Mine decline and women: Reflections from the Free State Goldfields

Sesele, Kentse; Marais, Lochner; Rooyen, Deidré van; Cloete, Jan

doi:10.1016/j.exis.2020.11.006

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The ICMs : mining decline had more sexual offences than the other three settlement categories. This evidence corroborates the findings of recent work on women's experiences in Matjhabeng (one of the cities in the ICMs : mining decline category) (Sesele et al, 2021b).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 90%

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Mine closure, social disruption, and crime in South Africa

Marais

Ndaguba

Mmbadi

et al. 2022

Geographical Journal

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The international literature links mining booms with social disruption. The rapid economic and population growth that mining brings increases urban crime and social problems. But insufficient attention has been paid to the reverse situation: the social disruption that can accompany the closure of a mine. We compare crime statistics for four categories of small city, known in South Africa as “intermediate city municipalities,” from 2009 to 2018. Contrary to the findings of international studies, we find that those where mining was in decline had some of the highest crime rates, particularly in the category of sexual offences, whereas those where mining was growing had the lowest. Our research shows that mine decline and closure can contribute to social disruption. We argue that South African government policy has exacerbated this problem in the context of mine decline and that several dependencies created by mining further contribute to the problem. We challenge the assumption that fast population growth and an increase in the male population are prerequisites for social disruption. Our paper suggests the need for modifications to social disruption theory.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Several case studies have been performed worldwide (Haney & Shkaratan, 2003; McDonald et al, 2012; Van Assche et al, 2021a). Research has also been carried out on cross‐cutting issues such as the gender implications of mine closure (Sesele et al, 2021a, 2021b) and mining companies' transparency on the closure process (Crous et al, 2020).…”

Section: Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Mine closure, social disruption, and crime in South Africa

Marais

Ndaguba

Mmbadi

et al. 2022

Geographical Journal

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“…The size of the economy in 2018 was only 55% of what it had been in 1996. Economic decline has had detrimental social consequences in the area (Sesele et al, 2021) and has also resulted in a drop in the population from 480,000 in 1996 to 430,000 in 2016.…”

Section: Matjhabengmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These attempts have been hampered by political infighting and unrealistic plans. Many mayors did not complete their terms and the turnover of municipal managers has been extraordinarily high (Sesele, 2020). Like Emalahleni, Matjhabeng Local Municipality has not received unqualified audits for the past five financial years.…”

Section: Matjhabengmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic Transitions in South Africa’s Secondary Cities: Governing Mine Closures

Marais

Nel

Rani

et al. 2021

PaG

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Many South African secondary cities depend on a single economic sector, often mining or manufacturing. This makes them vulnerable to economic change and national decision-making. We describe change in three secondary cities—Emalahleni, Matjhabeng and Newcastle—all at different phases of economic transition due to imminent mine closure. We investigate the way local governance and planning are dealing with the change. We draw on concepts from institutional economics and evolutionary governance theory, material from strategic planning documents, and approximately 50 key informant interviews. We show how difficult it is to steer economic planning during economic transitions, and we demonstrate how both economic change and governance are path-dependent. Path dependency in South Africa’s mining towns has several causes: the colonial influence, which emphasised extraction and neglected beneficiation; the dominance of a single sector; the long-term problems created by mining; and the lack of the skills needed to bring about economic change. The local governments’ continuing reliance on the New Public Management paradigm, which focuses on steering as opposed to building networks, compounds the problem, along with poor governance, inadequate local capacity and inappropriate intergovernmental relations. Of the three towns, only Newcastle has shown signs of taking a new path.

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“…The South Africa case highlights how mining decline ended up especially challenging for women because they had fewer resources to cope with the situation and suffered increased gender-based violence. Other studies have also revealed how mining and industrial transitions have contributed to the redefining of gender roles, as well as created new challenges and a double burden for women; gender-based violence and discrimination have also made transitions especially difficult for women (Bennett, 2015;Sesele et al, 2020;Shepherd-Powell, 2017).…”

Section: Unaddressed Inequality Can Worsen Transition Outcomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change, Trade, and Global Food Security: A Global Assessment of Transboundary Climate Risks in Agricultural Commodity Flows

Adams¹,

Benzie²,

Croft³

et al. 2021

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This report uses four case studies from across the globe to draw lessons on how cities and regions can equitably manage the decline of major industrial and mining activities, and minimize disruption to local economies. It finds commonalities among de-carbonization transitions in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and South Africa, expanding the scope of success from simply closing industries to including social and economic equity in the transition process.

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Mine decline and women: Reflections from the Free State Goldfields

Cited by 8 publications

References 21 publications

Mine closure, social disruption, and crime in South Africa

Mine closure, social disruption, and crime in South Africa

Economic Transitions in South Africa’s Secondary Cities: Governing Mine Closures

Climate Change, Trade, and Global Food Security: A Global Assessment of Transboundary Climate Risks in Agricultural Commodity Flows

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