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South African Historical Journal Volume 34, 1996 - Issue 1
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ARTICLES/ARTIKELS

State Labour Control Policies and African Workers of Durban, South Africa, 1960–1985

NELSON TOZIVARIPI SAMBURENI University of South Africa,
Pages 77-105 | Published online: 14 Jan 2009

  • Greenberg , S. 1987 . Legitimating the Illegitimate: State, Markets, and Resistance in South Africa 16 Berkeley
  • Posel , D. 1993 . “ ‘Influx Control and Urban Labour Markets' ” . In Apartheid's Genesis, 1935–1962 Edited by: Bonner , P. , Delius , P. and Posel , D. 421 Johannesburg in (eds)
  • Ibid 423
  • As cited in Posel, 'Influx Control and Urban Labour Markets', 426
  • Hindson , D. 1987 . Pass Controls and the Urban African Proletariat in South Africa Johannesburg See
  • University of Natal . 1960 . Killie Campbell Africana Library (hereafter KCAL), Bourquin Papers, KCM 55224, Extract from Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee of Inquiry p. 5
  • Durban Corporation . Department of Bantu Administration, Annual Report for 1961, p. 4
  • 1964 . Ibid. 106 Annual Report p
  • Posel , D. 1991 . The Making of Apartheid, 1948–1961: Conflict and Compromise 227 – 8 . Oxford As cited in
  • Greenberg . Legitimating the Illegitimate 53
  • Ibid. 67
  • Ibid.
  • van Onselen , C. 1980 . Chibaro: African Mine Labour in Southern Rhodesia, 1900–1933 239 Johannesburg
  • Ibid.
  • 10 Sep. 1980 . 10 Sep. , KCAL, KCAV, 987–991, S.B. Bourquin to I. Edwards, p. 4
  • Durban Corporation . 1968 . Annual Report
  • Ibid
  • 5 Nov. 1973 . 5 Nov. , Bantu Laws Amendment Act 42 of 1964. See also Natal Archives (hereafter NA), Port Natal Affairs Administration Board (hereafter PNAAB), 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, Bantu Labour in Prescribed Areas: Placing of Bantu in Employment, Policy 12/11/73-6/12/74, Secretary for BAD to Mr N.P. Smith
  • Ibid.
  • 6 Nov. 1973 . Ibid. 6 Nov. , Secretary for BAD to all Chief Directors of Bantu Affairs Admin. Boards
  • Drew , R. F. 29 Oct. 1975 . 29 Oct. , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, Convenor of Sub-Committee to the Chairman, District Managers, Labour Officers and the Dept. of Finance of the PNAAB
  • 15 May 1974 . 15 May , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, Box 53, 22/6/73- 5/7/74, H.D. van Wyk Manager, North Coast District to the Control Officer
  • Baker , G. F. 26 Nov. 1975 . 26 Nov. , and memorandum submitted by the Durban Chamber of Commerce to the Hon T.R.H. Jansen, Deputy Minister of Bantu Administration and Education on the Laws Governing the Influx and Employment of Bantu in White Areas, 1973.See, for instance, NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, 1/10/75- 31/1/76, Manager, Central District to the Chief Director
  • 18 Feb. 1974 . 18 Feb. , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, 22/6/73-5/7/74, PNAAB, Minutes of Ad Hoc Committee Re: Aid Centre Meeting held
  • 22 Mar. 1976 . 22 Mar. , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, Box 49,1/2/76- 31/3/76, Inquiry to Parliament from Mrs H. Suzman, MP
  • 18 Feb. 1974 . 18 Feb. , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, 16/2/12/P, 16/8/73- 11/4/75, Report of the Sub-Committee on Bantu Aid Centres
  • 22 Mar. 1976 . 22 Mar. , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, Box 49, Inquiry from Parliament
  • Drew , R. F. 23 June 1976 . 23 June , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, 1/6/76- 30/7/76, Labour Officer, Central District to Employer Organisations
  • Ibid.
  • 15 Sep. 1975 . 15 Sep. , See, for instance, NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, Box 51, Chief Director to the Deputy Director, Natal Chamber of Industries
  • 19 Mar. 1975 . 19 Mar. , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, Box 50, 1/1/75- 30/4/75, A.P. Mynhardt, Town Clerk and Treasurer, Township of Harding to the Manager
  • Macquet , J. P.J. 20 Jan. 1975 . Ibid. 20 Jan. , Iniuku Store to the Manager, PNAAB
  • 7 Jan 1975 . Ibid. 7 Jan , Mine Labour Organisation (NRC) Ltd, report to PNAAB
  • Legitimating the Illegitimate 72 As cited in Greenberg
  • 21 Apr. 1975 . 21 Apr. , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, Box 50, R.G. Wilson to the Chief Director
  • 5 Apr. 1974 . 5 Apr. , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, Bantu Labour in Prescribed Areas 12/11/73–6/12/74, Executive Committee Agenda, Medical Examination of Bantu Work-Seekers, 10 Sep. 1974. See also NA, PNAAB, Box 51, 12/3/74–24/9/74, Bantu Labour in Prescribed Areas: Policy, PNAAB, Interim Report of Ad Hoc Committee on Friction Points Labour Supply and Registration
  • Ibid.
  • Ibid.
  • Ibid.
  • SAIRR . 1973 . Survey of Race Relations 135 Braamfontein
  • 5 Jan. 1973 . 5 Jan. , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, labour, influx Control Policy: Chief Bantu Affairs Commissioner to the Chief Director, PNAAB, Durban
  • 5 Nov. 1974 . 5 Nov. , KCAL, PNAAB, KCF 82, Roll 64, Inspectorate Division, Central District to the Manager
  • Ibid.
  • 7 Nov. 1974 . 7 Nov. , KCAL, PNAAB, Central District, Labour Officer to the Manager
  • Ibid.
  • Ibid.
  • 6 Feb. 1975 . 6 Feb. , NA, PNAAB, Minutes of the Special meeting of the Sub-Committee Re: Labour and Transport
  • Ibid.
  • Ibid.
  • Ibid.
  • 17 June 1975 . 17 June , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9-16/2/7/P, Labour, Executive Committee Agenda
  • Ibid.
  • Bourquin , S. 23 June 1976 . 23 June , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, 1 June 1976–30 July 1976, Chief Director to the Secretary of the Natal Agricultural Union
  • Drew , R. F. 4 June 1976 . 4 June , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, Box 56, Labour Officer, Central District to the Manager, Central District
  • Claassens , A. 1979 . “The Riekert Commission and Unemployment: The KwaZulu Case', in ” . In The Wiehahn and Riekert Reports 51 (Workshop Reports by SALDRU and SALB editors
  • Ibid.
  • University of the Witwatersrand (hereafter UW), William Cullen Library (hereafter WCL), FOSATU, C 3.15.2, AH 1999/C4,4.1, Dealings with Non-Trade Union Organisations, Black Sash Miscellaneous, n.d
  • Ibid.
  • RSA . Commission of Inquiry into Legislation Affecting the Utilisation of Manpower 1979 Chairman : Riekert . para. 1.8 RP32
  • Ibid. para. 4.204 (d) and (f)
  • Duncan , S. “The Effect of the Riekert Report on the African Population', in ” . In The Wiehahn and Riekert Reports 72
  • Bekker , S. and Humphries , R. 1985 . From Control to Confusion: The Changing Role of Administration Boards in South Africa, 1971–1983 69 Pietermaritzburg
  • 1983 . Forced Removals in South Africa, Volume 4, Natal 188 Cape Town The Surplus People Project (hereafter SPP)
  • Ibid.
  • Ibid. 187
  • Ibid. 188
  • Ibid. 189
  • 25 and 26 Feb. 1981 . Hansard 25 and 26 Feb. , Questions 84 and 85,as cited in SPP, Forced Removals, 189
  • Sash , Black . “ Natal Region as cited in SPP ” . In Forced Removals 189
  • Ibid.
  • Ntuli , Mr . 25 Oct. 1994 . 25 Oct. , Discussions with. Mr Ntuli was once arrested in 1975 for not observing influx control regulations and was send to work on a sugar plantation in northern Natal
  • SPP . Forced Removals 190
  • Hindson . Pass Controls 85
  • Bekker , J. C. 1986 . The Abolition of Influx Control and Other Law Reform Measures 1 – 5 . Isando
  • Ibid 5
  • Moller , V. and Schlemmer , L. 1977 . The Situation of African Migrant Workers in Durban 4 Durban
  • Wilson , F. 1972 . Labour in the South African Gold Mines 1911–1969 London See
  • Harries , P. 1994 . Work, Culture and Identity: Migrant Labourers in Mozambique and South Africa, c.1860–1910 Johannesburg See, for instance, (T.D. Moodie, Goingfor Gold: Men, Mines and Migration (Johannesburg, 1994);and P. Bonner, 'African Urbanisation on the Rand Between the 1930s and 1960s: Its Character and Political Consequences', Journal of Southern African Studies 21, 1 (1995)
  • Breese , G. , ed. 1969 . The City in Newly Developing Countries 143 Englewood Cliffs United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, ‘Size and Growth of Urban Population in Africa’, in
  • Wilson , F. 1972 . Migrant Labour in South Africa 151 Johannesburg
  • van der Horst , S. 1964 . African Workers in Town Cape Town See, for instance
  • Skinner , E. P. 1960 . ‘Labour Migration and its Relationship to Socio-Cultural Change’ . Africa , 30 : 389
  • Caldwell , J. C. 1969 . African Rural-Urban Migration: The Movement to Ghana's Towns London
  • van , J. and Little , K. , eds. 1961 . “ ‘Some Methodological Problems of the Study of Labour Migration’ ” . In Social Change in Modern Africa 236 London
  • Skinner , E. P. 1965 . “ ‘Labour Migration among the Mossi of Upper Volta’ ” . In Urbanisation and Migration in West Africa Edited by: Kuper , H. 66 Berkeley
  • Hindson , D. , Byerley , M. and Morris , M. 1993 . From Violence to Reconstruction: The Making, Disintegration and Remaking of an Apartheid City 3 Durban
  • NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, Volume 8, Box Number 49. See Labour Monthly Returns from various Labour Officers
  • Edwards , I. 1989 . ‘Mkhumbane Our Home: African Shantytown Society in Cato Manor Farm, 1946–1960’ 104 University of Natal . (PhD thesis, See also O.P.F. Horwood, ‘Some Aspects of Urban African Employment in the Durban Area’, Race Relations Journal, 25 (July-Dec. 1958), 24
  • Smith , R. H. 1952 . Labour Resources of Natal 56 – 8 . Cape Town
  • 1974 . NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, Vol. 7, Box No. 49, Dept. of the Interior, Transkei, Statistical Labour Report
  • Ibid.
  • 12 Apr. 1976 . 12 Apr. , and D.P. De Lange, District Manager [Western District] to the Chief Director, 15 Apr. 1976.NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, 1/4/76-31/5/76, Vol. 8, Box No. 49, Central District, Labour Officer to the Chief Director
  • Posel . ‘Influx Control and Urban Labour Markets' 418
  • Ibid.
  • Ibid.
  • University of Natal . Dec. 1959 . Dec. , and J. de Gruchy, 'The Cost of Living of Urban Africans', South African Institute of Race Relations Journal (1960)., ‘A Survey of Bantu Income and Expenditure in Durban’ (Unpublished Interim Report, Deptartment of Economics, University of Natal, Durban
  • UND, A Survey of Bantu Income
  • Pursell , D. E. 1968 . ‘Bantu Real Wages and Employment Opportunities in South Africa’ . South African Journal of Economics , 36 For an extensive review of African wages in Durban during the 1960s, see
  • Hemson , D. 1979 . ‘Class Consciousness and Migrant Workers: Dock Workers of Durban’ University of Warwick . For a detailed study on the docks, see (PhD thesis
  • Ibid. 386
  • Ibid. 412
  • Ibid. 416
  • A detailed survey of the wage structure of migrant workers has been provided in Hemson's thesis. This aspect is very important for our understanding of the Marxist concept of surplus value which was created through poverty wages paid to African workers
  • Minnaar , A. de V. 1989 . ‘Labour Supply Problems of the Zululand Sugar Planters, 1905–1939’ . Journal of Natal and Zulu History , 12 See
  • Baker , G. F. 26 Nov. 1975 . 26 Nov. , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, 1/10/75-3/1/76, Manager, Central District to the Chief Director,. Posel says that ‘migrant workers, particularly so-called “raw labour”, newly arrived from rural areas, were less likely than city-dwellers to refuse ‘obnoxious” work on the grounds of low wages or poor working conditions. If detribalised workers were “job choosy” and “work-shy”, raw migrants were purportedly more than willing to take any available work for whatever the going rate’: Posel, 'Influx Control and Urban Labour Markets', 418
  • Reyburn , P. C . 11 June 1974 . 11 June , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, 22/6/73–5/7/74, Box 53, Natal Agric. Union, Control of Bantu Farm Labour, Secretary
  • 15 Nov. 1968 . 15 Nov. , KCAL, PNAAB, Roll 7, KCF 24, KwaMashu Township (c), The Future Control of KwaMashu, BA 2/3/3 (ii) 26/11/68- 20/5/69, Dept. of Bantu Administration,. See comments by Mr Noble, the Chief Bantu Affairs Commissioner
  • Ibid.
  • Ibid.
  • 22 Aug. 1975 . 22 Aug. , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour Box 51, Central District, Manager to the Chief Director
  • 18 July 1974 . 18 July , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, 1/7/74–31/12/74, Box 53, Personnel Manager to the Chief Director
  • Ibid.
  • Ibid.
  • Ibid.
  • 8 Sep. 1975 . 8 Sep. , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, Box 51, Labour Officer, Prospecton to Manager, South Coast District
  • Kelly , J. 1989 . ‘Durban's Industrialisation and the Life and Labour of Black Workers, 1920–1950’ 42 Durban : University of Natal . (MA thesis
  • Ibid.
  • Baker , G. F. 26 Mar. 1974 . 26 Mar. , NA, PNAAB, 1/2/1/1/9, Labour, Box 53, 22/6/73- 5/7/76, Manager Western District to the Chief Director
  • Ibid.
  • Ibid.
  • 25 May 1973 . Ibid. 25 May , Chief Bantu Affairs Commissioner, Natal to the Secretary of the SA Cane Growers' Association
  • Stichter , S. B. 1985 . Migrant Labourers 191 Cambridge See
  • Mayer , P. 1961 . Townsmen or Tribesmen: Conservatism and the Process of Urbanization in a South African City Cape Town This particular article does not examine such notions, although it recognises their importance. However, the best book to read on this particular subject is by

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