JOHANNESBURG, February 6 (ANA) – The African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) on Monday launched a scathing attack at the lack of transformation and employment equity, as well as sexual violence, in the mining industry.
The ANCWL was reacting to the annual “2017 Investing in Africa Mining Indaba” which kicked off in Cape Town on Monday and is set to wrap up on Thursday.
The ANCWL called on the captains of the industry to come up with practical and implementable measures to address the issue of empowering women in the mining sector.
In a statement issued by secretary general Meokgo Matuba, the ANCWL said it would be disappointed if the majority of the participants in the indaba were males, whilst there were various challenges faced by women in the mining industry.
“There is an ongoing sexual violence on women in the mines. The indaba must come up with practical measures to stop sexual violence on women in the mines with immediate effect,” Matuba said.
To highlight the absence of women in executive positions in mining, Matuba cited the Commission of Employment Equity report 2014/15 which revealed that 62.4 percent of top management in the mining sector was occupied by white males.
“There is lack of transformation and implementation of the employment equity [in the industry]. The indaba must come up with practical measures to ensure that 50 percent women, in particular black women, form part of the top management in the mining sector by 2018,” Matuba said.
Furthermore, the ANCWL called on the indaba to ensure that 50 percent of mining ownership was by women and that 50 percent of procurement and enterprise development was allocated to women, more especially black women.
The League also said housing and living conditions of mine workers, in particular for women miners, should be improved and that mining houses should comply to the Social and Labour Plans.
“Failure to address these critical issues and coming up with practical implementable measures, the indaba will just be another talk show of the previously advantaged not worrying about the protection of the marginalised and inclusion of the previously disadvantaged into the historically male chauvinistic industry,” Matuba said.
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