Despite union officials being arrested in 1944 at a meeting in Witwatersrand and in Springs, a conference was held in May 1946 which decided to approach the government with demands for a ten shillings a day wage and other improvements—or to take strike action.
By addressing the conditions necessary to maintain cheap migrant labour, this movement provided insight into the manner in which Apartheid serves as a vehicle for perpetuating pre-capitalist modes of production.
In August 1946 an open air conference was held in Newtown Market Square as no hall where Africans could hold meetings was big enough to accommodate those present and the decision to strike was taken.
During the week workers and leaders of the ANC, the Communist Party, the Indian and Coloured Congresses and the trade unions were arrested, tried, imprisoned, and deported.
With a general monopoly over South Africa's agricultural and industrial products, the Transvaal Chamber of Mines was in effect capable of controlling workers wages and suppressing efforts to unionize.
1425 this measure which, " prohibiting gatherings of more than twenty persons on mining property without special permission," effectively ceased further organized trade union meetings.
[5] Following the suppression of the 1946 strike, union groups like The Communist Party of South Africa experienced brutal treatment at the hands of the existing government.
This organization, " arguably the heirs to the 1946 strike are currently engaged in a series of territorial disputes with the breakaway Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).
While the number of workers extracted from the surrounding areas has declined, local peasants are still routinely pressured into labour once they reach the working age.
While many of the injustices imposed by South Africa's mining industry persist, the 1946 miners strike remains a prevalent reminder of the plight of African workers and their families.