civilized labour

The "civilized labour" policy in South Africa, devised in the 1920s, was a government initiative aimed at favoring employers who utilized white labor. This policy emerged partly in response to the plight of poor Afrikaners who, unlike Africans with some access to land, were entirely dependent on urban wages and lacked the skills of English-speaking workers. The policy likely spurred capital-intensive manufacturing and the employment of poorly paid Afrikaner women, but it did not eliminate white poverty, as many Afrikaners remained classified as "poor white".1

The policy was implemented through techniques such as tariffs, using gold taxes for infrastructure, providing inexpensive food to manufacturing workers, and imposing strict controls to maintain low wages for Black laborers. This approach, combined with insulation from international competition during economic downturns and World War II, contributed to the expansion of South Africa's manufacturing sector. However, this also led to a sharp increase in urban Africans, whose welfare needs were largely overlooked until the war years.1