Mine closure, women, and crime in Matjhabeng, South Africa

This article provides evidence of the link between mining decline and crime and analyses adverse sociospatial effects on women. The authors investigate the scale of crime in the Free State Goldfields (today the Matjhabeng Local Municipality) and consider women’s experiences and their role in crime during mining decline. Research from the Global North suggests that crime increases during a mining boom but not during mining decline.
 

The evidence presented shows that crime increases during mining decline and affects women in particular. The authors use social disruption theory to explain women’s experiences of crime and also their involvement in it. They found that criminal activities harm women in particular, that crime has become entrenched within female-headed households, and that women are conflicted in their roles as parents and become participants in crime and beneficiaries of criminal activities. It is a matter for concern that research generally ignores the sociospatial nature of mine closure and its effects on women.

Abstract based on source.