Government calls for more women in mining
As the mining industry embraces digitisation, government wants the sector to prepare requisite resources to ensure women are not marginalized in the new wave of mining, supported by the 4th industrial revolution.
The Minister of Mines and Energy, Lefo Maxwell Moagi made the plea at the 4th installment of Women in Mining annual conference held under the theme: ‘The Changing Face of Mining in Africa.’ “This will require a pragmatic approach to education and skills development to prepare for women to not only participate but take the lead,” said Moagi. He cautioned miners to end shunning women through physical, verbal and non-verbal behavior that affects their chances of success and advancement in the workplace. “I am aware that much has been done for us to arrest this situation but we need to place more emphasis to keep structuring ourselves to reverse this situation all together.” The minister implored women miners to register an Association of Women in Mining, to gather intelligence and advice on how to keep making policy better. Moagi vowed to motivate major mining companies, to participate in the setup of an Association of Women in Mining for a well gender mainstreamed mining sector. Sharing the Minister’s sentiments, Chief Executive Officer of Minerals Development Company Botswana, Matome Malema cited several studies indicating low uptake of women employees in the mining industry such as women making up 8–17 percent of the mining industry. He said the figures show that less than a fifth of all people in the industry are female – or an average of 12.5 percent. Malema said according to the International Labour Organization (ILO), there is a steadfast growth of employed males, though the percentage of females employed has barely changed. He further said PWC did a survey that shows that mining is the worst sector for gender diversity, worse than the oil and gas industry, with just five percent of board seats held by women in the top 500 mining companies. Malema said women are demanding that they begin to play a significant role in the mining industry. Meanwhile, Moagi has bemoaned that few women participating in mining are doing small scale mining such as gold panning, dealing in gemstones, running and selling industrial minerals such as limestone, dolomite, clay and many others. “Yet despite their contribution to small-scale mining, they remain insignificant in mainstream mining,” said the Minister. Moagi said the starting point for policies and actions to generate more and better jobs for women in mining countries is to address any structural barrier faced by women. “We need to review and start by abolishing regulations and cultural practices that are based on gender stereotypes or which perpetuate traditional gender roles that restrict the types of work in which women can engage.”