The social and ethical responsiveness of a South African Platinum mine towards women in mining

Abstract

Mining companies throughout the world have been attempting to introduce a sustainable development and empowerment program for women for more than a century with very little success. Numerous countries, including South Africa (SA), had legislation prohibiting the employment of women underground until as recently as 1995. South Africa has subsequently used the Beijing Platform of Action as a reference to the compilation of a number of enabling legislation such as the Mining Charter and other policies in an effort to create positive intervention in the empowerment of women. Barriers to the introduction of women in the mining industry are numerous and need to be managed if a sustainable diverse workforce is the future objective. This purpose of this research was to attempt to identify barriers and potential solutions which can be applied as best practice and in so doing, improve the chances of sustainable success for this industry initiative. A typical SA hard rock mine has been chosen for the research. A random sample of 46 women employed at Impala was selected to participate in a semi structured interview with the researcher. The findings were them scrutinised and categorised to expose any obvious themes or patterns. The research findings did not disclose any unusual or unexpected SA issues but actually confirmed the international experiences to a large degree. The researcher has made a number of recommendations regarding the challenges that were raised during the research and interview process. Essentially it was confirmed that SA women have a desire to be independent, a yearning for self development and the drive to want to make it happen to prove to themselves and everyone else that they too can add value and make a difference. If anything, they are prepared to work in hazardous environments and carry out arduous physical work if that is what it is going to take to get to the top. In conclusion it is noted that companies should learn from others mistakes and not reinvent the wheel every time a new challenge is put on the table. Further research is recommended as this research was conducted during the infancy stages of implementation and the views of the participants could vary as time passes.