Abstract
The mining industry has been a significant contributor to the South African economy for over
100 years and it currently contributes 18% to the economy. The richest city in Africa, the
City of Johannesburg was built on the backbone of the mining industry. If the mining
industry was to collapse, the South African economy will trail behind Nigeria. One
distinguishing factor about the Mining Industry in South Africa is that it relies quite
extensively on labour. In this regard, the mining industry directly employs 491,519 people.