Philip Frankel

Between the Rainbows and the Rain. Marikana, Migration, Mining and the Crisis of Modern South Africa Philip Frankel

"Rainbows" dissects the South African 'miracle' across a vast landscape from the shack settlements of Marikana to the highest levels of government and corporate behaviour in the South Africa mining industry. It sets out what we know about the Markana massacre against the background of hazardous work conditions in the mines two decades after 'liberation'. Going well beyond the Farlam Commission of Inquiry it also examines, for the first time, the nightmare world of labour broking-cum-human trafficking. It evaluates the prospects for improving life in the near-mine communities that magnetise the poor and jobless in a society ranked among the most unequal, in the world. The book is essential reading for anyone interested in a country of iconic proportions whose political and economic leadership is fast losing capacity to service basic human needs and disappointed popular aspirations. This includes readers in the mining sector, in ethical investment circles across the globe, labour activists, academics, opinion-makers, government and anyone else with an interest in human rights and social justice.