State bureaucracy and black labour in South Africa: The milling workers' strike of 1944
Date
1989-07-31
Authors
Duncan, David
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Abstract
In September 1944, African milling workers on the Rand, in Pretoria
and in several other centres in the Transvaal, went on strike. The
stoppage lasted only a few days, but it involved over 1200 hundred
labourers more than half of whom mere arrested. The strike was
supported by the Council for Non-European Trade Unions (CNETU), the
Trades and Labour Council (TLC), the Communist Party, the Campaign
for Right and Justice (CRJ), and various religious
denominations. It attracted the attention of politicians at the
highest level, and disrupted supplies of a basic commodity to the
general public. The ending of the stoppage was confused, with
compromises on both sides and appeals to official arbitration.
Within four months, though, the workers were receiving a few
shillings more each week in their pay packets.
This study focuses on the role of the State bureaucracy before and
during the milling dispute. The Department of Labour was chiefly
involved in the run up to the strike and in its settlement. During
the actual stoppage, the Native Affairs Department (NAD) was much
to the fore, with subsidiary parts for the South African Police,
the Justice Department, and the Prime Minister's office. All five
had also been involved in the coal distributors' strike three
months earlier, which helped to shape the tactics adopted by
officials during the milling dispute.
Description
African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 31 July, 1989
Keywords
Labor. South Africa, Strikes and lockouts. South Africa. Transvaal