ABSTRACT 1960 was a pivotal year in the history of apartheid and of South Africa. However, the first great crisis of that year – the Coalbrook Mine Disaster – has been largely forgotten. At least 435 miners died when a large section of the mine collapsed on 21 January 1960. The Coalbrook Disaster can be attributed in large measure to the rise of the racist, capitalist apartheid state in South Africa after 1948. As the first major crisis of 1960 in South Africa, it dramatised and foreshadowed many of the debates that ensued during that year about the nature of the apartheid state. Key causes of the disaster were the exponential increase in demand for coal following the opening of the Taaibos power station in 1954 on the one hand, and the cumulative effects of unsound mine labour practices based on race on the other. Using contemporary newspaper accounts, government files, and the official enquiry report, this paper seeks to highlight the human cost of the rise of the South African mining industry, and especially of the coal that powered the construction of the apartheid state.

中文翻译：

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为种族隔离提供动力：1960 年的 Coalbrook 矿难

摘要 1960 年是种族隔离和南非历史上的关键一年。然而，那一年的第一场大危机——Coalbrook 矿难——在很大程度上被遗忘了。1960 年 1 月 21 日，大部分矿井倒塌，至少有 435 名矿工死亡。 Coalbrook 灾难在很大程度上可以归因于 1948 年后南非种族主义、资本主义种族隔离国家的兴起。作为 1960 年的第一次重大危机在南非，它戏剧​​化并预示了当年关于种族隔离国家性质的许多辩论。造成这场灾难的主要原因一方面是 1954 年 Taaibos 发电站启用后煤炭需求呈指数级增长，另一方面是基于种族的不健全矿山劳动实践的累积影响。