However, these industrial changes sparked significant social changes, with the number of people employed in manufacturing alone increasing by 60% during the Second World War. The construction of power stations on the coalfields of Witbank and Delmas established fossil fuels, and by extension mining, as the primary source of South African power, while the combination of the Venterspost, Libanon and Kloof gold mines into a single operation by 1968 established a project that has gone on to produce around 15,000kg of gold per year. Post-war expansionĪfter the World Wars, South African mining continued to expand, with several new uses for minerals and mining products, such as platinum in the petroleum industry, to improve fuel’s octane rating. The South African Minerals Council reports that the mines built along this first deposit, in an area known as Mashishing, have accounted for more than three-quarters of the world’s total platinum output since commercial operations began. Over five thousand black workers were admitted to a local hospital with conditions throughout the mine’s life.įollowing the closure of the Big Hole with the outbreak of the First World War, attention turned towards platinum mining, with the first deposit discovered in 1924.

White Briton Cecil Rhodes served as the mine’s governor and later founded De Beers, while over one thousand black workers died during mining or from diseases contracted during work.

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