Parliament, Wednesday, 15 August 2018 – The Portfolio Committee on Labour has noted with concern the low number of women employed in the mining industry.
During an oversight visit to Sibanye-Stillwater’s Beatrix Mine in Welkom, the committee had reservations about the low number of women, as well as South Africans of Indian descent employed at the mine.
The committee was told that the mine didn’t employ a lot of women especially for underground jobs that have been historically considered “too hard for women”, such as rock drillers.
The Portfolio Committee on Labour believes that the view that mining is a men’s job is unfortunate and based on an attitude of patriarchy.
The committee believes that choosing certain jobs for women is discriminatory and contributes to the problem of unemployment in the country, where women constitute the majority of the population.
Management of the mine also briefed the committee about the incident that happened in January this year where over 955 miners were trapped underground for over 36 hours as a result of a power outage following a tornado.
The committee was also briefed by the Inspector of Mines from the Department of Mineral Resources, about the impact of illegal mining (also called Zama Zama) in the area.
During the visit, the committee interacted with management of the mine as well as organised labour.
The committee appreciated the good relations between mine management and the two workers’ unions (NUM and AMCU – National Union of Mineworkers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, respectively).
The week-long oversight continues tomorrow (Thursday) with visits to the retail, wholesale and construction industries in the Motheo District Municipality.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON LABOUR, MR LEMIAS MASHILE.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the Committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Sakhile Mokoena
Parliamentary Communication Services
Tel: 021 403 2804
Cell: 081 705 2130
E-mail: smokoena@parliament.gov.za
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