The Rand Rebellion (Afrikaans: Rand-rebellie; also known as the 1922 strike) was an armed uprising of white miners in the Witwatersrand region of South Africa, in March 1922.

Following a drop in the world price of gold from 130 shillings (£6 10s) per fine troy ounce in 1919 to 95s/oz (£4 15s) in December 1921, the companies tried to cut their operating costs by decreasing wages, and by weakening the colour bar by promoting cheaper black mine workers to skilled and supervisory positions.

The young Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) took an active part in the uprising on grounds of class struggle whilst reportedly opposing racist aspects of the strike,[4] as did the syndicalists.

At this point, control over the rebellion had passed from workers to rural Boer commandos that had arrived in Johannesburg to bolster their cause, hoping to overthrow the government.

[6] Lieutenant Colonel Llewellyn Andersson's role in creating the Union Defence Force was instrumental in crushing the rebellion using "considerable military firepower and at the cost of over 200 lives.

[7][8] Several Communists and syndicalists, the latter including the strike leaders Percy Fisher and Harry Spendiff, were killed as the rebellion was quelled by the Union Defence Force.

The four men to not be reprieved, were Carel Christian Stassen, Taffy Long, Herbert Hull, and David Lewis, were all executed by hanging at Pretoria Central Prison.

In Wilbur Smith's A Sparrow Falls one of the principal characters becomes embroiled with some of the organisers of the Rand Rebellion in Fordsburg and fictionalised descriptions of some of the first skirmishes with the authorities are described.