Basotho and the Experience of Death, Dying, and Mourning in the South African Mine Compounds, 1890-1940

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Periodical article

Title:	Basotho and the Experience of Death, Dying, and Mourning in the South African Mine Compounds, 1890-1940
Author:	Maloka, Tshidiso
Year:	1998
Periodical:	Cahiers d'études africaines
Volume:	38
Issue:	149
Pages:	17-40
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	Sotho miners labour migration death rites Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) History and Exploration Labor and Employment mine accidents
External link:	https://doi.org/10.3406/cea.1998.1975
Abstract:	This paper, using the case of the Sotho of modern Lesotho (formerly Basutoland), examines the experience of death, dying and mourning in the mining compounds of Witwatersrand in South Africa during the period 1890 to 1940. After discussing the Sotho attitude to death and mourning, the paper not only shows how the mine and government authorities treated African mineworkers as nothing more than a source of cheap labour, but also discusses the various strategies deployed by these mineworkers to assert their humanity. In particular the author examines the perception of the Sotho migrant labourers of mine accidents and their response to them. He also addresses the issue of compensation for injuries or death incurred on the mines. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French.