Zambeziu (1994), XXI (ii).BOOK REVIEWSWangi Kolia: Coal, Capital and Labour in Colonial Zimbabwe 1894-1954By Ian Phimister. Harare, Baobab Books; Johannesburg, WitwatersrandUniversity Press, 1994, xiv, 194 pp., ISBN 0-908311-69-9; 1-86814-279-5,Z$65.This book traces the history of capital accumulation and class struggle onthe Wankie Colliery of Zimbabwe between 1894-1954. It also analyses therelationship between settler colonialism and imperialism in Zimbabwe.The author adopts a gendered approach to the study by capturing theexperiences of women on the colliery in general and their role during the1954 strike in particular.The book begins by introducing the political circumstancessurrounding the establishment of the colliery and the prospecting andspeculation that took place in the 1890s. With the floatation of the Wankie(Rhodesia) Coal, Railway and Exploration Company Ltd in 1899, thedevelopment of coal mining was on the road to success.From the outset, the problem faced by the colliery was that of shortageof labour. In order to solve its labour crisis, the colliery relied on indenturedchibaro labour supplied by the Rhodesia Native Labour Bureau (RNLB). Inan effort to lower production costs and expand output, the colliery'sworking day was extended and violence was used on the local Blackpopulation since 'The only thing that will appeal to the raw native is thesjambok' (p. 9). However, the workers, especially those who workedunderground, suffered from various diseases (eg ulcers and tuberculosis)as a consequence of the nature of their work. The labour intensive natureof the mining methods meant that production could only be expanded, atleast in the short term, at the cost and lives of the Black labourers. Thuswith state support, the colliery was saved from periodic crises ofaccumulation through the supply of cheap Black labour.The author argues that for a long time the despotic management atWankie had relied on a constant supply of 'skilled' White workers. Theoutbreak of the First World War in 1914 meant that most White workerswent to the war front and the few who remained behind turned theshortage of skills to their advantage. In this regard, in 1919 the RhodesiaMine and General Workers' Association (RMGWA) was formed and it wasopen to all categories and grades of White miners (p.48). However, whateverdemands were brought forward by White workers, the state, in conjunctionwith capital, always divided the labour movement along racial lines bywarning the White workers against 'the possibility of the native supercedingthe white man in his work (p. 52).Phimister gives us a clear picture of the squalid living conditions ofBlack workers in the compounds which had been established to stabilizethe increased labour force. In an effort to seek release from stress, workerssought refuge in such organizations and associations as the Watch Towerand muchape movements and resorted to oppressing their wives. Thus forrefusing to cook for her husband when he came off night-shift, Famy, wife187188 BOOK REVIEWSof Jerenje, was knocked unconscious with a steel bar (p. 69-70). Theseinward responses were oblivious to the position of women and would attimes become a hindrance to organization. However, the history of thecolliery is also a history of strikes Š a reflection of the super exploitationof Black workers for purposes of capital accumulation.The book is well illustrated with maps and photographs which help togive a very vivid picture of the history of the Colliery in all its ramificationsviz.Š the geographical location of the company in the country, key peoplewho were closely associated with the development of the company, labourissues, and other important production activities on the colliery. By usingsecondary and archival sources, in addition to oral testimony, the authorcomprehensively documents the history of an aspect of mining whosecentrality to the development of the country, if not the subregion, is not indoubt. The book is a welcome addition to the history of mining in colonialZimbabwe which should find its way into the shelf of every historian,economic historian, political scientist and other scholars who have aninterest in the history of the colliery.University of Zimbabwe MAURICE K. MUTOWOThe Transport and Communications Sector in Southern Africa Edited byS. Ngwenya. Harare, SAPES Books, 1993,135 pp., ISBN 0-7974-1224-7, Z$38.The book is a sectoral study conducted under the auspices of SAPES andis primarily based on Integration papers on regional cooperation presentedat a Southern African Development Community (SADC) conference held inGaborone in 1991. The study attempts to evaluate the strategy of SADC inthe light of the main objectives of the 1980 Lusaka Declaration, involvingco-operative development within the group and a reduction of dependenceon countries outside it.In the first three sections of the book, the reader is given a succinctaccount on the formation of SADC and an overview of the regional transportand communications programme. Of importance is the role played by theSouthern African Transport Co-ordination Conference (SATCC) incoordinating the use of existing systems of transport and communicationsas well as planning and financing new ones.The body of the book covers specific areas related to ports andtransport systems, intra-regional surface transport projects, civil aviation,telecommunications, posts and meteorology. Seven transport corridorsystems are covered in detail. The book undertakes an appraisal of eachtransport corridor in terms of its development, capacity, constraints andperformance. An important area covered by the authors is that of freightmodal choice which does not solely depend on the least cost route but inmost cases the choice of the freight forwarder. The freight forwarder'schoice is in turn influenced by considerations related to freight forwardingcompanies in the transit country, which in most cases are branches of the