for no valid reason. 6. This Agreement shall be interpreted and applied in accordance with the law of the Republic of South Africa. Appendices 238

APPENDIX 5 CONFERENCE ON MIGRATORY LABOUR IN SOUTHERN AFRICA Charter of Rights for Migrant Workers in Southern Africa We the Representatives of Southern African States and Peoples; Noting that Apartheid has been declared a crime against humanity by the United Nations; Recognising that the migratory labour system is a major instrument of Apartheid; Mindful of the gross indignities it inflicts on the workers; Further noting that it undermines family life and disrupts agrarian economies; Concluding that migrant workers are denied basic human rights; Hereby Pledge ourselves to strive for the abolition of migratory labour and pending its elimination, Declare the following charter of rights for migrant workers in Southern Africa; Rights of Association, Movement and Residence 1 All workers have the right to; (a) Form and join trade unions of their own choice; (b) participate in collective bargaining on equal terms with all other workers regardless of race, sex, political affiliation or religion; and (c) withhold their labour by strike action in support of their demands. 2 All workers have the right to freedom of movement without the necessity to carry a pass. 3 All workers have the right to be accommodated near their place of work with their families in suitable houses under home ownership schemes, or to reside elsewhere if they so choose. 4 All workers have the right of occupation free from colour bar, job reservation and all other kinds of discrimination. Appendices 5 Everyone regardless of race or sex has the right to work, choose his occupation, and change from one employer to another without loss of accrued benefits and claims to promotion. 6 All workers, without exception, have the right to equal pay for equal work. 7 All workers have equal rights to vocational training and adult education for the purpose of acquiring skills and increasing their awareness. Right to a Decent Standard of Living 8 Every worker is entitled to a minimum basic wage sufficient for the maintenance of health and well being of his family. 9 All workers have the right to adequate protection against occupational accidents and diseases by means of approved safeguards and close supervision by an independent industrial and farming inspectorate operating in conjunction with representatives of workers. 10 All workers and their families have an equal and absolute right to adequate, immediate and effective compensation for death or disability arising out of occupational disease and accident. 11 All workers have the right to: (a) free medical services for themselves and their families; (b) sick leave and, where applicable, maternity leave with full pay; (c) annual paid holidays. 12 All workers are entitled to retire on full pension or with gratuity proportionate to their period of service. 13 All workers have a right to determine, by agreement, their working hours and other working conditions through collective bargaining. 14 All workers have the right to unemployment benefits. 15 All women workers have the right to participate in all branches of production without discrimination in wages, training, job allocation and pension benefits. DONE at Lusaka, Republic of Zambia, this SEVENTH day of April, One thousand nine hundred and seventy-eight. 240

NOTES Introduction For work on the supply of migrant labour as a function of capitalism: C. Meillassoux. 'From reproduction to production', Economy and Society, vol. 1, no. 1, 1972. H. Wolpe, *Capitalism and cheap labour-power in South Africa: from segregation to Apartheid'. Economy and Society, vol. 1, no. 4, 1972. On the cost structure of gold mining: F. A. Johnstone, Class, Race and Gold: A Study of Class Relations and Racial Discrimination in South Africa, Routledge & Kegan Paul. 1976. S. J. Truscott, The Witwatersrand Gold Mines, Banket and Mining Practice, London, Macmillan, 1898, esp. pp. 357-61. On the effects of migrant labour on peasant production: J. Leeuwenberg, The Transkei: A Study in Economic Regression, African Publications Trust, London, 1977. On Supply Trends: F. Wilson, International Migration in Southern Africa. World Employment Programme Research, ILO, Geneva, April 1976. F. Wilson, Labour in the South African Gold Mines, 1911-1969. Cambridge University Press, 1972. Part 1: The Export of Labour Material on the geographical sources of labour for the mines is available in the 1904 Transvaal Labour Commission, and the annual reports of the Witwatersrand, earlier the Transvaal, Chamber of Mines and of the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association. The primary data have been analysed in part in Francis Wilson, Labour in the South African Gold Mines 1911-1969, Cambridge University Press, 1972, and by Martin Leggassick and Duncan Innes in 'Capital Restructuring and the South African State: the case of foreign labour', Warwick Research Project, mimeo, August 1977; and in the South African Case Study submitted by the African

National Congress to the ECA Lusaka Conference in April 1978. Other sources are Alan Jeeves, 'The Control of Migratory Labour on the South African Gold Mines in the Era of Kruger and Milner', Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 2, no. 1, October 1975, which handles the earlier period during and immediately after the Boer War; and W. J. Breytenbach, Migratory Labour Arrangeinents in Southern Africa, Africa Institute, Pretoria, 1972; and R. Mansell Prothero, 'Foreign migrant labour for South Africa', International Migration Review, vol. 8, no. 3, 1974. The labour conventions between Mozambique and South Africa have been analysed from the following sources: Agreement for a 'Modus Vivendi' made between His Excellency the High Commissioner for South Africa and His Excellency the Governor-General of Mozambique, December 18 1901. Covengao entre o Governo da Repfiblica Portuguesa e o Governo da Unido Sul Africana, de 11 de Setembro 1928. Acordo de revisfo de convenqdo entre o Governo de Repfiblica Portuguesa e o Governo da Uni~o Sul Africana, de 17 de Novembro de 1934. Acordo por troca de notas entre o governo da Reptiblica Portuguesa e o Governo da Unido Sul Africana, 7 de Maio 1940. Acordo entre o Governo da Republica da Africa do Sul eo o Governo da Repdblica Portuguesa regulamentando o emprego de trabalhadores mineiros portuguesos da Provincia de Moqambique na Reptiblica da Africa do Sul 1964. Pretoria Government Printer. Memorandum of Marcelo Caetano, 1948. Report of the Ministry of Labour, Mozambique, on the 1970 Agreement. ILO Employment Convention (revised) 1949/ No. 97 Employment recommendation (revised) 1949/ No. 86 Protection of Migrant Workers (underdeveloped countries), Recommendation, 1955 (No. 100) A comparative study of all labour agreements entered into by all southern Afrian supply states is S. Rugege, 'International Contract Labour Agreements in Southern Africa', ECA Conference Paper. 1 Ongoing work on the periodisation of the Portuguese colonisation of Mozambique is reflected in a seminar presentation to the Centro de Estudos Africanos during April 1977 by the late Ant6nio Nogueira da Costa, and Luis de Brito, and subsequently consolidated and amplified by Carlos Serra in "Notas para uma Periodizaqio da Penetraqdo Capitalista em Moqambique. 1505-1974', Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Centro de Estudos Africanos e Departamento de Historia. Maputo. 15 November 1979, mimeo. 2 On the Mozambique Company see Barry Neil Tomlinson. 'Manica and Sofala Notes 242

Notes and the Mozambique Chartered Company, 1892-1910', Institute of Commonwealth Studies, African History Seminar, University of London, 1979. 3 For a preliminary discussion on this period see Marc Wuyts, Salazar and the Colonial Economy, Centro de Estudos Africanos, Maputo, Teaching Text 29, 1979, mimeo. This paper argues that the colonial r6gime reduced the administrative and political power of the companies which had virtually controlled the north and the centre of Mozambique, and that it then implanted administrative machinery to operate the system of forced labour provided for in the 1928 Native Labour Code and incorporated in the Colonial Act of 1930. According to Wuyts 'The coercive apparatus of the state thus became the direct means to institutionalise a system of capital accumulation based on the accumulation of absolute surplus value'. In the latter part of the Salazar period there were colonato schemes for white settlement, and after the 1950s this led to limited industrialisation to meet the internal market promoted by white settlement.' For the patterns of this industrialisation see D. Wield, 'Some characteristics of the Mozambican economy particularly relating to Industrialisation', Maputo, 1976-7 (mimeo). 4 Marc Wuyts. Peasants and Rural Economy in Mozambique, Centro de Estudos Africanos, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, August 1978, is an account of the differential impact of the colonial system on the peasant economy of three principal regions: the south, the centre and the north. 5 Aspects of this conflict between mining capital and settler interests were documented in a book which was banned in Mozambique for fear of the offence it would cause to political interests of the day. This was Eduardo Saldanha's 0 sul de Save, Lisbon, Tip. Formosa, 1928. See also the same author's Moqambique perante Genebra, Tipografia Porto Medico, Porto, 1931. Saldanha ran a campaign against labour recruitment by WENELA, and published facts about the close family links between the Portuguese colonial bureaucracy and WENELA's senior Portuguese staff. See Luis de Brito. *Depend.ncia colonial e integraqao regional', Estudos Movambicanos (1) 1980: 29. 6 The role of Mozambique as a labour reserve for the South African mining industry is most graphically illustrated in the fact that for the year 1967 (the last year for which detailed data are available) the income from the sale of cash crops by the peasants constituted only 12 per cent of the value of the annual wage bill paid out to Mozambican miners that year. The total cash value of commercialised output of farms and plantations in the southern provinces was less than half the wages earned by the miners. M. Wuyts, Peasants and Rural Economy in Mozambique, op. cit. pp. 14-15. 7 Francis Wilson, Labour in the South African Gold Mines 1911-1969, Cambridge University Press, 1972, pp. 3-4. 8 To give an idea of the benefits accrued directly by the port in the early years, the relevant revenue was as follows: in 1896-7 Mozambique had an income of 2934 contos, the share of Lourenqo Marques being 1886 contos. In 1906 total receipts were 4813 contos, Lourengo Marques' share being 3280 contos. 9 The clauses of the 1909 Mozambique Convention centred on the transit traffic side of the bargain, and stipulated that a guaranteed percentage of 50 per cent of all traffic to and from the Rand (designated the 'sphere of competence') would be carried through the port of Lourenqo Marques; and also constituted a mixed commission to co-ordinate the two railway systems. Subsequent Accords lowered the percentage of guaranteed traffic. 10 Alan Jeeves, Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 2, no. 1. 11 S. Rugege, ECA Conference Paper, 1978. 12 Only for specialised grades of workers, like medical orderlies, compound indunas

Notes and 'tribal representatives' (all terms used within the system of mine labour control) could contracts be extended to two years with the agreement of the Mozambican authority supervising the system. 13 The Curadoria dos Indigenas Portugueses no Transvaal, a body with consulate powers, directly responsible to the governor-general but receiving instruction from the Portuguese office, was appointed to supervise the terms of the Agreements. It maintained offices in South Africa for this purpose. It later became the Delegagdo answerable to the Instituto de Trabalho. 14 The Niassa Company derived considerable financial benefit by sub-contracting to WENELA to recruit labour in the territory it controlled. It was calculated that during this period returning workers brought with them an annual influx of gold to the amount of £20,000. The cessation of recruiting to the Transvaal mines which was ordered in 1913 was a severe blow to the finances of the company; it promptly substituted recruiting for agriculture work on the plantations of the Company of Boror in the Quelimane District; and the same year the Niassa Company even contracted to send labour to the mines in Katanga. 15 Recruitment of agricultural labour has been tightened up in the recent period. In terms of labour regulations laid down in mid-1977 in South Africa, Mozambican agricultural workers are allowed to renew their eighteen-month contracts only if they have been employed on a regular basis prior to 1 July 1972. Workers who took up employment after that date are allowed to complete their contracts, but are then repatriated. It is estimated that in mid-1977 there were about 16,000 Mozambicans employed in agriculture in the eastern Transvaal alone. After the promulgation of the ruling, about 4000 were estimated to have become subject to repatriation when their 18-month permits expired. (Star, 4 June 1977) 16 An early commentary is that of the naval intelligence division of the British Admiralty, which in 1920 compiled A Manual of Portuguese East Africa (HMSO): On the one hand there was thrown open to the mining interests a large source of labour which would be of the greatest benefit in the exploitation of the mineral resources of the country - labour that was cheap, and . . . industrious. On the other hand the provincial government [of Mozambique] stood to derive considerable income from this traffic in its native manhood, and was able to secure substantial advantage both as regards the transit traffic and general freedom of trade. But although the provincial government, as such, derived considerable pecuniary advantage, it is doubtful whether the country as a whole can be held to have benefited by the emigration of labour. On the one hand there is the fact that the returning 'boys' bring back considerable sums of money, and in many districts introduce the only gold that obtains circulation- but on the other hand there is no doubt that the absence of a large body of labourers at any one time and the continuous loss of the potential labour resources of the province is a serious evil in a country that primarily depends on agriculture for its future prosperity. (p. 175) 17 Work in progress on the disruption of pre-colonial societies in southern Mozambique which produced labour migration among other effects is by Sherilynn Young, and Patrick Harries. See for instance: Patrick Harries, 'Labour Migration from the Delegao Bay Hinterland to South Africa: 1852-1895'. Collected Seminar Papers, The Societies of Southern Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries, vol. 7, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, 1975-76, p. 64. Sherilynn Young 'Fertility and famine: women's agricultural history in southern Mozambique', in R. Palmer and N. Parsons (eds), The Roots of Rural Poverty in Central and Southern Africa, Heinemann 1977, p. 73.

Notes 245 'Changes in Diet and Production in Southern Mozambique, 1855-1960', mimeo, 1976. 18 A report in 1920 by the naval intelligence division of the British Admiralty said about recruiters, about whom there had been complaints as to their methods: 'on the whole it has been to their interests to treat the natives well, and they are chosen, therefore, as a rule, from those who are able to control and handle successfully large bodies of raw and untrained men. Many of these recruiters have been the first to penetrate many regions, and in times past they have been occasionally sent into unpacified country'. (A Manual of Portuguese East Africa, HMSO, 1920, p. 183.) 19 In Palmer, Robin and Parsons, Neil. The Roots of Rural Poverty in Central and Southern A frica, Heinemann, 1977. 20 Invidious as it is, the term 'foreign migrant' is conventional usage in South Africa and is part of the policy of dividing the labour force. 'Foreign' generally refers to those migrants who contract for the mines from territories outside South Africa's own borders. But the definition of 'foreign' labour has changed over time, depending on decisions within the South African state and economy regarding labour requirements: accordingly constraints on entry into the labour market have been loosened or tightened as more or less labour was needed. For instance, the Admission of Persons to the Union Regulation Act (22 of 1913) formalised different statuses of 'foreign-ness' in South Africa and classified migrant African workers from Mozambique (then termed Portuguese East Africa) and Malawi (then Nyasaland) as essentially prohibited immigrants; they could enter South Africa only in terms of a treaty with a neighbouring state, or in accordance with a labour recruitment scheme approved by the South African government. After the 1930s, a similar status of 'foreign prohibited immigrant' was accorded to persons from Malawi. Northern and Southern Rhodesia (now Zambia and Zimbabwe) and Tanganyika (now Tanzania). On the other hand migrants from the then High Commission Territories (now Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland) although under the 'foreign' rule of Britain, were not subjected to the conditions of the 1913 Act: they were seen as part of British South Africa and the export of their labour was to be regulated in accordance with the control of 'internal' rather than 'foreign' migrant labour. In 1963, though, migrant labour from these territories had its status changed to that of 'foreign' migrants. The most recent and far-reaching alteration to the definition of 'foreign' labour has been to make South Africans from the so-called 'homelands' or Bantustan areas 'foreign'. The labour supply to the mines from the Transkei is now governed by a labour treaty concluded with the government of South Africa in 1976. Transkeians are allowed to seek work in South Africa under permit, but are sent 'home' at the expiry of their contracts. See Martin Legassick and Francine de Clerq, 'The origins and nature of the migrant labour system in southern Africa', ECA Conference Paper, 1978. 21 We are indebted for the statistics to the work of the Warwick Research Project of Martin Legassick and Duncan Innes. and to their paper 'Capital restructuring and the South African State: the case of foreign labour', mimeo, 1977. 22 The WENELA circulars cited in the text are a tiny part of an extensive official record of labour recruiting operations at the provincial and local level, and the national level. This record has never been opened to inspection or study, and it is doubtful whether it is still intact in Mozambique, if at all. The circulars cited include the following: WENELA D.M.'s Circular No. 19/46 WENELA Circular No. 2/53, Ref. L.M. Circular No. 1/53

246 Notes WENELA Circular No. 35/53 Ref. L.M. Circular No. 31/53 WENELA Circular No. 40J/53 WENELA Circular dated 8 June 1953 WENELA Letter No. 79/58 Circular D/M. No. 20/58 dated 9 October 1958 WENELA Circular I.E. No. 6A/62, dated 16 April 1962 WENELA Circular No. 13/73, dated 27 February 1973 WENELA Circular No. 13/73, dated 27 February 1973 Part II: The Mine Labour Force I D. Horner and A. Kooy, 'Conflict on South African mines, 1972-1976', Saldru Working Paper. No. 5, University of Cape Town, August 1976. 2 D. G. Clarke, 'Contract labour from Rhodesia to the South African gold mines: a study in the international division of a labour reserve', Saldru Working Paper. No. 6, University of Cape Town. October 1976, p. 12. 3 Financial Mail, 8 October 1976. 4 Under the new Agreement covering Malawian workers, after thirteen weeks of employment, 60 per cent of the basic wage is retained and invested on behalf of the worker through WENELA with the Reserve Bank of Malawi for payment to the miner on his return, in accordance with terms and conditions laid down by the Bank. 5 Coronation Colliery mines high-grade steam coal and operates the Bank Colliery, which supplies blending coke to ISCOR. 6 Financial Mail, 7 June 1974. 7 This is the only new mine started after the stoppage of Malawian labour. 8 Since the deferred pay is only a percentage of the total wage earned, more complete calculations would have to take into account (i) monies brought back in cash and changed from Rands to Escudos at the border. Records of .these exchanges are available, but we have not been able to analyse them; (ii) monies sent home by the worker during his contract term either by post or carried by returning friends or relatives; (iii) monies spent on the purchase of goods in South Africa. Part III: The Peasant Base: Inhambane Province The principal sources used to describe the agriculture in Inhambane Province are the 1965 and 1970 Agricultural Censuses (Recenseamento Agricola de Mogambique), and Mdirio de Carvalho, A Agricultura Tradicional de Mogambique, Lourenqo Marques, 1969, Appendix'1I. During the project the 1965 and 1970 census material was reanalysed from the original questionnaires completed by field interviewers, who, according to the instructions of the census, collected a vast quantity of data which the final census reports often did not bother to analyse, let alone evaluate. Thus, for instance, the census forms reveal which peasant families sent workers to do wage work, including on the mines, but this information was not reproduced in any form. The censuses conducted in colonial times also organised the 'modern' (settler) and 'traditional' (peasant) sectors of

Notes agriculture separately and made no attempt to describe their interrelationships. Colonial data collection was almost always inaccurate, but it is the only available data base, and it can be used to show trends if not absolute totals. 1 This is taken from details on agricultural sales given in the Agricultural Census, but is a rough estimate only; the cashew nut figures are a notorious underestimation. 2 Until very recently attempts at explanation of the flow of migrant labour from Inhambane were based on ecological factors like poor soil that could not support an autonomous agriculture; or ostensibly social factors, the so-called 'internal dynamics' of a labour-exporting society like the Chopi or the Thonga. The argument was that there were pressures applied by colonialism, but that these had to be seen within a 'complex matrix of primitive social institutions'. See V. H. Velez Grilo and M. Sim6es Alberto, 'Formas de migracoes' mimeo, January 1960. This paper argues that migration rates could be related to uneven soil fertility like the presence of leached or non-leached soils in Inhambane Province. See also A. Rita Ferreira, 0 Movimento Migrat6rio de Trabalhadores entre Mofarnbique e a Africa do Sul, Lisbon, 1963; and the debate between Marvin Harris and Rita Ferreira in the following issues of Africa: 29 (1959) pp. 50-66; 30 (1960) pp. 141-51. 243-50; 31 (1965) pp. 75-77. According to Marvin Harris 'Labour emigration among the Mozambican Thonga' Africa, 29, pp. 50-66, the traditional Thonga homestead had within it tensions arising from the existence of different houses, the sons of which were allocated unequal shares of cattle on their father's death; this was said to result in a class of dispossessed. A similar approach to Chopi labour migration from Inhambane Province by D. Webster, 'Colonialism, underdevelopment and migrant Labour in southern Mozambique', mimeo, University of the Witwatersrand, n.d., argued that a system of adelphic succession left younger brothers and sons in a state of dispossession. A. Rita Ferreira, 0 Movirnento Migrat6res de Trabalhadores Entre Mofarnbique e a Africa do Sul, Lisbon, 1963, disagreed with aspects of Harris' position, but argued in similar fashion, after an examination of labour laws and forms of administrative recruiting, that if anything colonial action regulated an already existing situation. 3 Governor's Report 1911-12, Inhambane District, Lourengo Marques, 1912, p. 70. 4 Joanquim Nunes. 'Apontamentos para o estudo da questdo da mo de obra do Distrito de Inhambane sob a influfncia de emigraqdo para o Transvaal corn especial refer~ncia a Circumscriqdo Civil de Homoine', Boletirn da Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa; serie no. 46, 1928, no. 5-6, maio-junho. pp. 110-47. 5 The case for mine labour as against chibalo was made in 'Report on native labour conditions in the Province of Mozambique', Portuguese E.A., 1922, reprinted in South African Labour Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 2, July 1975. Prepared for the Transvaal Chamber of Mines by one of its agents, the report described the 'attractions' of minework, for in Mozambique 'no improvement in general conditions can be expected under the present system'. The report gave some instances of the conditions of labour, most of them drawn from the northern areas under the administration of the chartered companies. But during 1921 and part of 1922 in the south, 'some 2000 natives were employed for months on the road between Chai-Chai [sic) and Kinavaan. All this labour was unpaid and barely fed. In some cases the natives even had to provide their own hoes, which cost about five shillings, and were worn out in government service. Throughout the whole

248 Notes Province roads had to be maintained in repair by the local natives without payment: and actually other government service was also forced and unpaid in most Posts'. 6 Estatisticas Agricolas. 1967, lmpren a Nacional. 1969, Lourenqo Marques. Part IV: Workers or Peasants? 1 Marc Wuyts, Peasants and Rural Economy in Mozambique, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Centro de Estudos Africanos, 1978, p. 15. 2 N. Bromberger 'Mining Employment in South Africa 1946-2000', ILO World Employment Programme Working Paper, no. WP 38, May 1979. 3 The rapid mechanisation of South African agriculture which was expelling large amounts of black labour from the rural areas enlarged the potential internal mine labour force. 4 Labour recruitment from another labour supply state, Botswana, had also fallen steeply, from over 40,000 in 1976 to 19,300 in 1979. By June 1979 there were in all 186,000 African miners from the outside supply areas, distributed as follows: Mozambique 42,000 Botswana 20,000 Malawi 16,000 Swaziland 8500 Lesotho 100,000 (Financial Times 23 July 1980, in an interview with the WENELA chief executive in Zimbabwe.) 5 Financial Mail, Johannesburg, 4 July 1980, pp. 46-7. 6 This system of control is being emulated by the South African state in the management of their parallel system of recruiting migrant workers for other forms of employment through the labour bureaux. The 'government' of the Ciskeian 'bantustan' has, for example, recently embarked on: a massive new campaign to market an 'improved' Ciskeian labour force on the South African contract labour market. To this end, Ciskein workers are to be pre-trained and pre-disciplined. and then 'sold' to employers in South Africa through an aggressive marketing campaign as a productive and obedient workforce. Among the major features of the new system will be a central government computer containing a record of every worker - including a disciplinary record - used to process requisitions for labour. Workers with 'bad' work records may be penalised by not being given contracts... (Riaan de Villiers 'Ciskei will market labour by computer' Rand Daily Mail 29 May 1980). 7 After the study on the Mozambican miner, and prompted by it, the Centre of African Studies of the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane undertook a study of the sources of unemployment, especially in the rural areas, in the immediate postindependence period. The results of this research were published in two reports submitted to various Ministries: Relat6rio provis6rio sobre o desemprego no Maputo, 1978, 41p. 0 desemprego e a sua ligafdo corn o campo: Um estudo sobre a capacidade de em prego em machambas estatais e cooperativas seleccionadas no Distrito tie Moamba, Maputo, 1979, 56p. 8 In 1970 there were the following Mozambican workers registered with the Delegation of the Instituto de Trabalho in the Transvaal:

Notes Gold mines 98,293 Coal mines 15,250 Other employment 37,408 150,951 These totals do not, of course, register the Mozambicans in farm employment or the clandestine workers in agriculture and other sectors of the SA economy. By 1974 there were 88,000 Mozambicans registered at work in the Rhodesian economy. 9 Central Committee Report to the Third Congress of Frelimo, Mozambique Angola and Guine Information Centre, London, 1977. 10 From discussion of the issues of agrarian transformation, see Bridget O'Laughlin, 'The Agrarian Question in Mozambique', Estudos Moambicanos 3, 1981. 11 Issues relating to mechanisation of Mozambican agriculture and the choice of technique in agriculture are discussed in Marc Wuyts, 'The Mechanisation of Present-Day Mozambican Agriculture', Development and Change, vol. 12, 1981, pp. 1-27. 12 See the resolutions adopted at the Conference on Migratory Labour in Southern Africa, in Lusaka, April 1978. The conference was sponsored by the Economic Commission for Africa and the ILO. Malawi was the only labour supply state not represented at the Conference. 13 See the Report on the Conference on Migrant Labour in Southern Africa, Republic of Zambia, 4-8 April, 1978, ECA/MULPOC. Resolution 4 of this Conference recommended to all affected states the adoption of comprehensive development studies which inter alia would involve: the satisfaction of basic needs and the removal of poverty: the more equal distribution of wealth and incomes: the reform of land distribution and rural development policy; the revision of measures to increase means of production and the productive capacity of rural households and poverty-affected groups. 14 R. First and R. H. Davies, Migrant Labour to South Africa: a sanctions programme: I.U.E.F. Series 1980, p. 26.

GLOSSARY Agricultores A small minority of African farmers officially recognised by the colonial authorities and favoured in relation to land and credit. Alvenaria Literally, masonry. Name for a good quality house made of cement blocks, usually with a galvanised metal roof. Barraca Tent, hut, market-stall. Bicha Line, queue. Cabo Headman, traditional local leader used by the colonial administration. Capulana A wrap-around skirt, often brightly coloured, worn by Mozambican women. Chibalo Forced labour. Under the 1928 C6digo do Trabalho aos Indigenas nas Col6nias Portugeses de Africa (Labour code applied to Africans in the Portuguese colonies), Africans had a moral duty to work. Where voluntary work was not available, government agencies could recruit labour by force to serve public and private employers' purposes. The Code remained in force until 1961. The only persons exempted were boys under fourteen and men over sixty; the sick and invalid; cipais (headmen); anyone who worked for the state or for recognised chiefs; also men who had worked at least six months in the colony or who had returned from a working contract abroad. Anyone else who had been without regular employment for six months in the year was liable to be conscripted for labour. Colono Settler. Curandeiro Traditional healer. Grupo dinamizador Locally elected political organisation set up by Frelimo just after independence in a residential zone (urban suburb, rural village) or at a work place. Such groups often substituted for the colonial authority just after independence. Induna A tribal chief. On the mines, someone responsible for discipline in a tribal grouping among the workforce. Joni The miners' name for Johannesburg, the goldmining centre. Lata Tin, can (used as measurement for crops, etc.). Latifundario Settler landowner. Latiftindio Large settler landholding. Lobolo Bride-price, traditionally a gift of cattle to the bride's father. Machamba Peasant landholding. Muchvngo Rich dark soil found near river beds and lakes. Mafekefeke A beetle.

Glossary Mafurra Matsitna (tsima) Milho Nhaca Pahinatoria A tree fruit rich in oil, often used in soup. Systems of working together. One such system involves forming a group to work for one day on the machamba of each member in turn. In another form, someone with a great deal of work to do calls for help from others, and pays them with a meal, or a share of the crop. Maize. Rich soil, but hard to cultivate with a hoe. Portuguese colonial instrument of punishment: shaped rather like a table-tennis bat, with holes in it, it was used on the palms of the hands or the soles of the feet and raises painful swellings.

INDEX administration xii agriculture peasant see cash crops: cconomy. peasant: women post-Independence 1S6. 191 amalgamation ot settler farms 191. 192 collectiNe production 192-4 crisis 190 export crops 193 mcehanisation 192 poic\ 4. 191-2 v agc-labour 193 settler (contov) 15 abandoned 189. 191 chihalo dependence 27 labour requirements 27. 190 exports 190 aldeia comunais (communal farms) 4. 192 Wee also agriculture. post-Independence ALGOS xxvnii. 23-4 Anglo-American Corporation 50-1 post-Independence recruitment policy .1. 187 Anglo-Boer War,, (1899-1902) xxiv. 10. 17 Anolo-Vaal mines h2 AT..\S \x\ iln. 23-4 Bibliography list 2t7-I1 note on migrant labour 195-206 Blvooruitzicht mines 59. 01. 02 Bracken mine 9h. 99 ('AMON \\\mi. 23-4 Canda district 129 Carlctonvillc mine 49. 52 Chamber of Mines 6. 15-16. 18 post-Independence recruitment policy 59. 188 %ee ao VENELA Chartered Companies abolished xxui land-lease xxiii. 13 dhihalo xxiii. 27. D15 abolihed x iii and cotton cultivation xx\ and mining recruitment 42-3 City Deep mines 62 coalmincs recruitment ( I"3s I 3h. ( It2 I-, ( 1977) t)I colonial sstem prazos \\Ii weakness of xxi. 13 colon,-N (settlers) 27 commerce, peasant 134-5. l3 Conlercnce of Berlin (1 8s-) xxiii Conference on \ligrator Labour in Southern Atrica (1978) Appendix 5 239-40 Con\ entions. mining (1:'s") 17. 212: (1909) 17. 20. 213-15: (192N) 17, 215-16. amendments to 217-18: (1964) 2IS- 19. amendments to 220: (1965) 2311: .1t1dio. I'ivendi (1901) xxiv. 17. 212-13. and tariff concessions 18 Coronation colliery 61 cotton enforced culti\ation xxxii. 14, 122 Junta de Exporta'do do Algodoa xx\ i see also cash crops: chibalo crops. cash, enforced cultivation 14. 115, 185 Curadoria 20. 23 currency xii Decrees. mining (1961) 218 Department of Nati\c Affairs xxix. xxxii, 27,213 Durban Deep mine 59. 61. t2. 96, 99 East Daggafontein mine h2

Index economy artisan 183 colonial 14 balance of payments Table 3 26 and deterred mine wages 25 and gold price fixing 25-6 and taxation of peasants 39 see also cash crops: chibalo post-Independence xxx. 3, 9 consumer goods 183 exports 191 foreign exchange requirements 191 GNP 189 mine-wage dependence 183, 191 policy 191-2 production 191 wage employment in scr\ ices 190 settler 115 chibalo 27. 115 exodus post-Independence 159 South African 1. 7. 9, 30, 184 and migrant labour 8-9. 30-1 see also gold ERPM - Anglo mine 103. 107 Frelimo xx% iii sictorN 56: effect on economy 3, 186; effect on mining recruitment 57, 58, 1st Congress xx\ iii 2nd Congress xxix 3rd Congress xxx, 4: and agriculture policy 191-2 Gaza province xxiii agriculture labour force 121 mining recruitment 58 rebellion (1895) 15 ghayisa (returning migrant %sorkers) 42 glossary 250-1 gold price 30 deferred payments agreement xxvi, 25cancelled (1978) 65 fixed ( 1933-68) 10. (1972) 49, 187 revalued 49, 65, 157, 159 two-tier system 49 Goldfields mines 62 Grupo Dinamizador see land distribution Hartebeesfontein mine 59, 62 Homoine district 147-50 cash crop requirement 148 cattle holding 126 253 chbalo requirement 148 consumer goods 149-50 lack of 170, 172-3 economy 147 land distribution Table 17, 118 land shortage 148 Iobolo l1, 148-9 migrant labour 147 settler crops 118 taxation 148 wage-labour dependence 149 ILO xxvii industry 190 Inhambane province agriculture 115-27 cash crops 115, 116, 117, Figure 4 120, enforced cultivation (1935-40) 121-2 peasants 123, 127: mutual aid 126 productivity rate 115-16, 121. 127 settler crops 115. 118. 121 artisans 126-7 chihalo 112, 121 effect of abolition 126 crop commercialisation 123 exports 121, 122 imports 11 land distribution 125 land management 125-6 land profile 116-17 lobolo 1I., Table 14 119 migrant labour 58, 111-14. Table 12 113. Table 13 114, 122,126 money economy 117. 126 standard of living 126-7 taxation 118 traders' credit Table 15 124 interviews location 6, 67-8 with miners: anon. xvi-xvii; Josd Toncla 95-100: Mauricio Nkome 100-7: Silvester xv with women: Emereciana Mazivi 175-9. Filomena Mathavi 167-73. Luisa Mbahni 175-9 labour demand for 30. 186 force 5-6, 67-8: concentration and dispersal 8, 185, 187. composition (1904-76) Table 4 32-3, 68; ( 1977) 72-3 forced see chibalo policy of migrant workers 8-9

Index labour - 'onitd. recruitment we WENELA seasonal 114, 192 surplus '). 186. see also unemployment Labour Regulations (1899) xxiii; (1930) Xv I land distribution post-Indcpcndcnce 128. Table 17 132. 143 Lansdowne Committee (1943) 6-7 tcracN campaign xxx classes 174 see also NESAM lobolo (1930-77) Table 14 119 Machel. S. xxix Main Reef mine 44 Marievale mine 61 migrant labour I Chinese 10 composition 30-1, Table 4 32-3.55, Table 6 56 economics of 7 flow 4, 27; (1902-76) Figure 1 29 illegal 23, 222 introduced (1857) xxii-xxiii medical requirements xxxi .34, 36, 57, 102-3. 105 peasant need for 8 politics of K profile and percentages 2-4, 15. Table 1 22-3, Table 2 24. 23-4. 28. Figure 1 29, 55, 64 quotas 65 repatriation xxi%, xxvi, 18-19 restrictions post-Independence 59-66 rc ecnue to government 17, 24-5 routes 12 miners age distribution Table 9 73 diet 101-2 104 education level 81 health 222 mortality \\\, 20 percentage of Mozambicans 1-2.64 profile )7-8 questionnaire Appendix 2 221-o re-employment guarantee certificate 59-65. 70, 188 restrictions 61-4 skills 77-81 artisan aide 77 semi-skilled 78 supervisory 78 unskilled 78 social structure 68. 221 strikes 49.74 training 5, 51.54.78 tribal segregation 76, 97-8, 104 transport of 5, 4(. 52. 54, 78 work histories: Ernesto 86. Jose 90-1, Rodrigues 93-5. Sinai 91-3. Vasco 89-90, Zafania 87-9 working-life 70 mining accidents 96-7 mining conditions xvi. xvii, 19.96-7, 98-9: homosexual rape xv mining capital accumulation see economy, South African mining contracts age distribution 72, Table 9 73 analysed 69-71 duration IS. 70, Table 8 71,71-2 number Table 16 131 progressive service (1953) 36 Regulations xxiv. 18, 19 mining Conventions (1909. 1928) 17, 64. 65. 70 mining industry costs 10, 11), 72 crime in 49 labour requirements 31 new technology 10, 50-4, 186-7 productivity 9. 51,52, 53 profits 10 recession 1970s) 49 strikes in (1940) 31. (1973-6) 49-50, 187 wage fixing 19. 187 mining personnel xv. Figure 2 ,IBoer (foreman) xv boss-box Xv. 76 cheese-boy 801 drivers 80 feeder-boy 79 lasher xv. 76 pipe-boy 79 rigger 7L) runner 27 spanner-boy 80 surface worker So) mining recruitment xxiv centres 27.57 closed by wars of liberation 58 geographic limits xx .2. 15, 20-1, 215 post-lndependence 58 monopoly see WENELA organisation 28. 57 regional 1!1. Figure 3 112

Index targets 28. ( 1953) 35-7. Table 7 57 mining wages \Ni. \ii, 19-210, 36. 74-6 advances 222 and consumer goods 8 deferred 25. 42. 56. perceniage of 74. Table 10 75 disputes 5o grades Figure 2 SO. 188. 189 lex cls 74 minima I 1953) 36. (1910-7h,) Table 5 53.54. 187-8 and peasant differentiation s and peasant economy S-L). 114, 184 policy 510 reduced by monopoly 79 spread 75. Table I1 7o structure Figure 2. 8 NILO set Chamber of Mines, WENELA Mondlanc, E. xx\iii, xxx Mozambiquc colonial history summariscd xxi-xxxi profile xix-\x Mucda massacre xxvii National Institute of Labour xx\ ii Native Labour Regulations (1930) SXVI NESAM \x\ i Niassa Company 13. 21-1 Operation Gordion Knot xxix peasant-workers 6 agricultural labourcrs 130. 185 medium 155-9 middle 129. 185 case-histories 152-5 mine wagcs Table 16 131. Table 18 13N petty-commodity producers 130, 134-5 poor 131. Table 16 131. Table IS 138 case-historic 152-5 land-holding Table 17 132 prolctarianisation I. 69.72. 185 relationship %ith 'modern' sector 183 social differentiation 128-33. 185 traders 72, 130 Pembe pro incec artisans 139. 146-7 cattle holding 126 census data 137 crop acquisition 144-5 land acquisition Table 17 132, 143-4 loholo 142-3 machinery acquisition and sharing 145-6 migrant labour 130-7, 139 mining contracts Table 18 138 extent 139 peasant agriculture 127, 141-7 peasant economy 140-I. 146-7 social structure 137. Table IX. 13 wagc employment, non-mining 139-41 Questionnaire, peasant household Appendix 3 227-31 absent members 227. 231 crop production 22S equipment 228 farm composition 227 housing standards 231 income sources 229-31 labour division 231 labour requirements 230 land-holding 22S miners: absent 231. returned 231 Questionnaire. miners' Appendix 2 223-6 biographical information 223 home cultivation 225 wages 225 disposal 225 \sork history 224 Rand mines 62 Rand Native Labour Association, monopoly recruitment xxiii. 16 Randfontein Estates mines 63, 96 recruitment see WENELA quotas XXV. 189regional I11-14, Figure 3 112 Inhambane province 111-12. Table 12 113. Table 13 114 Salazar regime xx\. 14 scr\ iccs industr 190-1 settlers (colonos) agriculture 189; breakdown of 1911 ais employers 1910 farms 1911 food export 1901 praiZoA xxii Sitila province agriculture production 1511 climate 150- I consumer goods 151 hobolo 151 migrant labour 151-2 petty commdit. produccrs 151

256 Index slave-trade xxii; abolished xxiii South Africa Immigration Restriction Act (1913) 2(0 South Africa Lands mines 62 South Africa-Mozambique Convention (1928) xxv-xxvi state-farms see agriculture, post-Independence Stilfontein mines 63 TEBA 5 Agreement of Service Appendix 4 232-8 recruitment policy 189 trade conventions 14 transport revenue 17 unemployment absorption in agriculture 190. 191 'illegal' xxiii and mechanisation 187 post-Independence 190 recession (1970s) 49 recruitment quotas 191 Vlakfontcin mines h2 wage-labour and capital accumulation 7: see also economy, South African interrelationship with domestic agriculture 7 WENELA 5-6. 16. 55 output 2, Table 1 22-3. 37 recruitment monopoly xxiv, ended xxviii. 23 monthly (1970-8) Table 7 57 of novices (1961-77) 24, Table 6 56. 59, 63 organisation 57 percentage Table 2 24 propaganda' tours (1950) 34-5, (1958)36-7 restrictions 37, (1977) 61 targets (1953) 35 Western Areas mines 59, 61 Western Deep Level mine 63 Western Platinum mines 61 Winkelhaak mine 59 Witwatersrand mines 1, 9, 17 women 131 as agricultural workers 72. 168-70. 177. 179 conflict with miners' wives 179 courtship and marriage 176; see also lobolo crop producers 171-2. 177. 178 fears 174-5. 177 interviews 167-79 mutual support 168 petty commodity producers 134-5 songs: On the Flat Bare Place 163. 1 Waste my Energy 164. Keep Quiet! 165. I am Happy Today 166 subsistence diet 17(1 work songs: Nwamaraosa is done for xiii-\iv. Maghalangu 38. My Wife is Suffering 44. Nyankwavanc 45. Thandazela s2. Xikwembu xa Muhiliwa 83, Push! Push! 83-4. The Small Foolish White Man ,4-5. Pull! Pull! 85 worker-peasants 184-94 Zambesi Company 13