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Zama Zama Mining as Necro-Extractivism: A Thematic Analysis of Print and Social Media Discourses on the Stilfontein Mining Tragedy (November 2024 – March 2025)
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2026
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| _version_ | 1867613918437834752 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Thaathaa, Likhapha |
| author2 | Antonites, Christel |
| author_browse | Antonites, Christel Thaathaa, Likhapha |
| author_facet | Antonites, Christel Thaathaa, Likhapha |
| author_sort | Thaathaa, Likhapha |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135784 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:43:46.817Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135784 Zama Zama Mining as Necro-Extractivism: A Thematic Analysis of Print and Social Media Discourses on the Stilfontein Mining Tragedy (November 2024 – March 2025) Thaathaa, Likhapha Antonites, Christel Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Journalism. Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. Thaathaa, L. 2026. Zama Zama Mining as Necro-Extractivism: A Thematic Analysis of Print and Social Media Discourses on the Stilfontein Mining Tragedy (November 2024 – March 2025). Unpublished masters thesis. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/71a7cdca-0a96-4050-834d-535a7cdc6624 The portrayal of marginalised groups by mainstream media significantly influences public policy and perception. This study examines the coverage of the Stilfontein mine tragedy during the period spanning November 2024 to March 2025. The incident involved a significant number of artisanal and small-scale miners (ASM), commonly referred to as Zama Zama miners, who were trapped underground in the abandoned Stilfontein Mine shafts. Among those impacted, 246 individuals survived, while others lost their lives. Furthermore, a total of 78 bodies were recovered from an abandoned mine shaft in Stilfontein, North West province. The sequence of these events occurred following the directive to close the openings to the Stilfontein mine shaft. This initiative was referred to as the state’s Operation Vala Umgodi (Operation Close the Hole) which aimed to combat illegal mining across South Africa. The operation sealed off access to the Stilfontein mining shafts, restricting food supplies and medical aid to the trapped miners. The study addressed a research gap by examining how print and social media narratives framed the crisis, with particular attention to the structural issues inherent in South Africa's post-apartheid extractive economy. Exploring this media framing was essential for understanding how public discourse either challenged or reinforced the systemic disposability of Zama Zama mining. The study conducted a literature review examining Zama Zama mining, media representations of marginalisation, and the role of narrative framing in crises of poverty and resource extraction. This research employed Mbembe's decolonial theory of Necropolitics as its primary theoretical framework in order to analyse the state’s exercise of sovereign power in exposing particular lives to death, thereby rendering the miners a disposable population. Additionally, the research incorporated media framing theory to analyse how the media selectively present information, thereby shaping public perception. To analyse the construction and dissemination of these power dynamics, as well as the ideological underpinnings of language, the study utilised Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Finally, Social Identity Theory (SIT) was applied specifically to the social media discourse concerning the miners’ social identification. Moreover, the paper employed a qualitative exploratory design and gathered data through the compilation and analysis of an extensive collection of news articles and related social media content published between November 2024 and March 2025. A nonprobability sampling method was utilized to select a representative sample of media platforms catering to diverse national, elite, and mainstream audiences. The research employed inductive thematic analysis to examine the collected data. The key finding of the study asserts that the media narrative served as an instrument of necro-extractivism, effectively legitimising the state’s postponement by employing rhetorical mechanisms of political abandonment. Specifically, the analysis demonstrated that sovereign power was articulated through official statements portraying the miners as criminals who willingly risked their lives, thereby absolving the state of humanitarian responsibility. Although a limited number of articles challenged the prevailing circumstances by underscoring the systemic negligence of the State and mining corporations, stakeholders associated with the lethal “death-worlds” regarded the miners as “bare life," a disposable demographic whose deaths were deemed inconsequential because they were perceived as criminals and foreigners. Ultimately, the study affirms that the tragedy was not a communication failure but rather a successful exercise of necropolitical governance, enabled by strategic media framing. Masters 2026-04-10T08:57:19Z 2026-04-10T08:57:19Z 2026-03 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135784 en Stellenbosch University 101 pages application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Thaathaa, Likhapha Zama Zama Mining as Necro-Extractivism: A Thematic Analysis of Print and Social Media Discourses on the Stilfontein Mining Tragedy (November 2024 – March 2025) |
| title | Zama Zama Mining as Necro-Extractivism: A Thematic Analysis of Print and Social Media Discourses on the Stilfontein Mining Tragedy (November 2024 – March 2025) |
| title_full | Zama Zama Mining as Necro-Extractivism: A Thematic Analysis of Print and Social Media Discourses on the Stilfontein Mining Tragedy (November 2024 – March 2025) |
| title_fullStr | Zama Zama Mining as Necro-Extractivism: A Thematic Analysis of Print and Social Media Discourses on the Stilfontein Mining Tragedy (November 2024 – March 2025) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Zama Zama Mining as Necro-Extractivism: A Thematic Analysis of Print and Social Media Discourses on the Stilfontein Mining Tragedy (November 2024 – March 2025) |
| title_short | Zama Zama Mining as Necro-Extractivism: A Thematic Analysis of Print and Social Media Discourses on the Stilfontein Mining Tragedy (November 2024 – March 2025) |
| title_sort | zama zama mining as necro extractivism a thematic analysis of print and social media discourses on the stilfontein mining tragedy november 2024 march 2025 |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135784 |
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