Gold mining is a foundation industry in South Africa that frequently provides the critical mass for the development of electricity, road, water and rail transport in a region, that are the crucial foundations of an economy.

The discovery of gold in 1886 transfigured the South African economy. European investment poured in; by the end of the nineteenth century, it was equal to all European investment in the rest of Africa. International banks and increased cash and credit were available to local miners, farmers, and prospectors; they, in turn, placed growing demands for land and labour on the local African populations.
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