The Hollow Rand

Abstract

A century of gold and uranium mining hollowed out South Africa's Witwatersrand plateau. After the closure of these mines, water rose through the shafts, spilling acid mine drainage loaded with uranium, arsenic, and other harmful metals onto agricultural fields and into drinking water. The problem had been known since the sixteenth century, but industry experts consistently downplayed the damage by manufacturing ignorance through timeworn strategies of residual governance. They selectively and misleadingly invoked international norms and regulatory standards for radiation exposure to justify inaction. For citizens, the postapartheid government had betrayed its promise to provide a safe environment for all. Activists and their allies pushed hard against the strategies of residual governance, eventually winning treatment plants to neutralize the water. This chemical solution, however, didn't fully address the damage wrought by contaminated water.