Minerals Council South Africa has embarked on an initiative to take the matters of gender-based violence and gender inequality into the boardrooms of mining companies across South Africa.

The Minerals Council last week simultaneously published a new Women in Mining White Paper to promote gender diversity and inclusion across mining operations and launched a new campaign aimed at ensuring the safety of women and tackling gender-based violence.

The White Paper, focusing on improving the representation of women in the sector, aims to accelerate the implementation of industry strategies and provide impetus for the advancement of women in the industry.

“It is an initial step and aligns with both company and national imperatives,” says Vedanta Zinc International CEO and Minerals Council board member Deshnee Naidoo.

The White Paper proposes action plans for companies to ensure women, who make up only 12% of the mining industry’s workforce, are provided with equal opportunities and pay and a safe environment to work in.

Currently, women account for just under 13% of people working in the mining industry, a percentage that is growing.

In 2006, the figure was about 5% and, by 2008, it was just over 8%. However, Naidoo points out that these numbers are far too low and there has not been a significant improvement in the last five years.

“The mining industry has to be an industry that both men and women thrive in. Currently, because women are such a minority across the industry, we need a firm intervention to step up female representation across the industry,” she continues.

“Further, the participation of women in business has been shown to positively influence the bottom line of companies and to contribute to enhanced sustainability, in addition to a high-performance culture.”

She explains that the “true potential” of South Africa’s mining sector, which still lags many countries in terms of gender equality, will be “unleashed” once the target of a 50:50 gender split is realised.

“If you do not firmly place it on the agenda of the CEO to drive, you never get the action that you want. We want to become the catalyst for the change that we need this industry to own, step up to and address,” she says.

The efforts of the Minerals Council to date to attract and retain women in the workforce vary, and while some have been “very good”, as companies, there is a need to do more to develop and advance women once they are in the industry, similar to the manner in which the maturity curve in safety has been accelerated.

To this end, the White Paper highlights strategic priorities around gender diversity, the gender pay gap and policies and programmes, besides others.

“We, as the Minerals Council, are throwing our weight behind this initiative.”

The Minerals Council, which will establish a task team comprising staff from the Minerals Council itself and its member companies to oversee, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the White Paper, highlights the priorities of diversity and inclusion programmes, with input from men in the industry; the inclusion of women in mining being part of key performance indicators in senior management performance plans; and workplaces being reviewed and adapted to ensure that women’s needs are catered for.

In line with this, the Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC), reporting directly to the Minerals Council, will establish a separate committee on women in mining.

The MHSC still deals with issues relating to ablution facilities, sexual harassment, personal protective equipment, the impact of mining on reproductive health and the requirements of physical work.

The White Paper further emphasises the importance of policies to deal with gender-based violence and sexual harassment, and adapting workplaces to accommodate women, including ablution facilities, lockable toilets and change rooms, besides others.

Alongside this, the Minerals Council has also launched an expansive campaign to bring the matter of gender violence into the boardrooms of mining companies to address sexual and gender-based violence and harassment on South Africa’s mines and within mining and labour-sending communities.

“The increase in female participation has not necessarily translated into a significant improvement in the behaviour and attitude towards female miners. In fact, abuse, harassment and intimidation by male colleagues remain a challenge that many women confront on a daily basis, at work as well as at home,” Minerals Council CEO Roger Baxter points out.

Led by Naidoo, Minerals Council occupational health head Dr Thuthula Balfour and Baxter, the campaign is designed to provide a range of resources for members to enable them to give greater prominence to addressing the challenges faced by women in the industry.

While the launch of the ‘Stop the abuse of women’ campaign coincided with International Women’s Day, on March 8, Baxter says the Minerals Council has taken the view that this is a challenge that requires attention 365 days a year.

Overall, South Africa has the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world.

“We have had a 10% increase in sexual assault offences [and] there is a woman murdered every three hours in South Africa. There are 84 cases of rape reported every day, which effectively means there are three rapes every hour. We have a femicide rate that is five times higher than the global average,” Baxter points out.

“This is an opportunity for us, in particular, to drive change not only in our workplaces but also in our homes and communities.”

“While many Minerals Council members already have policies and systems in place to address sexual harassment and violence in the workplace, this campaign is designed to complement their work and provide new capacity and impetus throughout the industry regarding this critical issue,” he continues.

He explains that the industry has a particular responsibility to address these issues, given the predominance of men in management and the rest of the workforce, the increasing numbers of women entering the workforce and the nature of workplaces, particularly underground facilities.

The campaign is aimed at both men and women, making clear what is meant by abuse and spelling out the potential consequences of abusive action.

The Minerals Council is looking into the setting up of industry-level mechanisms for the safe reporting of incidents of violence and harassment, as well as developing guidelines for management on appropriate company policies, systems and workplace infrastructure designed to ensure a safe and comfortable working environment for women.