[miningmx.com] — THE selling of mining shares granted to blacks was undermining transformation, Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities Lulu Xingwana said on Thursday.
“It is sad that they are selling because they want Sandton homes and big cars now. This is taking transformation 10 steps backward,’ she told a two-day women’s economic empowerment conference in Durban.
She was referring to shares granted to blacks as part of black economic empowerment deals.
The participation of women in the mining industry remained a great concern as they constituting only 12% of people in the sector.
“I am worried that this figure will go down because our people are selling. It may go down to even 4%,’ she said.
Of further concern was that they were selling the shares back to the very people who were supposed to give them opportunities.
“What they are doing undermines government’s goal of transforming the mining industry. They must hang in there. They must be involved in the mining industry, be operational and take decisions. We want them to be giants in this industry.’
Xingwana told delegates about a De Beers mine in Kroonstad in the Free State which had achieved gender and disability targets.
“This mine is headed by a young black woman as a general manager. It has achieved 2% employment equity target for people with disabilities and 35% for women in various positions, including technical posts involved in the extraction of diamonds,’ she said.
The company had recruited and trained local matriculants.
KwaZulu-Natal economic development MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu said the conference was organised because the provincial government believed women’s economic empowerment was not a luxury, but a necessity.
“It just does not make sense that, as we grapple with the challenges of poverty and unemployment, there is a huge percentage of our country’s population that is economically dormant.’
