Historically, specific laws and practices in South Africa were developed to economically serve that era’s mining industry. These practices, deeply rooted in apartheid, created a robust capital base for the South African mining industry. Since the start of large-scale gold mining in South Africa in the late 1800s, little effort has been made to include artisanal and small-scale miners in the country’s economic development. This exclusion created an equity gap. Only in the post-apartheid period, after 1994, was legislation implemented to foster artisanal and small-scale mining in South Africa. However, legislation primarily focuses on small and industrialized mining, making no room for any artisanal type of mining, consequently excluding historically disadvantaged people from the mineral riches of South Africa. Consequently, the sector is either ignored or suppressed by powerful actors like mining companies and the government. By failing to accommodate artisanal miners adequately legally, they are effectively marginalized and classified as illegal. Artisanal mining in South Africa has developed and continues to occur within this socio-legal context.