WOMEN IN MINING
CELEBRATING WOMEN IN MINING Minerals Council weighs in on transformation By Nelendhre Moodley
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ach year in August, South Africa marks Women’s Month – celebrating the strength and resilience of women and their contributions to society and country. SA Mining recently spoke to Dr Thuthula Balfour, head: health at the Minerals Council South Africa, to find out how the mining industry is faring in its transformation agenda.
IS INDUSTRY MEETING THE MINING CHARTER’S TARGETS FOR TRANSFORMATION, IN PARTICULAR AS RELATED TO WOMEN IN MINING?
There are two ways of looking at this. The first is to look at whether or not the industry has met the Mining Charter targets, or – as we
Dr Thuthula Balfour.
Nolitha Fakude.
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SA MINING
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Remote operation of the underground rock crusher, in the South Deep Central Control Centre.
prefer to do – look at what we are trying to achieve as an industry in respect of women in mining, and how we are doing against the stretch targets we have put in place. In terms of compliance with the Mining Charter, we can report that by the end of 2018 the number of women working in the mining sector had increased significantly – from around 11 400 in 2002, to 57 000 (or around 12%) in 2018. In 2018, women represented 17% of top management, 17% of senior management, 24% of professionally qualified people and 18% of skilled and technical professions. On this measure we have made good progress, but there is of course room for more. If you look at the issue of women in mining in a more holistic way, however, we would see this differently. First, if we were to ask whether the issue of women in mining is firmly on the agenda of every mining company at the most senior levels of the industry, the answer would be yes. Addressing gender imbalances and creating workplaces that are fair and safe for men and women have long been a focus of the Minerals Council. Through the Women in Mining Leadership Forum, led by Minerals Council president Nolitha Fakude and former office bearer Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman, the Minerals Council placed the advancement of women firmly on the agenda. Seven clear workstreams with action plans for each are in place: ■ Reaffirm zero tolerance for genderbased violence through the Stop Abuse campaign. ■ Develop gender diversity and inclusion policies. ■ Provide a reporting system for gender diversity issues. ■ Initiate unconscious bias training to
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transform culture. Deploy an ongoing company-wide pulse check survey. ■ Build an inclusive physical environment. ■ Supply personal protective equipment for women specifically. Minerals Council members set and agreed to stretch targets aimed at ensuring that the industry at least doubles the percentage of women in mining by 2025 and ultimately works towards 30% to 40% women’s representation across the industry and 50% in management over the next decade.
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WHAT KIND OF IMPACT HAS COVID-19 HAD ON THE JOURNEY TO MEETING THESE TARGETS?
We don’t have specific evidence of this, but from what we do know there is an indirect impact. Firstly we know that worldwide, the burden of childcare and caring for the elderly and sick, especially during lockdowns, and job losses, have disproportionately affected women. We have no reason to believe that our industry would be any different. Fortunately, most mining companies were able to pay their employees during this time, but we can only assume that there has been an impact at the level of the household. Secondly, we know that globally and in South Africa too, lockdowns have meant an increase in femicide and gender-based violence. Many Minerals Council members already have policies and systems in place to address sexual harassment and violence in the workplace. However the Stop Abuse of Women campaign, which forms part of our Women in Mining Strategy, aims to ensure that the right processes and mechanisms are in place to identify and deal with the physical and mental abuse of women. It also aims to ensure we continue to train and educate men and women on what abuse means, and to provide support to women in
