The dependence on natural resources is not a new phenomenon and it has posed issues in undiversified economies. The social impact that the booming of the mining industry has on the local level is still an area in need of investigation. The case study seeks to understand how the platinum mines of the boomtown Rustenburg have impacted the local social fabrics through 22 qualitative interviews in Rustenburg. The city is situated on the North West Province Platinum Belt and produces half of the world's platinum. The boom in the platinum industry is responsible for Rustenburg's influx of people and economic growth. The analysis adopts the assumptions of the Linear Model of the Social Disruption theory and the Psychological Process of the Place Person Process Framework. The central assumption of the Linear Model is that population growth and population density leads to the informal ties of the population being weakened. Meanwhile, the psychological process assumes that groups and individuals relate to a place through psychological interaction. The study finds that the boom of the platinum industry has disrupted the social fabric through a loss in informal ties and the phenomenon of broken families has become common. The influx of people in a combination of weak institutions has led to an unhealthy society where unemployment and the crime rates are high and people are suffering from bad health conditions. It is understood that mining has changed the attitudes of the people toward Rustenburg, and has created a mining mentality. The study contributes to the understanding of the social impact of the resource curse on a local level by investigating how booms in mining industries impact the social fabric on a local level and how the impact is expressed locally. The empirical findings of the study can be beneficial for local stakeholders of Rustenburg with the purpose of improving local policies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-87940 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Lagercrantz, Hedvig, Khabbaz, Shima |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för samhällsstudier (SS) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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