Programme Directors, Chairperson of the Mine Health and Safety Council, Mr David Msiza and all Board Members CEO of the MHSC, Mr David Mamphitha and your executives Leadership of Organised Labour Leadership of Organised Business and Women Associations Distinguished Guests Last but not least, all beautiful Women in Mining present here today.
We gather here in the month of August when our nation pays tribute to all women under the theme: “Celebrating 30 Years of Democracy Towards Women’s Development”.
We do this, not only in honour of the 20 000 heroines of our struggle who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 in protest against the inhumane apartheid regime, but in respect of all women who continue to act as agents of change and social transformation.
We honour and celebrate all Imbokodo of our nation and beyond, the anchors of our families, and pillars of our communities.
It is therefore with great pleasure and honour for me to participate in this important Women in Mining (WIM) Indaba which brings together women of diverse backgrounds to share valuable information and engage on critical issues affecting women in the mining industry, with particular focus on Occupational Health and Safety.
Whereas the South African mining industry has made tremendous strides in ensuring that women become active participants in the industry, the exclusion of women and inequality in the mining sector remain a global problem. Studies conducted by the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) on progress made towards gender transformation and mainstreaming, expose the reality that some mining companies lag behind on gender transformation which impacts negatively on the sectors transformation agenda, and consequently on solutions to address the health and safety of women in the mining industry.
Mindful of this reality, the South African government continues to put in place measures to transform not only the mining industry, but the South African economy. Guided by the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) continues to open-up the sector to include women and youth as evidenced by the significant increase of women in mining from 11 000 in 2002 to over 70 000 in 2023.
Notwithstanding this progress, gender discrimination remains widespread not only in the mining industry, but in communities that we operate in. It is regrettable and appalling that women continue to be excluded in the mainstream economy because of the stigma associated with pregnancy. This calls on all of us to move with the necessary urgency in implementing the resolutions of the previous WIM Indaba, including but not limited to, the introduction of measures to ensure fair and ethical treatment of pregnant and lactating women. We therefore implore on the mining industry to ensure that pregnant and lactating women get deployed in alternative roles that are less exposed to high risk environments rather than unfairly dismissing them from work as was done historically.
This WIM Indaba must firm up the interventions needed to eradicate gender biases, social, and cultural obstacles to women participation in the mainstream economy. The National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) adopted in 2020 as a society-wide programme to end GBVF unlocked an opportunity for all sectors to implement strategies to curb these social ills.
To provide guidance to all stakeholders in the South African mining industry on addressing GBVF, safety and security issues for women in the industry, the erstwhile Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) gazetted the Guidance Note for the management of GBVF. This is one of the critical measures introduced to ensure clear reporting, monitoring, and evaluation of GBVF in the mining industry by the MHSC and ensure optimal support of initiatives by all stakeholders.
The note further opens an opportunity for the mining sector to be a trendsetter in advancing high standards of policy implementation to GBVF challenges amongst its employees and the host communities. As resolved in during the previous WIM Indaba, we must intensify our awareness campaigns aimed at activating consciousness of all pieces of legislation to eradicate social ills in society.
The health and safety of all persons at mines, in particular the mineworkers, remain at the centre of the work we do. Owing to our strategic partnership with all social partners in the mining industry, we continue to improve our performance on health and safety in pursuit of our zero harm goal. However, much more still needs to be done to realise this goal, hence we are greatly concerned by the increase in the number of injuries involving women from 199 in 2022 to 234 in 2023. Of great concern to us is that 66% of these injuries were in the general classification which are linked to slipping and falling, material handling and being struck by an object.
The inadequate supply of women Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) continues to be an inhibiting factor to the health and safety of women in the industry. It is unpleasant that we still have some mining companies that continue to use PPEs that are not designed to cater for the needs of women and thus expose them to occupational risks. It is therefore important for the sector to fully implement the reviewed Guideline on selection and provision of PPE for WIM and ensure that the provided PPE to women in mining does not inadvertently pose additional health and safety risks to the workers. In addition, the employers must monitor and enforce contractor’s adherence to policies on PPE and issuing thereof to contractor employees in line with the resolutions of previous WIM Indaba. In spite of the persisting challenges, allow me to take this opportunity to commend the mining companies that have fully embraced the need to introduce women-friendly PPEs.
Programme director, delegates at this WIM Indaba must extensively engage on the effective interventions which should be implemented in the sector to enhance the health and safety of women in mining. Research on outstanding matters pertaining to alleviation of WIM health and safety problems need to be finalised to ensure evidence-based recommendations where possible.
The implementation of the Constitution on the WIM Forums, collaboration amongst the Regional WIM Forums and the Occupational Health and Safety Regional Tripartite Forum (RTF) should be encouraged to promote occupational health and safety in the various regions. For its part, the Department will continue to monitor the implementation of Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) and adherence to all existing guidelines to ensure the health and safety of all mineworkers.
In closing, programme director, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the MHSC Tripartite Stakeholders for putting together this WIM Indaba. I wish you fruitful deliberations and hope that we will come up with clear outcomes to improve occupational health and safety of mineworkers, eradicate GBV and all social ills in society, and consequently move this industry and our country forward.
I thank you.