misunderstood.
It is the case that, even had South Africa possessed no mineral
industries whatsoever, the general expansion of world income and world
population would have had some favourable repercussions on
South Africa—it would have increased the demands for wool and maize,
for wine and fruits, possibly for other agricultural products as well,
such as tobacco and wheat. It is also the case that if the direct contribution
of various sectors of the national economy to the geographical income
of South Africa is considered, the percentage contribution of the
mining industry is today much smaller than that of manufacturing
industry and only slightly larger than that of agriculture, forestry and fishing.9'10 But this is not the same thing as implying that
the mining industry has not been the main catalytic agency at work over
the decades. The state of relative stagnation into which South Africa
had fallen by the time of the diamond discoveries gave way to an age of
expansion as diamonds, gold, coal, platinum and other mining products
began to be exploited. The country was opened up in a physical sense:
the mining population demanded food and transport, thus adding directly
to the productivity of agriculture and to the incomes of the farming
population. Without mining there would probably have been no explosives
or chemical industries in South Africa, nor a flourishing steel
industry, nor an engineering industry on the present scale, since the
constantly growing technical demands of the mines constituted the basic
element in its growth. The very considerable afforestation which has
been taking place over the years is a direct consequence of the demand
for timber bv
