Watch on Soap2day. Revel in the body's ability to make music with Gumboots, a group of performers who use their voices along with percussion instruments to tell the story of black South African coalminers. The oppressed miners, who wore black boots (or gumboots), were not allowed to speak to each other while in the mines. In response, they devised a communication system using their gumboots and ankle shackles.