At the core of colonial and apartheid social engineering was a spatial strategy based on institutions and infrastructure linking together rural homesteads and villages, and mining centres and towns. In the case of the mining industry, single-sex compounds were set up as the foundation of the infrastructure of control over black labour. In this paper we examine how various forms of control operated. The paper’s contribution is located within the labour geography literature.

What can trade unions do to enhance their influence within successful liberation movements while simultaneously protecting their autonomy? The chapter reviews COSATU’s relationship to the ANC and asks the question: How successful has the South African labour movement been in enhancing its autonomy when it has been, and still is, closely allied to the ANC and the SACP? Furthermore, are there alternative ways of influencing post-apartheid policy emerging?