There are different ways to tell every story, and the same is true of history. For instance the story of the gold mining industry has often been told as the story of 'progress' - modernisation , technological achievements, an expanding economy: It is most often related to as the story of the 'Randlords', men like Cecil John Rhodes and Barney Barnato. Told that way, the story shows how they were able to gain fabulous wealth - and, at the same time, shape the future of a country.
The same story can be told a different way, as in this. We tell it as the struggle for survival of those whose hands made the wealth, the workers who came to Egoli. Some of these workers were white, and this is their story, too. The great majority were black. When gold production began, their lives were drawn into a system. The system developed until it affected every part of their lives, from the cradle to the grave.
- extract taken from the introduction to Luli Callinicos' book 'Place in the city'
