Gumboot Dancing originated in the Gold mines in South Africa during the oppressive Apartheid Pass Laws. Black labourers worked in total darkness for three months at a time in appalling conditions. They were chained to their work stations and were forbidden to talk to each other. They stood up to their knees in infected water causing skin diseases and ulcers resulting in lost time from work. The bosses discovered that it was cheaper to provide them with Gumboots (Wellington Boots) than to drain the mines. The miners used the Gumboots as a method of communication by slapping their boots and stamping their feet and rattling their ankle chains. Thus the miners uniform was created of Gumboots, jeans, bare-chest and bandanas to absorb eye-stinging sweat.

During their free time, the miners would sing and dance and drink together and remember their familes a thousand miles away. The tradition of Gumboot dancing was born.