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Apartheid Workplace Revisited: the Case of Kumba Sishen Mine Mining Department
Dissertation (MSocSci (Industrial Sociology))--University of Pretoria, 2015.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1867613663384305664 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Bezuidenhout, Andries |
| author_browse | Bezuidenhout, Andries |
| author_facet | Bezuidenhout, Andries |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Dissertation (MSocSci (Industrial Sociology))--University of Pretoria, 2015. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/110047 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:39:43.676Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/110047 Apartheid Workplace Revisited: the Case of Kumba Sishen Mine Mining Department Bezuidenhout, Andries sifiso.benerd.dlamini@gmail.com Dlamini, Sifiso B. Post apartheid Labour Reconstruction Mine Workplace Dissertation (MSocSci (Industrial Sociology))--University of Pretoria, 2015. This study explores the dynamics of the relationship between supervisors and their teams at the mining section of Kumba Iron Ore Sishen Mine. Two previous studies on strike and high incidences of absenteeism identified high levels of “ungovernability” in the workplace due to an inability to establish a legitimate workplace order. This was partly due to a lack of consistency by supervisors in managing their teams. Often, the relationships between supervisors and their teams were laden with unresolved issues around “race” and South Africa_s apartheid legacy. To be sure, on the 3rd of October 2012 Kumba Iron Ore Sishen Mine experienced the biggest unprotected industrial action ever recorded in this mine. This study shows how this strike was a turning point in the relationship between supervisors and top management. The strike resulted in top management losing trust in the line management. Subsequently, a micro-management governing style was established between mine management and the supervisors. This micromanagement style has caused tension between supervisors and their teams resulting in a further deteriorating relationship between supervisors and their teams. An ethnographic method; coupled with participant observation aided with interviews and an analysis of documents as well as statistical data from the mine was used to study this phenomenon. This study addresses the South African literature on the “apartheid workplace regime” and the efforts to bring about the reconstruction of the post-apartheid workplace order. The central argument is that while certain levels of informality are required in any mining context, unchecked informality itself may actually undermine formal efforts to reconstruct the “apartheid workplace order”. This study refers to these as positive and negative informalities, and also, the study recommends that informality should be limited to an extent that company formal policies are not replaced by informality and personalized management styles. Sociology MSocSci (Industrial Sociology) 2026-05-15T17:26:09Z 2026-05-15T17:26:09Z 15/11/26 2015 Dissertation http://hdl.handle.net/2263/110047 en application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Post apartheid Labour Reconstruction Mine Workplace Apartheid Workplace Revisited: the Case of Kumba Sishen Mine Mining Department |
| title | Apartheid Workplace Revisited: the Case of Kumba Sishen Mine Mining Department |
| title_full | Apartheid Workplace Revisited: the Case of Kumba Sishen Mine Mining Department |
| title_fullStr | Apartheid Workplace Revisited: the Case of Kumba Sishen Mine Mining Department |
| title_full_unstemmed | Apartheid Workplace Revisited: the Case of Kumba Sishen Mine Mining Department |
| title_short | Apartheid Workplace Revisited: the Case of Kumba Sishen Mine Mining Department |
| title_sort | apartheid workplace revisited the case of kumba sishen mine mining department |
| topic | Post apartheid Labour Reconstruction Mine Workplace |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/110047 |