South Africa’s female miners

The South African Women in Mining Association says women need more information and training in order to become more active in the country’s mining industry.

The association, together with the country’s departments of trade and industry and minerals and energy affairs, hosted a 2-day seminar as part of the Technology for Women in Business program, a national initiative in South Africa that provides access to science and technology for existing and aspiring businesswomen.

Women from various parts of South Africa attended the first day of the seminar, which featured talks on the options available for enterprising partnerships and practical exposure in the technology and mining industries.

The biggest challenge facing women in mining is changing the perception that they are inferior to their male counterparts who work underground.

For instance, AngloPlatinum, one of South Africa’s largest employers, has a staff of 46,000 people, only 50 of whom are women working underground.

The recent mining charter stipulates that within five years 10% of all staff, including those underground, must be women, but companies have warned that this will be expensive.

The cost of installing and upgrading changing rooms, underground toilets and showers, and heat-training chambers to enable the required number of women to work in a subterranean environment is estimated at R400-million (US$63 million).

Another problem will be the need for regular pregnancy testing (pregnant women are not allowed below surface), and for finding pregnant women alternative above-ground jobs.

Daphney Mashamaite, president of the Technology for Women in Business Program, says the industry’s mission is to close the gap and introduce various institutions to support women.

The program also offers a “techno-girl” course, whereby young women are taken through workshops in various industries that are generally regarded as difficult and male-dominated. Mashamaile says they want to break away from the stigma that exists and the belief that there are fields women cannot enter successfully.

S’mangele Mngomezulu, secretary of the South African Women in Mining Association, says women are playing a major role in the mining industry and need training and information in order for them to grow. She says women should realize that whatever they are doing in their businesses adds value to the country’s economy.

According to economic empowerment rating and research agency Empowerdex, there are only five women on the boards of Johannesburg-listed mining companies.

— The preceding is from an information bulletin published by the South African Women in Mining Association, based in Johannesburg.