| Popis: |
This chapter has two main objectives: to introduce readers to the main characters of the book, the Zama Zama, or miners, and to outline in detail the process of informal gold mining. The chapter begins with some content on the extent of informal gold mining, followed by a rich ethnographic narrative of Sipho, an informal miner, and his pathway into informal mining. It then explains the process of informal mining in detail, from extraction to when gold enters the formal market. At each point, the story of a key individual involved in mining is discussed. Finally, the chapter concludes by placing informal mining with a decolonial context, showing how the Zama Zama regard mining as a bounty of the land and the Creator. This concept is returned to in subsequent chapters. The overall thesis statement in this chapter is that informal gold mining is a precarious livelihood activity for the poor and marginalised, but is unfused with carefully constructed rules and norms by the Zama Zama. |
