Underground world of rape, abuse
Women have been miners since 2012 and moves are being made to protect them from violence and to meet other needs, but only a change in men’s attitudes towards them will ensure they are truly safe
In 2012 South Africans were introduced to the story of Binky Mosiane, a miner whose body was found lying in a pool of blood with a used condom next to her. She had been attacked during her underground shift at Anglo Platinum’s Khomanani mine in North West on February 6. Her family’s sole breadwinner, she died at the age of 27.
Prior to 2002, an underground mine shaft was no place for a woman. Then the South African Mining Charter introduced a clause stipulating that women had to make up at least 10% of a mine’s staff, lifting the previous ban.
Women now have a place in a labour-intensive workplace and a rough industry is slowly getting to grips with their presence underground.
Every day women are subjected to verbal harassment and rape, which either goes unreported or, as in Mosiane’s case, results in death.
Sanki Molefe, a miner and head of the Rustenburg women’s structure of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), says the safety of women mineworkers is a growing concern and requires a shift in policy and legislation to protect them.
In some instances, women miners are asked to perform sexual favours to get promoted and those who refuse fall victim to sexual harassment, Molefe said in a recent interview with radio station SAfm.
“We are mindful that women are exposed to harassment and abuse from their male counterparts due to patriarchal tendencies,” Molefe said.
Women under siege
In March last year a woman at Rustenburg’s Thembelani Mine, owned by Anglo Platinum, was attacked and raped in the women’s changing rooms while taking a shower, allegedly by an illegal miner. It was reported that the attack took place at about 4am during her morning shift with a security guard on the premises.
This case and that of Mosiane, who was killed while on an underground shift alongside 13 men, are just two of the rape incidents reported by women miners. The rest are either gathering dust somewhere in a police station filing cabinet, or go unreported by women who fear losing their jobs or being discriminated against and stigmatised as rape survivors.
In November last year the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand submitted evidence of gender-based violence in mines to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
“The phenomenon is occurring in part due to the regulation that requires 10% of all mineworkers to be female. This small percentage, however, means that women are a minority of underground workers and, as such, are extremely vulnerable to sexual violence,” the centre said.
“But it is not only the regulations that are the cause of this harm; contributing factors include gender norms in mining, lack of security and a lack of policies around gender-based violence in mining or the implementation thereof.
“In some instances, mines will pair women together as a form of security; however, the homogenous makeup of the male-dominated mining industry makes a mockery of this pairing.”
The centre had partnered with the South African Medical Research Council, as part of a project commissioned by the National Prosecuting Authority, to study the prosecution and adjudication of rape matters reported to the police.
The council found that only one in nine women who were raped report it to the police.
In a 2008 study titled Tracking Justice: The Attrition of Rape Cases through the Criminal Justice System in Gauteng, it reported that only 50.5% of the 2 064 cases of rape resulted in the arrest of the rapist.
“Only 42.8% of perpetrators were charged in court, and trials commenced in less than one in five cases. The conviction rate, which includes lesser crimes than rape, was at 6.2% [one in 20 cases],” says the report.
Mosiane’s case followed this trend: a suspect was arrested more than 18 months after her death. Workers’ World Media Production, which agitates for workers’ rights, was among the organisations that tried to get justice for her.
“We heard about Binky’s story from our labour community forums and sent someone to the police station to check on the status of the case,” said Dibuseng Phaloane, a field worker at the production house which, she says, “aims to expose the ineffectiveness of the police and the National Prosecuting Authority in ensuring justice for women”.
Said Phaloane: “The police officer at the station said that Binky’s death was part of a sex scandal.”
There were rumours of women miners performing sexual favours to get men to work on their behalf so that the team was not slowed down, which would affect their performance bonuses, leading some to speculate that this is why the police did not give the case as much attention as they should have.
Workers’ World organised marches and awareness campaigns. Headway was finally made in the case in October 2013, when Tutu Rooi Oliphant was arrested.
According to media reports, the case was postponed four times before Oliphant was convicted on November 28 2014, and was sentenced to 50 years in jail for raping and killing Mosiane. He is serving an additional 25 years for previously raping a five-year-old girl.
The mine provided financial compensation to Mosiane’s family.
Centuries of sexism
Women in mining had been “thrown in underground haphazardly into work teams where you find one woman for every 10 men there. There was a lot of room for mischief,” said David van Wyk, a lead researcher at the Bench Marks Foundation, in a January 2014 interview.
Women have told the foundation, which monitors corporate social responsibility, that the problems they experience underground range from unsuitable overalls and tools to being reduced to skivvies and performing sexual favours to advance professionally.
“What happens at the end of the month is, if the woman wants to increase her income, she gets involved in the sex trade,” Van Wyk said.
Phaloane said it seems that even the death of Mosiane has done little to improve working conditions for women in the sector. She said policy needed to shift and laws designed to protect women in mining.
For instance, she said, the machinery and tools used in the mines are designed to suit the physiques of men, not women. “Even the overalls and the protective equipment are designed for men, and are not comfortable or practical for women.
“There’s also the issue of toilet facilities underground, which are shared.”
NUM’s Molefe believes that, even though there is still a lot to be done, the wheels are slowly turning for the better. She said protective gear has been revised to suit the build of women and separate toilet facilities are provided underground in some mines.
“After the Binky Mosiane case there was a directive from the minister of mineral resources to say that no woman or any individual is allowed to work alone [at a mine], especially in isolated areas,” Molefe said.
Bring men into the discussion
If South Africa is to deal with genderbased violence effectively, it is generally agreed that men need to join the conversation. Sonke Gender Justice works with men through educational programmes and workshops to help deconstruct traditional male views of women.
“We look at gender norms transformation, how to change how men view women and how men understand manhood, often associated with being strong and taking risks,” said Patrick Godana, spokesperson for the MenCare programme at Sonke Gender Justice.
“There is a belief that we own women and we talk to them as children, using terms such as mntwana [baby]. Language on its own shapes understanding,” he said.
“How do we look at women as colleagues; how do we change behaviours? Because no one is born violent — violence is learned behaviour that can be unlearned.”
He said it was just a small percentage of men who are messing up the image of men.
Through this programme, Sonke exposes men to care work in the health and social development sectors, which includes working with children and women to change the cultural constructs that relate to the roles of men and women. It is attempting to create an understanding that women and men can coexist peacefully, and that women are not the property of men.
Tackling the beast, part 1
So, what can be done for all female miners to feel safe?
According to the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, gender-based