“Gold mining union plans one-day Free State strike”
An article dated March 17, 2000
NUM, or South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers, is organizing a one-day strike at Free State gold mines. They are protesting the poverty and job losses from the mines. NUM is the country’s biggest mining union with 50,000 members, and on March 22 the strike would affect five gold companies; AngloGold Ltd., Gold Fields Ltd., Harmony Gold Co., Avgold and African Rainbow Minerals. NUM spokesman Ikaneng Matlala didn’t say, however, how many members of the union would participate on the strike, but did say “All the gold mines in the Free State gold fields are going to embark on a strike.”
The protest is against the gold mines because of the huge job losses in the last fifteen years. In 1987, gold, being the backbone of the economy, employed 530,000 miners. After the end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa’s economy was open to foreign competition, and the gold industry had to be restructured. The gold price has been decreasing as well, and today only 200,000 miners are employed.
This current event relates to Alan Paton’s, Cry, the Beloved Country, because mining supported Johannesburg, and references were made to the mining industry throughout the book. Many characters voiced their opinion that it was the black men that economically supported the white men in South Africa, and they were diseased and injured by it. That they worked for cheap, were exposed to dangers, and then when they needed medical attention the non-European hospitals were less than inadequate. John Kumalo gave speeches on strikes against the gold mines. Gold was found in a new area, Odenaalrust, and the white men wanted to change the name because it was too hard to pronounce.
All levels of protection for the miners failed them. Every agency that was entrusted with their safety had other concerns as priority. Mr. Scanlan submitted true and honest reports of violations over a long period of time but never went that extra step to enforce the law. State authorities should have acted when the initial reports were made. The Union membership was at risk and yet the Union never represented Local 52 nor gave it support when it tried on its own to get state assistance with their grievances. Politics and profit motivated elected officials appointees and the coal company.
...convince us Indians that our removal was necessary and beneficial. In my eyes, the agreement only benefited Andrew Jackson. It is apparent that Jackson neglected to realize how the Indian Removal act would affect us Indians. When is the government justified in forcibly removing people from the land they occupy? If you were a Native American, how would you have respond to Jackson? These questions need to be taken into consideration when determining whether or not Jackson was justified. After carefully examining these questions and considering both the pros and cons of this act, I’m sure you would agree that the removal of Native Americans was not justified under the administration of Andrew Jackson. Jackson was not able to see the damaging consequences of the Indian removal act because of his restricted perspective.
Throughout history, it is not uncommon for stories to become silenced; especially, when such a story is being told by the voice of a slave's. Slaves were not granted the same equal rights as the free men. They also were not seen as whole individuals -- worth less than the average citizen, to be sold and traded as property. Abina Mansha was a female slave whom once lived in Asante but came to live in the British Gold Coast Colony during 1876, after being sold to Guamin Eddoo by her husband, Yawawhah. As Abina claims in her testimony, her purchase was no accident. "Slavery had been abolished throughout the British Empire, a law extended into the Gold Coast in 1874. Yet ironically, the demand for laborers on the growing palm oil plantations and in the houses of those who own them means that the trade in slaves into the Gold Coast does not dry up following the war" (Getz and Clark, 2011, p. 6). Abina And The Important Men: A Graphic History written by Trevor R. Getz and Liz Clarke, but spoken in different perspectives, helps shed light on Abina's personal lifestyle; while the date and location provides us with further insight on how the world reacted to 19th century Western culture.
Even when the economy was low “Little Africa” still did very well, even when the whites weren’t. But due to the years of economic success the blacks had, the whites were jealous and the KKK was reorganized in 1915. Though they had trouble f...
The first Indians to set foot in the western hemisphere were the Paleo-Indians. The Paleo-Indians crossed the land bridge called the Beringia (Roark 6). They are estimated to have arrived at least by 14,000 BP (Roark 6). Research shows that the Paleo-Indians
Hamlet in the beginning of the play finds out about how his father truly died and begins to devise a plan to avenge his father. Just so happen his plan is to be crazy. Hamlet first begins acting crazy when he goes into Ophelia’s sewing rooms and starts sniffing her, this little act of crazy has Polonius thinking hamlet is mad with love for Ophelia and began occasionally spying on Hamlet. Hamlets friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent so spy on him by the king but hamlet sees through the cleaver plan and just continues to act mad around his school friends, and tells them that he is "I am but mad north-north-west" (BOOK). Polonius, the Queen, and the king come up with a plan to try and see how hamlet feels about Ophelia. They all watch while Ophelia waits for hamlet to pass by Hamlet and Ophelia speak about their relationship but hamlet say he never loved Ophelia because he knows someone is listening so he must act mad. Hamlets has rewritten a scene in a play that was being preformed in the castle to match the way King Hamlet tells hamlet he was killed. While watching the play hamlet sees that the kings reactions is just what he wants it to be. Guilt. But its at this moment in the play hamlet tries to warn someone about all the things happening. Hamlet goes up to Ophelia after the play and says "believe none of this"(BOOK). While a lot of things could have been
Cry the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton is a novel inspired by the industrial revolution. Paton describes in detail the conditions in which the Africans were living during this time period, 1946. This story tells about a Zulu pastor who goes into the city in search of his son and siblings who left in search of a better life. The pastor sees this immense city where a ruling white group is oppressing the black population. This novel is more than just a story, but it depicts the effects imperialism and the Industrial Revolution had on South Africa. Although the government has intervened to protect the people, some of these effects are still present in our societies.
The authors of “Klondike Gold Rush” by Gordon Stables And “A Woman Who Went to Alask” a by Meg Kellogg Sullivan both present their points of view on miners’ lives. However the difference between the two texts is the way in which readers receive information through different points of view.
Cry, the Beloved Country is such a controversial novel that people tend to forget the true meaning and message being presented. Paton’s aim in writing the novel was to present and create awareness of the ongoing conflict within South Africa through his unbiased and objective view. The importance of the story lies within the title, which sheds light on South Africa’s slowly crumbling society and land, for it is the citizens and the land itself which are “crying” for their beloved country as it collapses under the pressures of racism, broken tribes and native exploitation.
In the Seventeenth century the English and the Dutch colonized what is now South Africa. After the English dominated the Dutch posterities the Dutch chose to form two new colonies known as the Orange Free State and Transvaal. Sometime in the early 1900’s the discovery of vast amounts of diamonds spurred the English to invade the Dutch colonies spurring the Boer Wars (1880-81, 1899 – 02). After South Africa won its independence from English both the Dutch and English still held influence in the country.
...l the flow of conflict diamonds. Both assure consumers that more than 99% of rough stones today come from conflict-free sources which are regulated by the Kimberley process. According to the people who profited from diamonds, the blood diamonds problem is passé5. Further research tells us that it is not. According to Father Rocco Puopolo of the Africa Faith and Justice Network, he says “It’s not passé,” “the diamond industry can claim what they want and the film will always serve as a template for what is going on in Africa today.” This point out that labour exploitation and conflict (for control of precious resources such as gold) may still be going on in Africa.
Hamlet is back in town and is still on a mission to avenge his father’s death
...but after the war Blacks were cut off from economic empowerment because Boer racism became legally protected. Friedman’s identifications of the players in the struggle of late twentieth-century globalization applies to the players in South Africa around the time of the Boer War, but Friedman’s optimism is not confirmed by the facts. While South Africa became an increasingly industrialized society, certain social elements overpowered economic shifts to prevent the full empowerment of Blacks especially that Friedman predicts. The long-term outcomes in South Africa—the resurgence of Boer nationalism in the 1940s that brought apartheid, and the movement forty years later to end apartheid—reveal that racism and conservative political ideology were stronger forces than globalization and industrialization were in shaping the lives and futures for Blacks in South Africa.
...nd and follow his example too. He kills Claudius, but nevertheless this plan of action comes too late in the play. And, the tragic flaw has already set up fate for Hamlet and the throne of Denmark. As he dies too and the kingdom is overtaken.
South Africa was first colonized by the English and Dutch in the 17th century. It was a country abundant in diamonds and minerals. The findings of diamonds in these lands around 1900 resulted in the Boer War. After the African’s political independence from England, the two groups shared power until the 1940's, until the African National Party was able to gain a majority. This caused the National Party to create apartheid. It was a means to solidify their control over the economy and social system. The idea was to maintain British power while growing racial segregation.