been and also far better
off than the majority of the people that the white government
discriminated against.
***
After a
thorough medical examination the mine recruiting officer handed
Isaiah an employment agreement to sign as well as several other
forms that he did not bother to explain and Isaiah didn't query. He
signed them and was told that he was now officially an employee of
the Deep reef Gold Mine. He was given a special "passbook" and a
number that he was to use instead of his name.
The mine
supplied Isaiah with his work overalls, a hardhat with a lamp and
battery pack attached and a heavy pair of safety boots. He was
taken to one of the mine compounds that consisted of a huge
U-shaped single storey building consisting of gloomy rooms where
the black miners lived. Each room had three tiers of steel bunks
fastened to the walls and a central area that was used for
recreation. Isaiah was allocated one of the upper bunks and a steel
locker in which he could keep his belongings.
"The mine will
provide you with three meals a day and you can buy any other things
that you need from the concession store." the personnel officer
said. "Tomorrow you must report to the training centre where you
will learn how to be a miner. The men here in your room will
explain the mine's rules and regulations to you and what your
routine is."
The following
day Isaiah reported to the training centre and for the next two
weeks he learnt the language of the mines called "fanagalo" which
consisted of a mixture of English, Afrikaans and several African
languages. He was also given instruction on the various tools that
he would be using underground and the safety procedures that he
needed to follow. A vague explanation of the overall mining
procedure was explained to him. Once the course was completed
Isaiah was assigned to a team of underground workers.
Apart from the
food that the mine provided, the living conditions in the compound
were appalling. The cramped environment was a breeding ground for
infectious diseases and the abuse of alcohol by the men resulted in
assaults and accidents. The men were rough and uneducated and had
little consideration for each other. Theft was rife and hygienic
conditions sorely lacking. As the occupants of the compounds were
all men there was also a strong presence of homosexuality.
Isaiah began
working underground as a "lasher boy", loading broken rock into
cocopans and into skips that hoisted the ore to the crushers up on
the surface of the mine. It was back-breaking work and the leader
or "boss-boy" treated the lasher boys with contempt, often shouting
at them and even assaulting them at times. The boss boy was
responsible to the white miner and it was he who incurred the wrath
of the white man if things went wrong. Conversely, if the work went
well the boss boy took all the praise. Most of the boss boys were
terrified of the white miners and as a result abused the men under
them in order to earn the white miner's approval. They also
demanded a percentage of the men's weekly wages and failure to pay
this money could easily lead to "accidents' many of which were
fatal.
The blasting
process at the mine began each day when a team of drillers, using
huge drills powered by compressed air, drilled deep holes in the
rock face in places that had been marked out earlier by a qualified
white miner. These holes were then packed with explosives in the
form of nitro-glycerine or based on ammonium nitrate, and connected
with safety fuses and igniter cords. Once the mine had been cleared
of personnel the explosives were detonated by an electric current.
A re-entry time of four hours was observed to allow the fumes and
dust to dissipate after which the lasher boys began clearing the
broken rock.
***
After toiling
in the suffocating heat and dust and being constantly abused for
two weeks Isaiah decided that working underground at the Deep Reef
Gold Mine was not what he was prepared to do for much longer. Apart
from the
off than the majority of the people that the white government
discriminated against.
***
After a
thorough medical examination the mine recruiting officer handed
Isaiah an employment agreement to sign as well as several other
forms that he did not bother to explain and Isaiah didn't query. He
signed them and was told that he was now officially an employee of
the Deep reef Gold Mine. He was given a special "passbook" and a
number that he was to use instead of his name.
The mine
supplied Isaiah with his work overalls, a hardhat with a lamp and
battery pack attached and a heavy pair of safety boots. He was
taken to one of the mine compounds that consisted of a huge
U-shaped single storey building consisting of gloomy rooms where
the black miners lived. Each room had three tiers of steel bunks
fastened to the walls and a central area that was used for
recreation. Isaiah was allocated one of the upper bunks and a steel
locker in which he could keep his belongings.
"The mine will
provide you with three meals a day and you can buy any other things
that you need from the concession store." the personnel officer
said. "Tomorrow you must report to the training centre where you
will learn how to be a miner. The men here in your room will
explain the mine's rules and regulations to you and what your
routine is."
The following
day Isaiah reported to the training centre and for the next two
weeks he learnt the language of the mines called "fanagalo" which
consisted of a mixture of English, Afrikaans and several African
languages. He was also given instruction on the various tools that
he would be using underground and the safety procedures that he
needed to follow. A vague explanation of the overall mining
procedure was explained to him. Once the course was completed
Isaiah was assigned to a team of underground workers.
Apart from the
food that the mine provided, the living conditions in the compound
were appalling. The cramped environment was a breeding ground for
infectious diseases and the abuse of alcohol by the men resulted in
assaults and accidents. The men were rough and uneducated and had
little consideration for each other. Theft was rife and hygienic
conditions sorely lacking. As the occupants of the compounds were
all men there was also a strong presence of homosexuality.
Isaiah began
working underground as a "lasher boy", loading broken rock into
cocopans and into skips that hoisted the ore to the crushers up on
the surface of the mine. It was back-breaking work and the leader
or "boss-boy" treated the lasher boys with contempt, often shouting
at them and even assaulting them at times. The boss boy was
responsible to the white miner and it was he who incurred the wrath
of the white man if things went wrong. Conversely, if the work went
well the boss boy took all the praise. Most of the boss boys were
terrified of the white miners and as a result abused the men under
them in order to earn the white miner's approval. They also
demanded a percentage of the men's weekly wages and failure to pay
this money could easily lead to "accidents' many of which were
fatal.
The blasting
process at the mine began each day when a team of drillers, using
huge drills powered by compressed air, drilled deep holes in the
rock face in places that had been marked out earlier by a qualified
white miner. These holes were then packed with explosives in the
form of nitro-glycerine or based on ammonium nitrate, and connected
with safety fuses and igniter cords. Once the mine had been cleared
of personnel the explosives were detonated by an electric current.
A re-entry time of four hours was observed to allow the fumes and
dust to dissipate after which the lasher boys began clearing the
broken rock.
***
After toiling
in the suffocating heat and dust and being constantly abused for
two weeks Isaiah decided that working underground at the Deep Reef
Gold Mine was not what he was prepared to do for much longer. Apart
from the
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