Progressing towards the Promised Land

At 12%, the mining sector has one of the lowest representations of women compared with other sectors. However, Women in Mining South Africa (WiMSA) considers this as a springboard to progress from.

August is Women’s Month in South Africa. And as you would have thought, in celebration, traditionally, there is a lot of pomp and ceremony. But the lingering question is: After the dust settles, in fairness, are women progressing, regressing, or stagnating? Specifically, how can we objectively assess performance in a critical sector like mining?

It all depends on the criteria employed; progress is relative.

This is the position two executives - Raksha Naidoo, Chairperson of WiMSA, and Noleen Pauls, the Chairperson of the WiMSA Board of Directors, hold. Briefing Mining Business Africa, they shed light on the following areas of the participation of women in mining: status of progress, implications of enabling policy, and WiMSA’s role and the obstacles and how to tackle them.

Measuring the progress of women

Granted, the criteria for measuring women’s progress in mining can be a grey area. However, Pauls suggests that analysing the number of women in core positions and management could be more rational.

Based on the statistics furnished, there is an indication of measured progress, though not at the level WiMSA or other stakeholders in the mining sector would have wished. The number of women working in the mining sector has increased significantly over the years – from 4% before 2002 to the current 12%.

Ostensibly, compared with other sectors, this modest statistic makes the mining sector the least gender-diverse industry. Markedly, the sector has its work cut out.

However, the mitigating circumstances could be that the challenges that mining - as a skills and capital-intensive sector - faces are quite intricate. That is without mentioning the complexity of policy-related issues.

Additionally, gathering current data is a challenge. Hence, statistics for core workers, support staff, and contract workers are not well documented. Possibly, this implies that the data could be underestimated.

Enabling Policy

Asked if there may need for further policy changes to create a more enabling environment. Pauls clarifies that, in fact, the changes registered thus far can be credited to policy. She hails the 2002 Mining Charter (BroadBased Black Socio-Economic Empowerment Charter for the South African Mining and Minerals Industry) as the most groundbreaking development. The Charter set a baseline of 10% female participation within five years.

“Having legislation in place highlighted the need for change and drove gender equality in the workplace. And this focus has led to necessary adjustments e.g. change facilities, PPE and equipment, recruitment strategies, BEE policies, women-only core-business teams, mentoring and support structures.

These changes have made the mining industry a more inclusive and safer workplace that has attracted women in all areas, more especially underground,” Pauls illustrates.

Having witnessed the relative gains of the Mining Charter, WiMSA is cautiously optimistic that the updated Charter of 2017 will result in further advances, precisely in management positions and business.

• Management positions

Pauls firmly believes higher thresholds for management positions underlined in the Charter of 2017 will facilitate more participation of women in decision-making roles. “I think the updated Charter will lead to higher retention of women within the industry. Many women leave when they hit the ‘glass ceiling’ in the industry

• Business

Another area where WiMSA sees the updated Mining Charter of 2017 bringing forth tangible changes is increasing the participation of women-owned businesses in the supply chain, specifically black-women owned. According to the updated Charter, a minimum of 5% of total mining goods procurement spend and 10% of the total spend on services must be sourced from Black-Owned Companies. Specific to women, a minimum of 50%+1 vote female Black Person which is a start for increasing female entrepreneurs in the mining industry.

Nonetheless, the reality is that it is one thing to have a comprehensive policy, and totally another to ensure it produces desired outcomes.

Taking the bull by the horns

For this reason, cognisant of this, Naidoo pronounces that WiMSA is taking the proverbial bull by the horns. She enthuses that the organisation is playing a part in facilitating the increase in participation of women in the mining sector within the ambit of its mandate, highlighting the Career Booklet, and Mentorship and Support.

• Career booklet

Naidoo defines the core focus of the Career

Booklet: “At WiMSA we focus our efforts on attracting women to the industry from the time they are in high school. We developed a Career Booklet in 2022 aimed at piquing the interest of young girls in the world of STEM and showing them the opportunities for the career development of women in mining.”

• ·Mentorship and support

In addition, WiMSA focuses on personally and professionally helping women become the best versions of themselves. This is through mentorship and by creating a world and support system that is a safe place for women to share their truths and seek guidance and help.

More ground to be covered

While there have been strides, there is still more ground to be covered, Naidoo points out. “Amongst a host of aspirations, we would love to see more bursaries being offered to young girls to study STEM subjects. We want to see a more inclusive workforce focused on the development of women’s careers. We want to see women’s voices heard and their ideas implemented, and see their leadership bring about positive growth in our industry.”

Another challenge that the mining industry faces is attracting women and retaining them. So, WiMSA’s position is that, at the outset, practices that perpetuate gender biases should be removed. “It should be about finding the best people, by the best people in the recruiting process, including both men and women who know a company’s technical and emotional values. But it’s human nature to be drawn to similar people. And so, people recruit others like themselves, meaning that the male domination of mining companies leads to a self-perpetuating problem,” Pauls notes.

Another possible cause for the high turnover of skilled women from the mining sector is huge wage disparities. Sadly, even with South Africa’s legislation aimed at preventing gender discrimination in the workplace, the country has a median gender pay gap of about 20%.

Equitable approach

Given this, WIMSA calls for an equitable approach to achieving retention, mainly entailing the following:

• Removing male-biased management strategies and bringing in visible and effective policies geared towards meeting both men’s and women’s needs and practices to create femaleintegrated cultures.

• Providing appropriate emotional support and mentorship.

Besides, Naidoo believes mechanisation could be just the right tool from the perspective of achieving wage disparity.

There have been a lot of reservations about the adoption of mechanisation in mining, with unions fearing it could render some careers obsolete. On the flip side, Naidoo is hopeful that, indirectly, mechanisation will help narrow the gender pay gap. “As mining becomes more mechanised, physical strength and stamina will become less important than fine motor skills, dexterity, and problem-solving creating significant opportunities for women in the industry.”

Continuous pursuit

Playing its part, WiMSA is not resting on its laurels in its continuous pursuit of increasing the representation of women in South Africa’s mining sector.

One of the low-hanging fruits within reach that the organisation has earmarked aimed at the foundation stage is the continuous development of its Career Booklet. Additionally, it will expand its work by hosting more Career Days and getting involved.

A critical part of the initiative at the foundation stage is keeping more girls in school and allowing them to further studies uninterrupted. One of the ways of realising this is through the drive to end period poverty, which is a big challenge resulting in absenteeism.

Ultimately, WiMSA hopes that, through its initiatives and those of other stakeholders, more women will be encouraged to explore career opportunities in mining.

Advice to young women

Nevertheless, WiMSA and other stakeholders can only do so much. Ultimately, the onus is on the girls to seize available opportunities. One of the challenges young girls face is that young women are discouraged by societal stereotypes attached to careers traditionally associated with men. ‘Manly’ careers as one analyst called them.

So, imparting a nugget of wisdom to young women, Pauls says, “My advice to young women interested in joining the mining industry would be not to be put off by its reputation as a male-dominated world. There are so many opportunities within the sector where you can find your niche and have a fulfilling and exciting career. But retaining confidence and selfesteem can be a challenge because many male colleagues will try to undermine your capabilities by painting you as incompetent. And don’t put yourselves in the stereotypical boxes either. Find mentors and networks to support you and to remind you that you are awesome.”

Wish for Women’s Month 2024

On her part, Naidoo’s Women’s Month 2024 wish is to see more women in leadership positions in the mining sector. “We want to see more female graduates at university, and we want to see more young girls given the freedom to study, learn and grow. We want to hear more men advocating for change and working alongside WIM organisations to create a safer working environment for women. Above all, we want to see sustainable plans in place that allow for a better world for women in mining.”

By and large, WiMSA views the steps as progress towards reaching the Promised Land of gender parity in mining.

COVID-19 – a silver lining behind the dark cloud

The COVID-19 pandemic, most especially the prevention measures, unwittingly had a telling economic impact, with record losses for businesses, some employees were retrenched. Women were the most affected, bearing a huge burden.

It is too early to understand the full impact of COVID-19 on the impact of women in mining. But there is a silver lining behind the dark cloud, observes Pauls.

She says one positive result is that employers have had to become more flexible and innovative. “Women have been advocating for years to be able to work from home, and COVID restrictions proved that it is possible to do this effectively while taking care of their families.”