Exxaro appoints first-ever female mining manager
Diversified miner Exxaro Resources has appointed Tamara Qwatekana as the company’s first ever female mining manager.
She will be based at Exxaro’s digital connected mine in Belfast, Mpumalanga.
Qwatekana was previously the company’s first female superintendent at its Grootgeluk operation, in Limpopo.
In South Africa, only 17% of senior management is female, with the number decreasing to 16% in top management. In the commodities sector, in general, only 14% of the workforce in bigger segments (such as diamonds and iron-ore) are women, 13% in coal, 12% in gold, while the highest employers of women (chrome, cement, lime, aggregates and sand) hover at between 17% and 18%.
In a statement published on Friday, Qwatekana reflected on being a woman working in the mining sector. “To me, women empowerment means giving women opportunities and holding them to the same standards of accountability as their male colleagues. Women empowerment is proving, beyond doubt, that we can accomplish anything we set our minds to and knowing that the standards didn’t have to be lowered to ‘accommodate’ us”.
Belfast mine people operations manager Mandla Motau said Exxaro was fast-tracking many women through succession planning processes, and was ensuring that adequate support was provided to them.
He added that Exxaro “prioritises females for training opportunities”, such as engineering learnerships, internships and professionals-in-training programmes to create a sufficient female talent pool.
“I believe it is the responsibility of every person in a position of power to create diversity in the mining industry. We must create programmes that educate on diversity, not just the need, but the benefits of having a diverse workplace. Diversity goes beyond hiring a young black woman. It also means creating an environment where a diverse workforce can thrive,” Qwatekana concluded.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Showroom
ESAB South Arica, the leading supplier of high-end welding and cutting products to the Southern African industrial market is based in...
VISIT SHOWROOM
M and J Mining are leading suppliers of physical support systems as used by the underground mining industry. Our selection of products are not...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
