Durban - 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 constitute only 12% of 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 (a) 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.”
Mining Minister Susan Shabangu was expected to address delegates later on Thursday.