What price would you put on a diamond or even gold, is certainly not the price of an entire country's economy. This is the case of South Africa, where mining is the fuel to boost their economy. Their economy needed a boost due to political instability burying the country in the ground. As the fuel that helped South Africa's GDP increase by 20%, it has helped this country improve tremendously over the years. Political instability is one of the key factors that has and still makes South Africa so dependent on the mining industry. There is excessive poverty in South Africa due to an unemployment rate of 22.7%. Unemployment is high for several reasons, the first of which is racial discrepancies. In South Africa one race has always been superior to the other. Taking this into account, when it comes to jobs, an entire race would not be hired for that job just because of the color of their skin. The second factor is lack of education, so the community does not have the knowledge to do the job. Third, the lifestyle of tribal people. The tribal people of South Africa have not adapted to the lifestyle of people in society. On average they hunt for food and look for materials that can be useful; for example, wood, clay and coal. Therefore tribal people are in poverty because they do not use money to support themselves. This is why political instability is holding back the South African economy and making it dependent on the mining industry. Mining has in the past helped give the South African economy a direction to follow and a solid foundation to build on. Diamonds were first discovered in 1867 in Johannesburg by a Dutch farmer, starting South Africa's expanding economy. 1886 the star of the gold industry...... middle of paper...... quality. Chemical spills will also affect water supplies. They had reduced the death rate from mining to fewer than 500 in 1996. A decade later it had dropped to fewer than 200 deaths. Over time the government has managed to make working in the mines safer for the community. The mining industry has created a negative effect on the health of workers, but the community is trying to solve the problem. Overall, the mining industry has had a positive effect on South Africa. It has caused positive relations with neighboring countries, improved South Africa's economy in the past and is still improving the economy now. The mining industry has helped South Africa overcome the political instability that has held it back. Even though there are some problems that the mining industry is causing, overall it helps South Africa become a better country.