The article presents an analysis of mine-community conflict in South Africa's rural platinum belt. We draw on a combination of detailed ethnographic research material and multi-scalar analysis of the political economy of mining policy. Our analysis reveals that such conflict is rooted in local claims beyond the labour market – in demands for exclusive control over land and mineral rents. The article engages with Ferguson's (2015) conceptualisation of the politics of distribution to demonstrate that radical claims on mining industry rents have escalated despite the South African state's introduction of progressive redistributive legislation. The post-apartheid institutional arrangements developed to mitigate inequalities in and around mining and address the historical exclusion of the black population have not proved effective. Instead, these measures have been undermined and subverted by powerful groups who funnel mineral rents into new forms of elite accumulation. This phenomenon generates and exacerbates inequality and conflict, because these redistributive institutions tend to exclude rural residents who hold customary rights to the mineral-rich land.

本文分析了南非农村铂金带的矿山社区冲突。我们结合了详细的民族志研究材料和采矿政策政治经济学的多尺度分析。我们的分析表明，这种冲突的根源在于劳动力市场之外的地方诉求——对土地和矿产租金的排他控制权的要求。本文结合弗格森 (Ferguson) (2015) 对分配政治的概念化，表明尽管南非国家引入了渐进式的再分配立法，但对采矿业租金的激进主张已经升级。为减轻采矿业及其周围的不平等和解决历史上对黑人人口的排斥问题而制定的后种族隔离制度安排并未证明是有效的。反而，这些措施已被强大的团体破坏和颠覆，他们将矿产租金汇集到新形式的精英积累中。这种现象产生并加剧了不平等和冲突，因为这些再分配机构往往会排斥对矿产丰富的土地拥有传统权利的农村居民。