Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. As an enclave of South Africa, with which it shares a 1,106 km border, it is the only sovereign enclave in the world outside of the Italian Peninsula. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest peak in Southern Africa. It has an area of over 30,000 km2 (11,600 sq mi) and has a population of about 2 million. Its capital and largest city is Maseru.
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and the physical geography definition based on the physical characteristics of the land.
Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust. It is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. It is a type of pneumoconiosis. Silicosis, particularly the acute form, is characterized by shortness of breath, cough, fever, and cyanosis. It may often be misdiagnosed as pulmonary edema, pneumonia, or tuberculosis. Using workplace controls, silicosis is almost always a preventable disease.
Harmony Gold is the largest gold mining company in South Africa. Harmony operates in South Africa and in Papua New Guinea. The company has nine underground mines, one open-pit mine and several surface operations in South Africa. In Papua New Guinea, it has Hidden Valley, an open-pit gold and silver mine and a 50% interest in the Morobe Mining Joint Venture, which includes the Wafi-Golpu project and extensive exploration tenements. Outside the joint venture, Harmony's own exploration portfolio focuses principally on highly prospective areas in Papua New Guinea.
Black lung disease (BLD), also known as coal-mine dust lung disease, or simply black lung, is an occupational type of pneumoconiosis caused by long-term inhalation and deposition of coal dust in the lungs and the consequent lung tissue's reaction to its presence. It is common in coal miners and others who work with coal. It is similar to both silicosis from inhaling silica dust and asbestosis from inhaling asbestos dust. Inhaled coal dust progressively builds up in the lungs and leads to inflammation, fibrosis, and in worse cases, necrosis.
Alfred Geist Zantzinger (April 6, 1936 – February 16, 2007) was an American documentary filmmaker specializing in documentaries about traditional musics of the world. He directed and produced films about the musics of Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Cape Verde, Lesotho, South Africa, and Brittany.
François Verster is an independent South African film director and documentary maker.
Mining in South Africa was once the main driving force behind the history and development of Africa's most advanced and richest economy. Large-scale and profitable mining started with the discovery of a diamond on the banks of the Orange River in 1867 by Erasmus Jacobs and the subsequent discovery of the Kimberley pipes a few years later. Gold rushes to Pilgrim's Rest and Barberton were precursors to the biggest discovery of all, the Main Reef/Main Reef Leader on Gerhardus Oosthuizen's farm Langlaagte, Portion C, in 1886, the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the subsequent rapid development of the gold field there, the biggest of them all.
The 2009 Harmony Gold mine deaths occurred in late May and early June 2009 in Free State province, South Africa. At least 82 miners, many from Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, died from inhalation of poisonous gasses created by a May 18 fire in the mineshaft.
An artisanal miner or small-scale miner (ASM) is a subsistence miner who is not officially employed by a mining company, but works independently, mining minerals using their own resources, usually by hand.
Vaal Reefs is a gold bearing reef which is mined near the town of Orkney in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality in the North West province of South Africa.
Land of Widows a 21-minute Indian documentary film directed by Aarti Shrivastava. The film focuses on the unsustainable working conditions of mine workers in the state of Rajasthan, India. Set in the Bhilwara district of Rajasthan this film captures the exploitation the workers have to go through on a daily basis to work in illegal mines for a ‘dollar a day’. Blending investigative journalism with helplessness and dark humour, the film tells the stories of average sandstone miners victimized by corporate greed and political corruption. It examines how sandstone mining has affected the local communities and also people occupied with this occupation. Despite stone mining’s links to several occupational diseases such as psychoneurosis, silicosis, tuberculosis, asbestosis and asthma, abject poverty keeps driving villagers in many parts of the state to illegal mining. More than 70 men from 60 families have died in the last few years of silicosis caused by inhalation of dust containing free crystalline silica. Their men were all mine workers employed in illegal stone quarries that have mushroomed over the past 10 years across the state thanks to record demand for sandstone, marble and other stones as people across the country built homes, offices and malls.
Ashley Malcolm Morrison is an Australian/British sports commentator, broadcaster, writer, and documentary filmmaker.
Sibanye-Stillwater is a multinational mining and metals processing Group with a diverse portfolio of mining and processing operations and projects and investments across five continents. The Group is also one of the foremost global PGM auto catalytic recyclers and has interests in leading mine tailings retreatment operations.
Philip Miller is a South African composer and sound artist based in Cape Town. His work is multi-faceted, often developing from collaborative projects in theatre, film, video and sound installations.
Richard Pakleppa is a white Namibian screenwriter, film director and film producer.
Kentridge and Dumas in Conversation is a 2009 South African documentary biographical film written and directed by Catherine Meyburgh. It was jointly produced by Liza Essers and Jason Hoff.
Catherine Meyburgh is a South African film editor, filmmaker, artist and project designer.
Goldwidows: Women in Lesotho 1991, is a 1991 Canadian-German documentary film co-directed by Don Edkins, Ute Holl, Mike Schlomer, Malibusong Matsoso and Thabo Nkubo. The film describes about four "Goldwidows", Basotho women from Lesotho whose husbands work as migrant gold miners in South Africa.
Zama zamas are illegal artisanal miners in South Africa who occupy closed or operational mines to mine for minerals such as gold, iron ore, coal, and manganese. The term Zama zama loosely translates to "Take a chance' in isiZulu and they use rudimentary tools and explosives for mining. Most of the Zama zamas come from neighboring countries such as Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The South African government has reacted by deporting them because of the violence associated with their activities in the settlements they occupy which most of the times are near the mines.
