y and pig farms produced about 500,000 tons in 1994. Ostrich raising is also growing and produces plumes, skins, and meat. Wool is an important export, which made South Africa the fourth largest exporter of wool in the late 1940’s and today it is still among the top ten with 100,000 tons per year. Dairy farming is also found throughout the country (Library of Congress, 89). South Africa’s economy had been shaped over several centuries by its ample natural resources. For most of the twentieth century, South Africa’s mineral wealth had surpassed that of almost any other country in the world, except the Soviet Union. South Africa produced nearly half of the world’s gold and ranked among the top ten producers of a dozen other valuable minerals, including diamonds and copper. The mining industry created the foundation for the strongest economy on the continent. The only thing South Africa doesn’t have, is oil, and as a result, it has relied on its coal deposits and importing oil for its industrial needs. It is also ranked high among producers and exporters of coal, iron ore, uranium, silver, fluorspar, asbestos, limestone, antimony, phosphates, lead, zinc, vermiculite, chromium, vanadium, platinum, manganese, titanium, alumino-silicates, ferrochromium, nickel, granite, and zirconium. The mineworkers’ association called the South African Chamber of Mines currently includes 36 gold mines, 22 coal mines, and 16 diamond, platinum, antimony, asbestos, manganese, lead, and copper mines in South Africa (“Mineral Wealth,” 1999).The mining industry contributed nearly 15 percent of GDP during the 1980’s and has gone down to about 9.6 percent in the mid 1990’s. The mining sector has been gradually surpassed in terms of national output and labor force participation by the manufacturing and financial services, but the mines still account for a greater share of export revenues than any...
