Programme Director,

Organisers of the AOW: Investing in African Energy

Fellow Women in the Energy Industry

Distinguished Guests

As we gather here today to talk about our collective actions to empower

women in the energy industry, we are of a firm view that we need to

move beyond talking to execution of our action plan initiatives.

During the previous women in energy engagements, delegates had

extensive discussions about the challenges and opportunities that

are faced by women in the industry.

Some of the challenges identified include but are not limited to; the

barriers to women participation in the industry, persistent gender gap

in leadership roles, and the lack of mentorship and sponsorship to

support women in technical fields.

Of great concern to us about these discussions is that we have fantastic

proposals that seek to address our challenges, however, we do not

have clear timeframes, roles, and responsibilities, and thereby

subjecting these engagements to talks about talks, rather than

progressive engagements.

The reality of the matter is that the conditions under which we meet today

do not allow us to keep on talking while South Africans, in particular

women and youth are trapped in extreme poverty, high

unemployment, and inequality.

 

In its quarterly employment statistics released in September this year,

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reported that, whereas total employment

increased by 0.4% quarter-on-quarter between March and June 2024,

total employment decreased by 1.3% year-on-year between June 2023

and June 2024.

As social partners in the mining and petroleum sectors, we all need to put

shoulder on the wheel and change this reality by not only ensuring the

provision of secure, sustainable, and affordable energy, but also advance

the full participation of women and youth in these sectors.

To do so, stakeholders in the energy sector need to fully embrace the

objectives that are set out in the Women Empowerment and Gender

Equality Strategy (WEGE) 2021 – 2025. I can assure you of the

government’s commitment to developing and strengthening procedures

and practices to ensure equal rights, opportunities, and ensure economic

empowerment of women in the economy.

Whereas the mining industry has over the years increased participation of

women in the industry, both the mining and energy sectors remain

predominantly male dominated. As part of its Sustainable Development

Goals, the United Nations recognised gender equality as a fundamental

human right and a foundation for prosperous and sustainable world

economy. It is within this context that the WEGE strategy seeks to achieve

gender equality by advancing increased numbers of women leaders,

business owners, and decision makers in the energy sector.

However, limited access to education and training is major challenge

and a barrier for women to enter the mining and energy industries. One of

the most direct actions by our government over the past 30 years, has

been the provision for access to education for all South Africans,

 

irrespective of race, gender, and household economic status. Today,

almost every school going aged young person is literate, and thereby

contributing to the 85% of adult literacy, up from only 64% in 1996. Despite

this progress, a challenge remains the shortage of learners doing the

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects

which are critical for the mining and energy sectors. It is against these

background that the Department continues to facilitate full time

bursaries targeting eligible South African scholars from

disadvantaged social backgrounds that are doing or have completed

grade 12 in mining or energy related fields, such as science, engineering,

and geology.

Limited financing and funding have also been identified as major

hindrances to women participation in the energy sector. Many

interventions have been introduced by government over the past 30 years

to assist small enterprises, entrepreneurs and cooperatives, especially in

townships and villages, with set-asides for women, youth and persons

with disabilities. Some of these interventions include the recently

established exploration fund to assist junior miners in their exploration

projects, and the artisanal and small-scale miners’ fund to assist

artisanal miners with their mining projects, and thereby do away with the

sterilisation of marginal deposits.

As the Minister reported during this year’s Joburg Indaba, at least 44

applicants for the exploration fund have been provisionally selected to

undergo the second phase of the verification process, and on the other

hand, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) is finalising

contracting agreements with successful applicants for the R72 million

artisanal and small-scale miners’ fund. We continue to engage with

investment community to support these initiatives as they are poised to

 

sustain our economy in the long run. Additionally, laws such as the Broad-

Based Black Economic Empowerment Act have enabled both women

and youth greater access to business and investment opportunities.

As part of our efforts to eradicate these barriers in the energy industry, in

particular the petroleum sector, and many others, the government

commits to strengthening relations, and working, with organisations that

seek to advance gender equality such as the South African Women in

Energy Association (SAWEA) and the Women in Oil and Energy South

Africa (WOESA).

We are convinced that by working together, we will have more and more

women participating in the energy sector not only as employees, but

drivers of change and innovation.

Notwithstanding these barriers, there are opportunities that we need to

pursue to increase women participation in the energy sectors.

As we set our sights on providing for the orderly development of the

country’s Upstream Petroleum Industry through the Upstream

Petroleum Resources Development Bill, which the President is

considering assenting into law, women are poised to lead the country’s

exploration and production operations, as well as taking part in the

refining and processing of petrochemicals, including pipeline

maintenance and transportation of petroleum products.

It is within this framework that the government continues to participate in

forums of this nature which bring together prominent and aspirant

women in the mining and energy industries to foster strategic

partnerships and collaborations, as well as inspire one another to take

advantage of the existing opportunities.

 

Identified as the primary solution to delivering clean cooking by the

International Energy Agency and the African Development Bank, the

Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) is poised to play a catalytic role in our

journey towards addressing energy poverty, and contribute to our drive

towards inclusive economic growth, employment creation, and

eradication of poverty.

As we work towards the expansion of the South African LPG industry to

ensure its sustainable growth, women and the youth must be actively

involved in the entire value chain of the LPG industry, including

production, wholesaling, and retailing.

We therefore look to prominent women in this meeting and beyond to help

us facilitate the entry of these aspirant women in the sector by among

others, mentorship, sponsorship, and scholarship. This can be

achieved by investing in targeted training programmes with technical

and vocational education training institutions to equip these women with

technical kills and knowledge required to establish women-led energy

startups and entrepreneurship.

Our nation is blessed with a wealth of untapped talent, particularly

among women and youth, that must be nurtured and guided to reach their

full potential. Despite the lack of access to education and training, there

are thousands of young professionals, women with skills in STEM, and

innovators with creative solutions for our energy challenges that need

coaching and personalised advise for career advancement in the energy

sectors.

If we are to increase diversity and inclusion in the energy sector, we must

foster innovation, creativity, and collaboration among all key role

 

players in the industry. The transition from a high carbon economy to a

low carbon economy will require such collaboration and creative ideas.

On the global arena, forums such as BRICS, that our country is a

member of offer various benefits for the oil and gas sector, addressing

economic, environmental, and geopolitical challenges. For its part,

government will continue to increase the voice of developing countries, in

particular the voice of women and youth, with a view to expand and

deepen our trade and investment relations with both the developing and

developed nations in line with the National Development Plan.

We must therefore continuously engage one another, beyond this

meeting, to ensure that we transform the energy sector by adequately

addressing the barriers to women participation, ensure women

involvement in leadership roles, promote mentorship, meaningful

networking, innovation, and ensure that gender equity is embedded not

only in government policies, but in our working environment.

In our discussions today, I wish to encourage all the aspiring women in

energy to draw wisdom from the prominent women who have already

made their mark in the industry, and equally, urge the prominent women

to lend a helping hand to these aspiring women.

Let us continue working together and leave no one behind. For us in

government, we will not tire until gender equality and transformation of

the economy are achieved.

I thank you.