Mining as a historical male-dominated space is confronted by various transformational
structural changes. While the racial composition of mining boards has improved,
gender representation of women in boards is problematic. Owing to our historical
legacy of apartheid and decades of colonialism, South Africa became a victim of an
unequal society. The new political dispensation under the leadership of Nelson
Mandela sought to redress those inequalities after the fall of apartheid in 1994.
However, gender inequalities and the gender subject remain contentious issues,
particularly in historically male-dominated sectors such as mining. With legislation
enforcement, only a few mining companies have improved the representation of
women on boards (WoB), while some companies remain with no women or only one
woman on board. However, despite the atrocities of apartheid, South African mining
sector is relatively performing better in terms of WoB than countries that were not
exposed to such a discriminatory dispensation. Yet still, mining lags far behind
compared to other industries in South Africa.
This outlook led me to conduct a multiple cross-case analysis research study to explore
how women were integrated into mining by reviewing talent management practices
used to appoint women (and men) by exploring recruitment, development and retention
practices. I adopted an emancipatory critical research approach, a feminist
epistemological paradigm, and I considered African feminism a suitable research
approach given the unique context of South African mining history.
The results showed that the industry still faces gender structural inequalities guided by
an indoctrinated mindset of the sector, and that it is still to a great extent racially biased.
While most focus of talent management is directed at recruiting more women, men still
control recruitment, which is biased and informal, and different or stringent recruitment
criteria are applied for women. Even though women occupy a few board seats and
exceed the critical mass in some boards, they still face change-resistant attitudes and
stereotypes and a double glass ceiling in terms of who has a right of voice, which
disregarded their talent. All women regardless of race, were subject to stereotypes, but
dealt with them differently. I found that black women are more affected than any other
racial group due to their social identities, facing triple oppression due to their gender
and race, but also class, which affects their confidence and their talent offering to board
responsibilities. In fear of marginalisation, the black women in my study felt that they
needed to earn the trust of men, especially those of white men. White, Indian and
1coloured women who were affected by gender stereotypes were silent about those
prejudices, but were also still discriminated against with fewer board opportunities. The
effectiveness of training and development of directors and retention was hindered by
the culture in mining, individual constructed identities and societal gender
constructions of roles and responsibilities. These constructions undermined the talent
of women in boards and constructed the talent of men as superior.
Thesisi ye e fa tlhahlobo ye e tseneletšego ya ditirišo tša taolo ya talente ka
dikhamphaning tše tshela tša meepo tša go ngwadišwa le JSE ka Afrika Borwa. E
nyakišiša gobaneng talente ya mosadi e hlokomologilwe, le gore gobaneng basadi ba
tšwela pele go ba palo ye nnyane mo dibotong le ge e le gore molao wa Afrika Borwa o
thekga tekatekano ya bong le gore tokafatšo ya taba (business case) e hlatsetšwe go
ya ka tirišo. Mokgwatlwaelo wa basadi wa Afrika o šomišwa ka go kopantšha mokgwa
wa maemo a magareng woo o lebantšhago go kopano ya morafe le bong. Tšhomišo ya
mokgwatlwaelo wa basadi wa Afrika gape e dira teori seemo sa go ithuta bong go ya ka
mabaka a moswananoši gomme mo tabeng ye, intasteri ye e tletšego ka banna ka
nageng ya morago ga kgatelelo le morago ga kgethollo. Dipoelo di bontšhitše gore
intasteri e lebana le diphapano tša sebopego tša bong tše di hlahlwago ke maikutlo ao
a tsentšwego a lekala, le le sa ntšego le tšea lehlakore go ya ka morafe. Komiti ya
ditšhišinyo e tletše ka thwalo ya taolo ya banna, yeo e tšeago lehlakore ebile e se ya
semmušo, gomme dikriteria tša go fapana tša thwalo di a šomišwa go basadi. Basadi
ka moka go sa šetšwe morafe, ba be ba lebana le ditlwaedi, eupša ba be ba šogana le
tšona ka go fapana. Basadi ba bathobaso ba sa ntše ba lebana le kgatelelo ya go
menagana gararo ya go amana le bong bja bona, morafe, le boemo. Ka go tšhoga
nyenyefatšo, basadi ba Bathobaso ba be ba nyaka tumelelo go banna, kudu ya banna
ba Bathobašweu. Basadi ba Bathobašweu, Bathobaso, Maindia le Bammala ba be ba
sa bolele ka dikgethollo, eupša gape ba be ba sa ntše ba gatelelwa kgahlanong le
menyetla e se mekae ya boto. Katlego ya tlhahlo le tlhabollo ya balaodibagolo le
kganetšo di šitišitšwe ke setšo sa meepo, maitšhupo ao a bopilwego a go ikgetha le
dibopego tša bong tša setšhaba tša dikarolo le maikarabelo. Dibopego tše di nyaditše
talente ya basadi ka dibotong gomme di bopile talente ya banna go ba ya maemo a
godimo. Nyakišišo ye e kgatha tema go dingwalo tša tirišo tša basadi mo dibotong ka
go nyakišiša mašomelo a taolo ya talente – a selo se se hlokomologilwego basading mo
dinyakišišong tša diboto. E hlaloša ka fao basadi ba thwalwago, hlahlelwago maemo a
boto le go hlaloša hlokomologo ya go tsenela taolo ya talente.
