The past decade has been one of unprecedented change in the pattern and organization of mine labor recruitment in Southern Africa. Using detailed data on recruitment patterns in Botswana, this article supports the view that recent changes have initiated a self-sustaining trend whereby certain flows of foreign labor into South Africa will decline unabated into the foreseeable future. This results from a shift in general recruiting policy from one of encouraging external migrant labor flows—by expanding recruitment networks and employing a variable and transient workforce—to one of retrenchment and labor stabilization biased in favor of internalized labor supplies.
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