South Africa’s gold mining industry has shed 80% of its workforce over the past three-and-a-half decades. In 1988, more than 536,000 people worked in the sector. By 2000, that number had more than halved to 217,000; by 2023, it had fallen to 94,000.

Several factors have driven this decline. Many gold mines have closed as accessible reserves became depleted, forcing miners to dig ever deeper and at greater costs. Global economic shifts and competition from other gold-producing nations have put pressure on South African mines.

Gold has been overtaken by platinum and coal in terms of employment numbers. The number of people working in platinum mining has doubled from 85,000 in 1988 to 183,000 in 2023. Just over 96,000 people were employed in coal mining in 2023.

Mining was once a pillar of SA’s economy. In the early 1980s, it contributed about 20% to the GDP; by 2023, its contribution had dropped to 6.3%.

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